Analysis of factors influencing family support for child safety seat legislation based on Probit-Adversarial Interpretive Structure model

Abstract

Objectives In recent years, China’s motorization process has accelerated, urban road traffic has become increasingly complex, and the safety of children has become increasingly prominent. China aims to encourage the use of child safety seats (CSSs) and stipulates in the Law on the Protection of Minors that “Parents or other guardians of minors shall take measures, such as equipping child safety seats.” However, the utilization rate of such seats in China is still low (<5%, 2021), an important reason is the lack of mandatory legislation. This study focuses on developing cities in China that do not have mandatory legislation on the use of CSS, explores the factors that families support child seat legislation, and explores the impact of children’s feedback on the transmission of values within families and the use of CSS in family decisions. Methods Four hundred and eighty-two subjects in several neighborhoods in Changsha City participated in this survey through an online questionnaire. We use the data to do a Probit analysis to find the influencing factors of parental support for child safety seat legislation, and the Adversarial Interpretive Structure model is used to assess the hierarchy of the influencing factors and the relationship between the influence of internal factors. Results The results showed that educational level and children’s feedback are root cause factors; monthly family income, number of children, confidence level in CSS, number of cars, and others’ behavior are intermediate factors; gender, penalty support, and subjective perception expenditure are surface factors. Conclusion Finally, the results have focused recommendations for the direction of child safety seat legislation, focused recommendations for law enforcement, advocacy, and educational interventions, and recommendations for installation training before the use of CSS.