Interventions in Preschools to Increase the Use of Safety Restraints by Preschool Children

Abstract

Despite the proven safety value of wearing vehicle safety restraints, people continue to travel without this protection. Legislation requiring the use of safety restraints has been implemented in several countries, including Australia, in an attempt to improve rates of restraint use. In Australia, legislation dramatically increased rates of adult restraint use, yet the rate of restraint use by children remains comparatively low. One of the main reasons for parents not restraining their child is the child's dislike of wearing a restraint, with resultant disruptive behavior. This study compared two interventions implemented within preschools: a coercive intervention aimed at parents and an educational intervention aimed at preschool children. Measures of restraint use were made by direct observation at preschools prior to intervention and again immediately following the 2-week interventions. The safety restraint use of children in the control and coercive intervention groups did not change significantly as a result of intervention. Restraint use of children in the educational intervention group increased 15 percentage points from 60.6% to 75.0%: a significant increase of 25%. This novel intervention approach holds promise as a means of increasing preschool children's use of safety restraints.