Because automobile accidents are a major killer and crippler of young children in this country, Tennessee passed a child passenger protection law requiring restraint of children under four years of age in family automobiles. Passage of this law facilitated examination of parents' beliefs about child passenger safety in relation to public policy as well as public information and educational programming. From a sample of over 5,000 parents in Tennessee, data collected from almost 1,000 parents in a three-tiered procedure were analyzed. Differences between users and nonusers in knowledge and attitudes were identified, as were differences in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of parents at three points in time. Differences in level of use were explained in relation to predisposing factors (e.g., beliefs, including knowledge, attitudes, values, and previous behavior), reinforcing factors (e.g., physical factors such as comfort, convenience, protection, and economic benefits; psychological factors such as approval, assistance and modeling), and enabling factors (e.g., external factors such as accessibility and availability; internal factors such as skills and information processing style).
Abstract