Influence of teaching techniques on infant car seat use

This study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of two types of educational interventions on child safety seat usage among new mothers at the time of discharge from a hospital setting. Ninety-three women included in this study were divided into three groups consisting of a control group, a video teaching intervention, and a video and face-to-face intervention. All women were given a demographic questionnaire during their hospital stay and observed for actual car seat usage at the time of discharge. Results, based on a 1 x 3 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), showed no statistically significant difference in child safety seat usage between control and experimental groups. Factors which may have influenced the findings were the unusually high overall compliance rate of this population (83.9%) and the socio-economic make-up; the majority being white, well-educated, and above average income. Good maternal seat belt use may have predisposed this group toward high child restraint device (CRD) compliance,aas well as the widespread diffusion of information on child safety seats and awareness of the California CRD law. Supplementary analyses indicated that video plus face-to-face instruction may be more effective with first-time mothers who have performance scores below 80, are themselves not seat belt users and who are members of minority groups.