Reducing the risk of pedestrian accidents to preschoolers by parent training and symbolic modeling for children: An experimental analysis in the natural environment
A traffic safety program consisting of a workshop for parents and the use of special storybooks with their children was effective in reducing 13 preschool children’s entries into the street to a rate approximately 10% of that previously observed. The program also increased parents’ use of praise and reward for safe play and children’s correct identification of photographs depicting safe play, while reducing the rate at which parents reprimanded their children for unsafe play. A multiple-baseline design across subjects was used to assess program effects among the 13 preschool children and their parents who participated in observational and treatment phases of the experimental program. The study involved two conditions: a baseline condition in which behavioral and conceptual data related to play safety were collected and a treatment condition providing workshops for parents and story reading for their children. Through slide-show/lecture, videotapes and behavioral rehearsal, parents were taught ways to improve the safety of their children’s play. Children were read storybooks that elicited responses to approximately 25 questions and emphasized safe play. Home-based observations were conducted during the parent workshop and storybook condition. Effects of the intervention were maintained for 5 to 6 months after participation in the study. Upon completion of the study, preliminary estimates of the costs and benefits of dissemination of the materials to all organized day care centers and preschools in the United States were made. (Related materials are included in seven appendices.) (Author/RH)
Citation: Embry DD, Malfetti JM. Reducing the risk of pedestrian accidents to preschoolers by parent training and symbolic modeling for children: An experimental analysis in the natural environment. Falls Church, VA: American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety; 1980 1980.