Journal article
Featured Article: Evaluating Smartphone-Based Virtual Reality to Improve Chinese Schoolchildren's Pedestrian Safety: A Nonrandomized Trial
Journal of pediatric psychology, Vol.43(5), pp.473-484
06/01/2018
DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsx147
PMCID: PMC5961228
PMID: 29216384
Abstract
Objective This nonrandomized trial evaluated whether classroom-based training in a smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) pedestrian environment (a) teaches schoolchildren to cross streets safely, and (b) increases their self-efficacy for street-crossing. Methods Fifty-six children, aged 8-10 years, attending primary school in Changsha, China participated. Baseline pedestrian safety assessment occurred in the VR environment and through unobtrusive observation of a subsample crossing a street for 11 days outside school. Self-efficacy was assessed through both self-report and observation. Following baseline, children engaged in the VR for 12 days in their classrooms, honing complex cognitive-perceptual skills required to engage safely in traffic. Follow-up assessment replicated baseline. Results Probability of crash in the VR decreased posttraining (0.40 vs. 0.09), and observational data found the odds of looking at oncoming traffic while crossing the first lane of traffic increased (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4). Self-efficacy increases occurred in self-report (proportional OR = 4.7 crossing busy streets) and observation of following crossing-guard signals (OR = 0.2, first lane). Conclusions Pedestrian safety training via smartphone-based VR provides children the repeated practice needed to learn the complex skills required to cross streets safely, and also helps them improve self-efficacy to cross streets. Given rapid motorization and global smartphone penetration, plus epidemiological findings that about 75,000 children die annually worldwide in pedestrian crashes, smartphone-based VR could supplement existing policy and prevention efforts to improve global child pedestrian safety.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Featured Article: Evaluating Smartphone-Based Virtual Reality to Improve Chinese Schoolchildren's Pedestrian Safety: A Nonrandomized Trial
- Creators
- David C. Schwebel - University of Alabama at BirminghamYue Wu - Central South UniversityPeng Li - University of Alabama at BirminghamJoan Severson - Digital ArtefactsYefei He - Digital ArtefactsHenry Xiang - Nationwide Children's HospitalGuoqing Hu - Central South University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of pediatric psychology, Vol.43(5), pp.473-484
- DOI
- 10.1093/jpepsy/jsx147
- PMID
- 29216384
- PMCID
- PMC5961228
- NLM abbreviation
- J Pediatr Psychol
- ISSN
- 0146-8693
- eISSN
- 1465-735X
- Publisher
- Oxford Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 12
- Grant note
- R21 TW010310 / Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA Fogarty International Center; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Fogarty International Center (FIC)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/01/2018
- Academic Unit
- Research Administration
- Record Identifier
- 9984949455102771
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