West, Robert; Train, Helen; Junger, Marianne; West, Anne and Pickering, Alan. 1999. Accidents and problem behaviour. The Psychologist, 12(8), pp. 395-397. ISSN 0952-8229 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Discusses evidence for a specific link between pedestrian accident risk and problem behaviour in children, including the authors' study which involved 1,027 children (aged 7–15 yrs) recruited via general practice and accident and emergency records in south London. Of this sample, 150 had been involved in one or more pedestrian or cycling accidents. Problem behavior was assessed with a computerised interview based on the International Self-Report Delinquency Survey (ISDS) as well as by items from the Rutter A scale completed by their parents and, in the case of 581 children, by items from the Rutter B scale completed by their teachers. When controlling for age, sex, occupational group of parent(s), time spent in the traffic environment, parents; age, and housing type (all contextual variables related to accident risk), problem behaviour was a very important predictor of traffic accident rates. Children in the top 25% on the ISDS, the Rutter A and the Rutter B were approximately 3 times more likely to have been involved in a pedestrian or cycling accident than those in the bottom 25%. Possible approaches, such as community-wide interventions, that are tailored to children for whom safety and personal responsibility are not important values are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event August 1999 Published
Item ID:	8482
Date Deposited:	18 Mar 2015 12:35
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2017 10:31
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/8482

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