Abstract
Introduction: Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, especially among children in low-income and middle-income countries, including Iran. Therefore, this study evaluated the effectiveness of a PRECEDE-PROCEED model-based educational intervention on safe street-crossing behavior among primary school students in Semirom, Isfahan Province, Iran.
Methods: A field trial was conducted involving 80 students aged 6–12 years, equally allocated to the intervention and control groups via multi-stage random sampling in 2023-2024. The intervention comprised five structured educational sessions using participatory methods, visual aids, and practical demonstrations, designed to enhance knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors concerning road safety. Moreover, pre-intervention and post-intervention data were collected using validated questionnaires and environmental checklists. Ultimately, data were analyzed by SPSS 22 using t-tests, Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square tests, and multiple linear regression.
Results: The intervention group confirmed significant post-intervention improvements in knowledge, enabling factors, reinforcing factors, and safe behavior scores. Additionally, attitude and peer influence emerged as essential predictors of behavior, while radio and television represented a negative association. Notably, boys demonstrated higher gains in safe crossing behavior compared to girls. Eventually, environmental audits revealed partial remediation of infrastructural deficits.
Conclusion: The PRECEDE-PROCEED-based intervention significantly improved students’ road safety behaviors. The findings support integrating structured, gender-sensitive education into school curricula, along with media and infrastructure improvements.