A preventive public health social work intervention program was conducted to evaluate the effects of various community-based strategies designed to promote safety belt use by automobile drivers. Two separate multiple baseline designs were used to assess the effects of a conventional highway sign reading "Fasten Seat Belt" held by a female student to exiting drivers, versus the posting of the same highway sign mounted on the existing stop signs at each parking lot exit. A pilot study using an A-B design demonstrated that the sign was effective in generating statistically significant increases in safety belt use above the mean baseline. Study II replicated this result, and found that having the sign held by a human prompter resulted in greater safety belt use than simply mounting the sign. Study III replicated the previous finding of Study II about the comparative effectiveness of the two interventions. The conditions in Study III were reversed, allowing an evaluation of a possible sequence effect of the sign plus prompter condition followed by the sign alone condition, versus the sign alone condition, on safety belt use. Study III again demonstrated that the first sign alone condition was found to generate a small but significant increase in safety belt use compared to baseline, found the sign plus prompter condition to also produce increases in safety belt use compared to the mean baseline, and to be more effective than the first sign alone condition. The second sign alone condition, following the sign plus prompter condition, was found to be more effective in generating increases in safety belt use relative to the mean baseline, and to the first mean sign alone condition. / The results of these three studies demonstrate that traffic signs may be effective in promoting small but important increases in safety belt use. However, the effects of such signs can be made more salient by preceding their sole use with simple strategies designed to attract driver attention. This study also collected preliminary information on the safety belt usage rates of black and white, and of male and female drivers, and their respective responsiveness to the experimental conditions. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-05, Section: A, page: 1273. / Major Professor: Bruce A. Thyer. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76273 |
| Contributors | Williams, Melvin., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 154 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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