Children's Seatbelt Usage

Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey

John Haaga

Published 1986

This Note, reprinted from the American Journal of Public Health, v. 76, no. 12, December 1986, uses data from the 1981 Child Health Supplement to the National Health Interview Survey to examine relationships between family and child characteristics and regular use of seatbelts or child restraints. Only for a third of children less than seven years old was regular seatbelt use reported. They were more likely to be used for infants and younger children than for older children; for a given child's age, older mothers were more likely to report seatbelt use by their children. Hispanics and blacks reported lower rates of seatbelt use than white non-Hispanics, and usage rates were higher when mothers had more education. In a multivariate analysis, the effects of race, ethnicity, family income, urban residence, and child's age remained. A positive association with reported seatbelt use was found for such health-promoting behaviors as breastfeeding and abstinence from smoking during pregnancy.

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1986
  • Pages: 3
  • Document Number: N-2574-NICHD

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Haaga, John, Children's Seatbelt Usage: Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1986. https://www.rand.org/pubs/notes/N2574.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND note series. The note was a product of RAND from 1979 to 1993 that reported miscellaneous outputs of sponsored research for general distribution.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.