Behavioral skills training to improve installation and use of child passenger safety restraints.

Ten adults learned to install a rear-facing car seat.

Trainers used Behavioral Skills Training: explain, show, practice, and feedback.

The team checked errors after each try and praised correct steps.

Every adult installed the rear-facing seat with zero errors after training.

When they tried a forward-facing seat later, most still made mistakes.

Skills did not move to the new task without extra help.

Zonneveld et al. (2025) now tops this work. Their 10-minute video with built-in safety checks also taught correct install, but skills moved to new cars and new seat types without extra lessons.

Novotny et al. (2020) and Novotny et al. (2023) echo the same BST steps for firearm safety. Parents watched web modules, then taught kids at home. Half of the children mastered the skills; the rest needed brief in-situ practice.

Cicchetti et al. (2014) stretched BST further. They added in-situ feedback so three children with autism could resist abduction lures. The add-on step fixed maintenance, something the car-seat study did not test.

You can cut car-seat errors fast with a short BST package.

If you need the skill to spread to new seats or cars, add video prompts or in-situ checks.

Use the newer video model for parents who cannot meet in person; save live BST for tricky cases or families who need extra practice.