Promoting booster seat use for young children: A school-based intervention pilot study.

Purpose: Misuse and/or lack of booster seat use are often associated with high rates of injury and death among school-aged children. This pilot study examined the efficacy and the potential effectiveness of a booster seat intervention in the classroom.

Methods: Two elementary schools participated (randomly assigned as one intervention school and one control school).

Achieving all-age helmet use compliance for snow sports: strategic use of education, legislation and enforcement.

Background: Nova Scotia is the first jurisdiction in the world to mandate ski and snowboard helmet use for all ages at ski hills in the province. This study represents a longitudinal examination of the effects of social marketing, educational campaigns and the introduction of helmet legislation on all-age snow sport helmet use in Nova Scotia.

Methods: A baseline observational study was conducted to establish the threshold of ski and snowboarding helmet use.

Overestimation of Physical Abilities Among Boys With and Without ADHD.

Objective: Children with ADHD have been widely reported to overestimate their abilities in social and academic domains, but a similar overestimation of physical abilities has not been examined.

Method: Twenty-four elementary school-age boys with ADHD and fifteen boys without ADHD were compared on their ability to accurately estimate their ability to complete four lab-based physical tasks, varying on three levels of difficulty: (a) within their ability, (b) 8% beyond their ability, and (c) 13% beyond their ability.

Results: Children with ADHD were significantly more likely than controls to overestimate their physical ability at difficult levels of the task.

Helmets for skiing and snowboarding: who is using them and why.

Background: In Canada, winter sports injuries are responsible for significant health care burden, with estimates of $400 million in direct and indirect annual health care costs. For ski-related injuries, helmets have been shown to provide significant protection. Current common practice in Canada, including the Province of Nova Scotia, is to leave the decision of whether to wear a helmet to the individual.

School liaison program for children with brain tumors.

A school liaison program that familiarized teachers with the implications of each child's brain tumor treatment with respect to learning, behavior, and socialization was implemented. The study explored the experiences of nine families and their teachers and health staff who participated in the program. The successes and challenges of the program were captured through interviews that were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim for data analysis.

Modeling improvements in booster seat use: a discrete choice conjoint experiment.

Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death in children aged 1-14 years. Many children, however, are not properly restrained in safety seats that reduce serious injury and death. This study used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to study factors influencing the decision to use booster seats.

Predicting parents' use of booster seats.

Objective: To examine the simultaneous contribution of multiple factors associated with parents' use of booster seats.

Methods: Using the theory of planned behaviour framework, constructs of the theory were tested for usefulness in predicting self-reported intent and behaviour with respect to parents' use of booster seats. Through the use of structural equation modelling, the study demonstrated the most significant predictors of the intent to use a booster seat and reported use of booster seats in a Canadian sample (n=1480) of parents of school-aged children, 4-9 years.

School experiences of families of children with brain tumors.

Families and children often report a diverse range of academic achievements and challenges after undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. This study explores the experiences of children, youth, and their families as they seek to reintegrate into mainstream educational systems. Despite the variable experiences, there are many common strategies that could positively influence the child's success in school.

Children at risk of injury.

This study examined the relationships between two groups of Canadian preschool children (injured and noninjured) and their parents' risk perceptions, safety behaviors, parenting stress, and children's risk behaviors. Data analysis revealed significantly higher numbers of injury behaviors in the group of injured children (t = -2.46, p =.