What is the mechanism of action of this treatment?

The Steering Teens Safe (STS) intervention aims to improve teen driving practices by enhancing parental communication skills. The mechanism of action involves providing parents with individualized virtual communication training and feedback on their teen's driving behavior. This approach helps parents effectively communicate safe driving practices and reinforce positive behaviors. For driving patients, especially teens, this matters because improved parental guidance and communication can lead to reduced risky driving behaviors, fewer traffic violations, and overall safer driving outcomes.

What side effects are associated with this type of intervention?

The Steering Teens Safe (STS) intervention, which focuses on enhancing parental communication skills to improve teen driving practices, does not involve pharmacological treatments and thus lacks medication-related side effects. Potential challenges include resistance from teens, inconsistent application of communication techniques by parents, and the need for ongoing reinforcement to maintain behavior changes. These are typical considerations in behavioral interventions aimed at modifying driving practices.

What prior FDA approvals exist?

There are no specific FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of driving practices, including those that focus on enhancing parental communication skills to improve teen driving. The Steering Teens Safe (STS) trial is an intervention study that aims to improve safe driving practices through behavioral strategies rather than pharmacological treatments. Therefore, the focus is on non-drug interventions such as communication training and feedback mechanisms rather than FDA-approved medications.

What other types of research exist?

Promising alternatives to the Steering Teens Safe (STS) program for improving teen driving practices include: 1) Mobile app-based interventions that provide real-time feedback and coaching on driving behaviors, 2) Virtual reality (VR) driving simulators that offer immersive, risk-free driving practice, and 3) Advanced telematics systems that monitor driving patterns and provide data-driven insights to both teens and parents. These alternatives leverage technology to enhance engagement and effectiveness in promoting safe driving habits among teens.

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Teen Driving Intervention for Risky Teen Driving

N/A

Waitlist Available

Led By Jingzhen (Ginger) Yang, PhD, MPH

Research Sponsored by Ginger Yang

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Be younger than 18 years old

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up up to one year post-study period

Awards & highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

This trial tests the STS program, which helps parents talk to their teens about safe driving. It targets teens who have committed traffic violations and uses a device to monitor driving habits. The goal is to improve teen driving safety by involving parents. Steering Teens Safe (STS) is a parent-focused program designed to improve parental communication with teens about safe driving using motivational interviewing techniques and safe driving lessons.

Who is the study for?

This trial is for teens aged 16-17 in Ohio who've been convicted of a moving violation and have a valid intermediate driver's license with car insurance. They must be the primary driver of a vehicle made after 1996, have access to a smartphone with Bluetooth, and not be enrolled in another driving study or unable to drive.

What is being tested?

The trial tests Steering Teens Safe (STS), an intervention that aims to improve teen driving safety by enhancing parent communication skills. It will compare two groups: one just gets device feedback on driving, while the other also receives virtual communication training for parents.

What are the potential side effects?

Since this is not a medical intervention, there are no traditional side effects. However, participants may experience increased stress or anxiety due to monitoring or changes in family dynamics from enhanced communication.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ up to one year post-study period

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~up to one year post-study period

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and up to one year post-study period for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Adoption of the intervention

Frequency of Parent-teen communications

Implementation fidelity

+3 more

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: Intervention GroupExperimental Treatment2 Interventions

Parents will receive STS, which will include 1) Individualized virtual communication training and a booster session delivered by a traffic safety communication specialist; and 2) An online parent-teen safe driving communication guide. In addition, the Azūga™ in-vehicle device and app will be installed as described above and all feedback features will be enabled. Three types of feedback will be provided to teens: 1) Direct audio feedback; 2) Detailed cumulative driving data; and 3) A customized weekly driving summary report. Parents in this group will receive access to the teen's cumulative driving data and a weekly driving summary report. Additionally, a wireless mini-camera will be installed on the dashboard in teen's car to identify the participating driver using facial verification technology.

Group II: Control GroupActive Control1 Intervention

The Azūga™ in-vehicle driving feedback technology will be installed.32 This driving feedback technology consists of a pager-sized device plugged into the vehicle's on-board diagnostic (OBD) port (installed in the teen's car) and a smartphone app (downloaded on the teen's smartphone). All feedback features will be disabled. Control dyads will receive no driving feedback. The parent will not receive STS. Additionally, a wireless mini-camera will be installed on the dashboard in teen's car to identify the participating driver using facial verification technology.

Treatment

First Studied

Drug Approval Stage

How many patients have taken this drug

Steering Teens Safe (STS)

2020

N/A

~180

Driving Feedback Technology.

2020

N/A

~180

Do I qualify?Apply below to find out

Research Highlights

Information in this section is not a recommendation. We encourage patients to speak with their healthcare team when evaluating any treatment decision.

Mechanism Of Action

Side Effect Profile

Prior Approvals

Other Research

The Steering Teens Safe (STS) intervention aims to improve teen driving practices by enhancing parental communication skills. The mechanism of action involves providing parents with individualized virtual communication training and feedback on their teen's driving behavior. This approach helps parents effectively communicate safe driving practices and reinforce positive behaviors. For driving patients, especially teens, this matters because improved parental guidance and communication can lead to reduced risky driving behaviors, fewer traffic violations, and overall safer driving outcomes.

Feasibility of DriveFocus™ and Driving Simulation Interventions in Young Drivers.