Teenagers--we thought we knew--we didn't--lessons learned

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and disability to teenagers in the United States. The development of resources to assist physicians and high school teachers in anticipatory guidance of adolescent drivers and their parents provides a way to disseminate important information. As adults with years of experience working with teens in a variety of settings, we hypothesized we would have similar responses to a standardized message as teenagers themselves.

Convenience-based focus groups of teens and adults evaluated the resource materials and their responses were collected. The adult group was made up of trauma, injury prevention and school staff, the teen group was made of students in random familiar settings (school programs, sports events, and mall). Each group was asked to evaluate three posters and select the one most likely to attract the attention of a teen and be most effective at supporting positive driving behavior. Seat belt usage was the primary message of all three posters.

Teens and adults have dramatically different responses to the posters. The primary choice of the adults was never selected by the teens and the primary choice of the adolescents was never the choice of the adults. Interestingly, both groups agreed that one of the posters was ineffective.

Experience with adolescents does not necessarily result in successful prediction of teen choices. The focus group experience gives the teen a voice in the process and ensures the message being sent is the one being received. Involving teens in development of educational materials targeted at this population is critical for successful implementation.