Parent-Teen Intervention for Car Accident Prevention

Overseen By Andrew Weiss, BA

Age: < 18

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

Disqualifiers: Visual impairments, Developmental delays, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

The trial aims to make driving safer for teenagers by testing a new approach called the Parent-Teen Intervention. This intervention includes coaching sessions for parents and feedback sessions for teens to help reduce car accidents. Participants will either receive this new intervention or continue with their usual driving practice. Teens who have held a learner’s permit in Pennsylvania for at least six months and have less than 10 hours of driving experience might be a good fit. The trial could lead to better strategies for keeping teen drivers safe on the road. As an unphased trial, it offers a unique opportunity for participants to contribute to innovative safety strategies for young drivers.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether participants need to stop taking their current medications.

What prior data suggests that this intervention is safe for teen drivers?

Research has shown that programs involving both parents and teens can help reduce risky driving in teenagers. These programs enhance driving safety by engaging parents in coaching sessions and providing feedback to teens. This method is safe, focusing on behavior change rather than medication or physical treatments. The program includes health coaching and driving assessments, which most participants find manageable. No negative effects have been reported from this type of program. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the Parent-Teen Intervention for car accident prevention because it provides a hands-on approach combining parent health coaching with teen driver assessments. Unlike standard practices, which might focus solely on classroom education or driver simulations, this intervention involves real-world driving assessments with immediate feedback, aiming to directly improve teen driving skills. This approach could foster better communication between parents and teens, potentially leading to safer driving habits and a reduction in car accidents.

What evidence suggests that the Parent-Teen Intervention could be effective for improving teen driver safety?

This trial will compare a Parent-Teen Intervention with Usual Practice to prevent car accidents. Studies have shown that involving parents in programs with their teens can greatly reduce teen car accidents. Specifically, one study found a 61% drop in crashes after using such a program. The Parent-Teen Intervention in this trial includes coaching sessions for parents and feedback for teens, helping them drive more safely. Research also shows a strong connection between how parents guide their teens and the teens' driving safety. When parents are involved and set clear rules, teens tend to drive more safely. These findings suggest that active parent involvement can significantly enhance teen road safety. ^{1 2 3 6 7}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Leann Long, PhD

Principal Investigator

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Catherine McDonald, PhD, RN, FAAN

Principal Investigator

University of Pennsylvania

Jessica Mirman, PhD

Principal Investigator

University of Edinburgh

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for teens aged between 16 and 17.33 years from Pennsylvania with a learner's permit and less than 10 hours of driving experience. They must have internet access, speak English, and not have any visual or physical impairments that affect driving. Teens already in other driving studies or with siblings in this study can't participate.

Inclusion Criteria

Teen and parent/caregiver fluent in written and spoken English

Pennsylvania state learner's permits

Will have their Pennsylvania state learner's permit for at least 6 months (self-report)

Exclusion Criteria

I am a teen with a condition that needs special driving aids.

Have a sibling enrolled in this study

I am a teenager with developmental delays.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Intervention

Parent health coaching session and supportive materials, teen on road driver assessment with feedback

12 months

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for safety and effectiveness after treatment

12 months

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Parent-Teen Intervention
• Usual Practice

Trial Overview The study is testing a Parent-Teen Intervention aimed at improving teen driver safety against the usual practices to see which is more effective at reducing car accidents among new drivers.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Usual Practice Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Group II: Parent-Teen Intervention Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Parent health coaching session and supportive materials, teen on road driver assessment with feedback.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of Pennsylvania

Lead Sponsor

Trials

2,118

Recruited

45,270,000+

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Collaborator

Trials

1,432

Recruited

2,506,000+

University of Edinburgh

Collaborator

Trials

484

Recruited

17,160,000+

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Collaborator

Trials

1,677

Recruited

2,458,000+

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Collaborator

Trials

749

Recruited

11,400,000+

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Collaborator

Trials

2,103

Recruited

2,760,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

The Talking with Teens about Traffic Safety Program was successfully implemented with 54 parent-teen dyads, showing that it is feasible and acceptable for promoting discussions about teen driver safety during annual well-child visits.

Parents in the treatment group reported significantly more frequent conversations about safe driving topics compared to the control group, particularly on less commonly discussed topics, indicating preliminary efficacy of the program.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Talking with teens about traffic safety: Initial feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a parent-targeted intervention for primary care settings. Mirman, JH., Goodman, ES., Friedrich, E., et al.[2020]

The Steering Teens Safe program effectively engaged 83 parents in teaching their teens safe driving skills, with parents reporting a median of 101.5 minutes spent discussing driving safety over three months.

Despite some barriers like time constraints and teen resistance, parents felt comfortable and benefited from the program, indicating its high acceptability and potential for real-world application in reducing teen driving risks.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Implementation evaluation of steering teens safe: engaging parents to deliver a new parent-based teen driving intervention to their teens. Ramirez, M., Yang, J., Young, T., et al.[2013]

The study found that family communication patterns (FCPs) significantly influence the effectiveness of parent-focused interventions on teen driving safety, particularly highlighting that families with a laissez-faire communication style benefited more from the intervention.

By targeting interventions like in-vehicle event recorder feedback and parent communication training to families with laissez-faire patterns, the study suggests a more efficient approach to reducing risky driving behaviors among teens.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Family Communication Patterns and Teen Driving Intervention Effectiveness. Hamann, C., Schwab-Reese, L., O'Neal, EE., et al.[2020]

Integrating a parent communication intervention with an in-vehicle video feedback system significantly reduced unsafe driving events among young drivers, with the combined intervention group showing a 79% reduction in unsafe driving compared to the control group.

The study involved 150 parent-teen dyads and demonstrated that teaching parents effective communication strategies further enhanced the effectiveness of the in-vehicle feedback system, leading to even safer driving behaviors.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

A randomized trial to test the impact of parent communication on improving in-vehicle feedback systems. Peek-Asa, C., Reyes, ML., Hamann, CJ., et al.[2020]

Citations

1. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4483193/

Effectiveness of Parent-Focused Interventions to Increase ... A second study found a 61% reduction (p<0.01) in the event rate over the intervention phase (following a 6-week baseline). On surveys, 39% of teens reported ...

2. portal.ct.gov portal.ct.gov/TeenDriving/Publications/Publications/Parenting-Styles-and-Teen-Driving-SafetyRelated-Behaviors

Parenting Styles and Teen Driving SafetyRelated Behaviors This study demonstrates the strong association between parenting style and teen crash risk and begins to explain this risk in terms of related driving behaviors ...

3. stacks.cdc.gov stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225676

Steering Teens Safe: A Randomized Trial of a Parent ... Background: Crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and parent-based interventions are a promising approach. We assess the effectiveness of ...

4. ghsa.org ghsa.org/resource-hub/optimizing-parent-teen-supervised-drives-reduce-teen-crash-rates-bts-33

Optimizing Parent-Teen Supervised Drives to Reduce ... The objective of this research is to provide actionable data for states to optimize the supervised driving requirement to ensure it creates safer teen drivers.

5. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022437507000291

Parent involvement in novice teen driving This paper emphasizes the role of experience in the development of driving competence, reviews the known effects of parent limit setting on driving outcomes.

6. nationwidechildrens.org nationwidechildrens.org/newsroom/news-releases/2025/05/cirp_vehicleage_safety

Study Finds Teens Driving Older Vehicles Have Increased ... Researchers found that driving vehicles 6-15 years old had a 19% greater risk of driver death in fatal crashes, and driving vehicles older than 15 years had a ...

7. journalofroadsafety.org journalofroadsafety.org/article/142540-positively-transforming-adolescent-attitudes-toward-risky-driving-behaviours-outcomes-from-program-impact-in-richmond-virginia

Positively Transforming Adolescent Attitudes Toward Risky ... This study evaluates adolescent driving history, focusing on four key categories: attitudes towards alcohol, attitudes towards alcohol-related ...