Empowering Preschool Children With Personal Safety Skills

Karabuk University60 enrolled

Overview

Preschool children are vulnerable to preventable accidents due to limited hazard awareness. This randomized controlled study evaluated the effectiveness of a Multiple Intelligences Theory-based Personal Safety Education Program (MIT-based PSEP) on preschool children's safety knowledge and skills. Sixty children aged 4-5 years were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=30) or a control group (n=30). The intervention group received eight interactive MIT-based sessions, while the control group received routine education. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention using the Personal Safety and First Aid Subscale and analyzed with mixed-design ANOVA.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

TRIPLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Safety Preschool Age Children Self Administration Education Entertainment Intervention

Interventions

Multiple Intelligences Theory-Based Personal Safety Education Program (PSEP)BEHAVIORAL

Children in the intervention arm received a Multiple Intelligences Theory-based Personal Safety Education Program (MIT-based PSEP) consisting of eight interactive sessions (15-20 minutes each) delivered over 5 weeks (two sessions per week). The program used multi-modal activities (games, drama, movement, music, visual materials, and coloring/design tasks) addressing multiple intelligence domains (verbal/linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, visual-spatial, interpersonal, and musical). The content targeted personal safety knowledge and skills, including safe play and bicycle use, prevention of home accidents, recognizing hazards, protection from strangers, knowing what to do when lost, and sun safety. The intervention was delivered in small classroom groups by a trained child development specialist in collaboration with a pediatric nursing researcher.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 4 YearsMax age: 5 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Children aged 4-5 years enrolled in the participating preschool * Ability to speak and understand Turkish * Written informed consent obtained from parents/legal guardians * Availability of a parent/legal guardian to complete the outcome questionnaires at baseline and post-intervention Exclusion Criteria: * Children aged 3 years * Children with incomplete baseline or post-intervention outcome data * Parents/legal guardians who did not return the questionnaires at baseline or post-intervention

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in Health Education Scale- Personal Safety and First Aid Subscale (PSFAS) Score

Health Education Scale: Developed by Aydos (2013), this scale assesses preschool children's knowledge and skills in health education. The scale consists of six subscales: Personal Safety and First Aid (25 items, Cronbach's α = .945), Hygiene and Self-Care (26 items, α = .934), Nutrition (20 items, α = .936), Sleep (7 items, α = .885), Mental Health and Social Relationships (20 items, α = .934), and Neglect and Abuse (19 items, α = .941). All items are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater knowledge and skills. In the present study, only the Personal Safety and First Aid Subscale (PSFAS) was used to assess children's personal safety knowledge and first aid skills. The PSFAS consists of 25 parent-reported items, and total scores range from 25 to 125. Higher scores indicate greater levels of personal safety and first-aid knowledge and skills. The primary outcome of the study was the change in children's personal safety knowledge and skills.

Time frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks after completion of the intervention (post-intervention)