A comparison of observed and reported restraint use by children and adults

The reliability of estimates of automobile restraint use reported by interview is questionable. It is reasonable to assume that some respondents will give a socially desirable response, i.e. a false report about restraint use. To verify this assumption this study compares verbal reports about automobile restraint use with what was actually observed, both for the respondents and and their children. For the children the rate of parental over-reporting was 38% while for adults it was 24%. Additional analyses suggest that the discrepancy between reported and observed use is related to parents' educational level, father's occupation, child's sex and whether the mother works outside the home. However, these relationships differ between parents and their children.