Developing and Evaluating a Mobile-based Parental Education Program for Preventing Unintentional Injuries in Early Childhood: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

This randomized controlled experimental study verified the educational effect of a mobile-based parental education program for preventing unintentional early childhood injuries. From August 2019 to September 2019, 167 participants were recruited from parenting portal sites and randomly assigned to an e-learning group (n=59), an electronic document distribution (EDD) group (n=53), and a control group with no intervention (n=55). Participants self-reported data regarding their safety knowledge and behavior before and after the experiment. Each intervention group received an e-learning program and electronic educational documents for two weeks and a satisfaction survey. Using an ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) model, the relevant e-learning contents were developed with the Storyline 360 program. The collected data were analyzed using 1-way ANOVA, 2-way ANOVA, and independent t-test. Results were as follows: (1) Postintervetion, no significant differences regarding safety knowledge were observed between the e-learning group, EDD group, and control group. (2) Postintervention, statistically significant differences regarding safety behaviors were observed between the three groups: 3.52±0.28 (e-learning group), 3.51±0.28 (EDD group), and 3.32±0.25 (control group) (F=10.091, p<.001). (3) No significant differences regarding education-related satisfaction were observed. The mobile-based educational program for preventing unintentional injuries positively affected safety behavior in this study. Mobile-based parental education programs could contribute toward effectively preventing unintentional injuries in early childhood because many parents can use these without time and space constraints.