Safety Skills

Self-reported measures of driving skills have the potential shortcomings of the general self-report methodology such as social responding and self-enhancement biases. In the present study, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) procedure was adapted to measure the implicit evaluations of driving skills. The performance of IAT and an explicit, self-report measure of driving skills were compared in predicting driver behaviors and performance. Ninety-one Turkish male drivers participated in the study. The results showed that the implicit test and the self-reported driving skills scale showed different patterns of relationships with the outcome measures in the regression analyses. In addition, the implicit measure of driving skills moderated the relationship between self-reported driving skills and some of the outcome measures used in the current study. These results support the need to use the implicit measures in addition to self-report measures to better understand drivers evaluations of their driving skills, which has the potential to influence their risky driving.

Changes in child safety knowledge concerning bullying, boundary-setting, and help-seeking were evaluated after participation in the Kidpower Everyday Safety Skills Program (ESSP), a workshop designed to increase children’s knowledge of safe choices. The program consisted of an in-school workshop, weekly follow-up sessions, and homework assignments over 10 weeks and included skills-training, parental involvement, and opportunities to practice safety skills. Third-grade students (n = 128) participated in pre- and post-tests of safety skills, and were compared to a comparison group (n = 110) that did not participate in the program. Findings indicate that students who participated had increases in safety knowledge (maintained for 3 months) greater than the comparison group. Additional assessments indicate that the program was implemented with high fidelity and both teachers and students found the program successful. Children’s understanding of the competency areas boundary-setting, stranger safety, help-seeking, and maintaining calmness and confidence improved.