Issue No. 6, June 2008

Get Ready for National Teen Driver Safety Week October 19-25, 2008

Last year, Congress passed a joint resolution making the third week in October National Teen Driver Safety Week (NTDSW). Its mission is to bring teens, community leaders, educators, and parents together to take action and increase awareness to help prevent teen crashes, the leading cause of death for this age group.

To translate current research into effective action, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Companies® encourage communities to unify around a common teen driver safety issue. For 2008, the focus will be on messages and activities that will increase awareness of the deadly combination of novice teen drivers and peer passengers.

The complete set of download-ready tools will be available at www.chop.edu/youngdrivers on September 8, courtesy of State Farm and CHOP. From July on, be sure to check the site for regular updates that will help practitioners and organizers plan for NTDSW.

National Young Driver Survey Describes Teen Perceptions

A groundbreaking study, published in the May 2008 issue of the journal Pediatrics, reveals important gaps in teens’ understanding of factors that can lead to crashes. Injury Center researchers studied more than 5,000 9th through 11th graders from across the country to examine their attitudes about 25 risky driving situations. Teens identified the factors they perceived as most important in a safe driving situation and then estimated how often they see their peers exhibit these behaviors. The National Young Driver Survey was conducted as part of the Young Driver Research Initiative (YDRI), a research and outreach alliance of CHOP and State Farm Insurance Companies®.

Results from this scientific survey provide new direction for education efforts, including more specific messages about inexperience and distractions. The researchers also found that certain teen subgroups need new messages on the dangers of alcohol and speeding.

Highlights of the media coverage included a photo essay published in the on-line version of U.S. News and World Report, a feature article in The Chicago Tribune, and several syndicated radio pieces, including an in-depth story on Voice of America. So far, more than 1,500 print, web, and broadcast stories have covered the study.

View the photo essay.
Read the press release.
Download an audio news release.
View the study abstract.

Center Rear Seat Is Safer for Children Age 3 and Younger

An Injury Center study published in the May 2008 issue of the journal Pediatrics reinforces child passenger safety guidelines and confirms that properly placing children in the rear seat of the vehicle in the appropriate restraint for their height and weight reduces their risk of injury. According to the researchers, restraining children age 3 and younger in the center rear seat offers a protective benefit compared to outboard seating positions. The study garnered media coverage, including news articles from Reuters and Bloomberg that were picked up internationally and a BBC radio interview.

Read the study abstract.
Read the Reuters article.

CChIPS Celebrates Third Anniversary

The Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS) is now three years old. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), CChIPS was established in 2005 at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP. One of 40 NSF/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) in the country, CChIPS is the only one that focuses solely on child injury prevention. Its Industry Advisory Board (IAB) members contribute research dollars to support the CChIPS mission.

Seven studies are now underway for 2008-2009, all involving how children are injured in motor vehicle crashes and ways that these injuries can be prevented. Comprising the CChIPS IAB are Britax Child Safety Inc.; Dorel Juvenile Group; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); Nissan Technical Center North America Inc.; State Farm Insurance Companies®; TK Holdings Inc.; Toyota Motor North America Inc.; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.; and Ford Motor Co.

Winston Named Associate Editor of Injury Prevention

Flaura Koplin-Winston, MD, PhD, founder and co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP, has been chosen to serve as Associate Editor of the journal Injury Prevention. Dr. Winston has been a member of the Editorial Board of the international peer reviewed journal for health professionals and others in injury prevention for many years. As a leading expert on child safety, Dr. Winston also provides valuable input to many national organizations, including the Institute of Medicine; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the Maternal and Child Health Bureau; the National Institutes of Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the U.S. Product Safety Commission. Her research also has been widely published.

Center's Dummy Development Research in USA Today

Kristy Arbogast, PhD, associate director of field engineering for the Injury Center, was featured in a recent USA Today article for her team’s work in developing a simulated child abdomen that fits into the standard crash test dummy designed for the average 6-year-old. For years researchers have known that the abdomen is the second most commonly injured body part, after the head, in seat-belted children. With this new insert, safety engineers at vehicle manufacturing companies can now precisely measure the risk of abdominal injury in children ages 4 to 8. Researchers from the University of Virginia, Wayne State University, Takata Corp., the Japanese auto restraint manufacturer, and Ford Motor Co. were key collaborators in the three-year research project.

Read the article.

Behavioral Scientist Chosen for APA Presidential Task Force

Nancy Kassam-Adams, PhD, director of behavioral science for the Center for Injury Research and Prevention and co-director of the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress at CHOP, has been chosen to serve on the American Psychological Association (APA) Presidential Task Force on Child Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The task force will identify the key contributions of psychological science to understanding PTSD in youth and will identify "what we know" and "what we need to know" regarding the development and treatment of PTSD in youth following trauma.

The task force also will make recommendations that will help to guide future research, practice, and public policy. Dr. Kassam-Adams founded the Child and Adolescent Reaction to Injury and Trauma (CARIT) Research Program at the Injury Center to understand how and why children and their families develop posttraumatic stress after an injury and to create and test preventive interventions.

Recent Publications from the Injury Center

• Bull MJ, Durbin DR. Rear-Facing Car Safety Seats: Getting the Message Right. Pediatrics. March 2008.
• Ginsburg KR, Winston FK, Senserrick T, Garcia-Espana F, Kinsman S, Quistberg A, Ross J., Elliott M. National Young Driver Survey: Teen Perspective and Experience With Factors That Affect Driving Safety. Pediatrics (on-line version). May 2008.
• Hutchens L, Senserrick T, Jamieson P, Romer D, and Winston FK. Teen Driver Crash Risk and Associations with Smoking and Drowsy Driving. Accident Analysis and Prevention. May 2008.
• Kallan M, Durbin DR, Arbogast KB.Seating Patterns and Corresponding Risk of Injury Among 0 to 3-Year-Old Children in Child Safety Seats. Pediatrics (on-line version). May 2008.

Recent Presentations from the Injury Center

• Arbogast K. Research to Action: A Paradigm that Saves Lives. Capital Hill Briefing Organized by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Washington, DC. May 20, 2008.
• Balasubramanian S. Kinematics and EMG Response of Children Exposed to Low Speed Frontal Acceleration. SAE Government and Industry Meeting. Washington, DC. May 14, 2008.
• Carraballo-Perez V. Secondary Lab Labeling Action Learning Project. CHOP Insights Forum, Philadelphia, PA. May 16, 2008.
• Carraballo-Perez V. Secondary Lab Labeling Action Learning Project. LEND Research Day at CHOP, Philadelphia, PA. May 22, 2008. (Poster presentation).
• Castner T, Arbogast KB, Nadkami V, Sutton R, Nishisaki A, Maltese MR. Developing Pediatric ATD Thoracic Biofidelity Requirements from Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Data. Fourth Annual Injury Biomechanics Research Laboratory at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. May 19, 2008.
• Durbin D. The Future of Child Passenger Safety. Briefing to Industry Members. Washington, DC. May 12, 2008.
• Fisher P; Kohser K; Good, G, White K, and Kassam-Adams, N. Does Anyone Understand My Stress? Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Recently Injured Children and Their Parents During Inpatient Hospitalization. LEND Research Day at CHOP, Philadelphia, PA. May 22, 2008. (Poster presentation).
• Good G; Kohser K; Fisher P; White, K; and Kassam-Adams N. A Look at Parent Child Agreement in Reporting of Pain and Stress During Hospitalization for Traumatic Injuries. LEND Research Day at CHOP, Philadelphia, PA. May 22, 2008. (Poster presentation).
• Gracia JN, Rubin D, Guo W, Branas CC. Vacant Properties: A Modifiable Target for Intervention to Reduce Aggravated Assaults in Urban Cities. Ambulatory Pediatric Association Region II & III Meeting 2008. New York University Medical Center, New York, NY. March 7, 2008.
• Kassam-Adams N. Evaluating and Treating Traumatic Stress in Pediatric Settings. Invited Plenary Talk at the National Conference in Child Health Psychology, Miami, Florida. April 12, 2008.
• Kassam-Adams N. Traumatic Stress in Ill and Injured Children. Lecture to LEND Fellows at CHOP, Philadelphia, PA. May 2008.
• Kerr TM, Constans E, Kadlowec J, Balasubramanian S. Spinal Kinematics in Adults Exposed to Low Speed Frontal Acceleration. Fourth Annual Injury Biomechanics Symposium. Injury Biomechanics Research Laboratory at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. May 19, 2008. (Poster presentation).
• Maltese R, R, Kadlowec J, Latman S, Saffioti J, Tomassello M, Gabler HC, Arbogast KB. Neck Pendulum Test Modifications for Simulation of Frontal Crashes. 2008 SAE Congress and Exposition, Detroit, MI. April 15, 2008.
• Richmond T. Violence as a Health Problem in West Philadelphia. Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Faculty Exchange on "Urban Health: Issues and Actions." May 16, 2008.
• Saffioti JM, Kadlowec JA, Sterner R, Arbogast KB, Seacrist TS, Balasubramanian S, Maltese M. Methods for Assessing Passive Cervical Spine Flexion in Human Volunteers. Fourth Annual Injury Biomechanics Symposium. Injury Biomechanics Research Laboratory at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. May 19, 2008. (Poster presentation).
• Winston F. Interactive Injury Website for the Center for Injury Research and Prevention. Presentation to The Women's Committee at CHOP. May 7, 2008.