The relationship between health beliefs and use of child car safety restraints among mothers of young children

Though preventable, injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and disability in childhood. The literature supports the efficacy of child car safety restraints, yet despite this fact, nonuse rates remain high. Using the Health Belief Model, the purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to examine the relationship between health beliefs, cues to action, selected demographics, and mothers\u27 use of child car safety restraints among low income mothers of children less than five years of age; Locus of control, maternal seatbelt use, and child\u27s age were demonstrated to be significant predictors of child car safety restraint use. The greater the mother\u27s external locus of control and the more consistent the mother herself wore a seatbelt, the more consistent the use of a child car safety restraint. Use of child car safety restraints decreased as child\u27s age increased and infants were more likely to be consistently restrained than toddlers