1. Integrate transportation safety into the college and high school communication and media curriculum
2. Apply innovative persuasive approaches to the reduction of high-risk transportation behaviors
3. Improve and test the effectiveness of interventions using student-originated message design
4. Create and disseminate evaluation tools which integrate learning standards for developing effective, targeted safety videos
Intermodal
Alcohol is a major transportation safety issue, in addition to speeding, and lack of seatbelt use. These key human factors in traffic fatalities are the leading cause of death among youths as well as college-age adults. The high school and college age demographics are among the groups with the highest levels of risk. Awareness and behavior change are critical for transportation safety. Increased enforcement and awareness lead to a decline in alcohol-related fatalities until the mid-1990s. But this encouraging trend has not continued in recent years. It appears that decades of campaigns geared towards high school and college students have reached a plateau. Their impact on safe drinking and transportation choices is severely limited. Existing messages often fail to reach at-risk segments of this age group. Since attitudes and habits instilled during high school and college will last past graduation, it is imperative to address existing shortcomings. Recent research has identified resistance to persuasion as a neglected factor, which limits the impact of communication campaigns.
This project will incorporate a number of strategies, which can reduce resistance and increase the effectiveness of messages and campaigns. We will incorporate a number of resistance-reducing approaches, and we are proposing that students develop messages and campaigns with the intention to help their peers. Research has shown that such interventions are often better targeted and more appealing than those developed by professionals. Also, the mere fact that the students are involved in the process increases their ownership of these messages and underlying attitudes and thus decreases resistance.
The outcome of this project will be a series of targeted and tested videos and comprehensive communication campaigns geared towards high school and college student drinking and driving, speeding and seatbelt use. In addition, the impact of actively creating such messages (as compared to merely consuming them) will be assessed. Testing will be conducted via focus groups and experimental methodologies. An evaluation tool will be developed to test and improve traffic safety PSAs. Collaboration with Environmental Management projects at the University of Rhode Island will enhance the impact of this project. Outreach will be achieved at two levels: through statewide distribution within Rhode Island, and through institutional academic dissemination to other educational institutions at a national level.
1. Develop lesson plans for use in Communication courses to mainstream transportation safety as a content area
2. Conduct research at the two comparison Universities and analyze results to maximize targeting based on gender, age, residence, drinking behavior, and psychological factors
3. Develop strategies to minimize resistance when messages and campaigns are designed and created by students
4. Develop a model PSA/media campaign evaluation tool for use at schools and colleges
5. Provide an overall assessment report including the development of an evaluation tool
6. Publish and disseminate results
July – August 2006
Preparation for Fall 06 data collection and intervention
Develop lesson plans for 400-level classes based on earlier experience
Preparation of Data collection companion at site
Sept. – December 2006
Campaign development; testing by 400-level classes
January - May 2007
Video development in 200 & 300-level classes, includes
Storyboards; Focus group testing using preliminary PSA evaluation tool
Revisions
Analysis of URI data
Demographic data; drinking behavior
Target groups resistant to persuasion
Dissemination of first group of videos to on and off-campus targets
Assessment for intervention campaigns including message testing
Concept development (including Resistance, Social Norms, Stages of Change)
Focus group testing of Campaign concepts; adaptation of PSA tool
Revisions
Audience analysis
Message design and creation
Campaign draft
Campaign testing and data collection
August-September 2007
Campaign roll-out; outreach to
Campaign implementation at URI campus
Additional PSA\campaign development in new sections of 200-400 level classes
Develop lesson\intervention plan for high schools
Outreach to local high school media programs
May – June
Finalizing Analysis and Campaign
Revision of college and high school lesson plan
Finalized PSA\campaign evaluation tool
Data analysis and report writing
Sept. 30, 2007
Project Completion Date
Fall 2007
Dissemination of Final Results
URITC Symposium
Dissemination of PSAs
Presentation at Professional Conference
Dissemination
$46,067.26
As in the past, this project will continue to serve as an educational opportunity for a large number of students at varying levels. Dr. Mundorf’s students will conduct research, record and edit videos, and conduct focus groups to evaluate the PSAs. Teams will produce videos addressing the use of designated drivers and other traffic safety concerns. Once finalized, these videos will be displayed on the campus cable system and statewide Cox Communication cable Interconnect. Students will be able to gain experience with the cable system and with broadcast entities.
This project complements existing programs at URI, which are geared towards attitude and behavior change regarding alternatives to high-risk social life choices. The Cancer Prevention Research Consortium under James O. Prochaska has developed successful behavior change strategies in a number of areas. Unlike most programs, it has targeted the majority of at-risk populations, those who are not necessarily ready for change. The current project will address the transportation aspect of such change processes. The project will benefit from the methodological breadth and experience in targeting different segments developed by this group.
Several large funded projects by URI faculty and staff address alcohol, drugs, and risky sexual behavior among students. The extent of these behaviors is reasonably well documented through the biannual Campus Climate Checkup (CCC). This CCC also documents student misperceptions of high-risk behaviors by their peers, which might affect their own attitudes and expectations. Interactive social norms feedback was somewhat effective at correcting misperceptions of high-risk drinking among First-Year students.
The concern with drunk driving, binge drinking, and other impacts of alcohol on the college and community environment gave rise to an environmental management (EM) approach. Prof. Mark Wood and others at URI are addressing a critical need to augment on-campus policy and prevention efforts with environmentally based, interactive community interventions. The environmental management approach uses a coalition driven multi-stage EM change process and implements and evaluates EM strategies related to alcohol access, policy/law enforcement, harm reduction, and marketing/promotion. Collaboration with this effort will help create the necessary environmental reinforcement to complement the messages promoted by the PSAs.
Prior URITC funded research by the P.I. has addressed transportation and entertainment alternatives for college students as well as behavior change processes for this demographic segment. The project was able to establish a successful and popular Thursday night bus service to Providence. This service was used by a large number of students from the rural URI campus, many of whom would have otherwise driven, including intoxicated drivers. The project was able to promote the service virtually without formal advertising. Subsequently the focus shifted on documenting drinking and driving related behaviors among URI students. Patterns of DD use were documented, and the lack of safe entertainment alternatives gave rise to a number of grass roots initiatives. Dr. Mundorf’s students conducted interviews with students, educators, administrators and bar owners and they documented a number of problem areas. Most recently, students began to create messages discouraging drinking and driving and encouraging safe DD use. This work created an important foundation for the current project by revealing shortcomings as well as venues for improvement. Videos created by earlier student groups are being utilized to demonstrate ideas and problems.
URI Website, URITC Website, Research Papers submitted (TRB; Communication and Public Health conferences and journals), articles in appropriate journals.
The innovative student-originated resistance reducing approach promises greater effectiveness of interventions among teenagers and young adults. This model will increase the reach and effectiveness of transportation education into one of the most popular college majors, in which virtually no transportation related work is done to date. Dissemination of this project will increase cost\benefit ratio and reach, since the model and tools to be developed can be easily adapted to other colleges and high schools.
The project will help change attitudes and behaviors towards safe entertainment as well as transportation choices. It addresses the need to impact attitudes and at the same time provide alternatives in order to implement campus climate changes. This project realizes the critical role of transportation in campus life and incorporates it into the behavior change model. The project empowers students to take an active role in the change process.
The project will provide benefits to multiple constituencies:
Multimodal; human factors; behavior change; DUI