The influence of demographic factors, processing speed and short-term memory on Iranian children's pedestrian skills

ObjectivesYoung children, children from lower socioeconomic status and boys have the highest risk of pedestrian injury. This study examined the relationship between cognition and specific pedestrian skills of these groups of children in Iran.Methods180 Iranian children aged 7 and 11 years from lower- and higher-socioeconomic status backgrounds participated in the study. A task to identify safe and dangerous road crossing sites and to plan a safe route to cross a road was administered to measure pedestrian skills. Coding and Digit Span subscales of WISC-R were administered to assess processing speed and short-term memory.ResultsIdentifying safe/dangerous road crossing-sites and safe route-construction abilities increased with age. Boys scored higher than girls when identifying road crossing sites but did not differ to girls in route-construction. Lower socioeconomic status children scored higher than higher socioeconomic status children on the route-construction task. Girls from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds scored lowest on the identifying safe/dangerous sites task and girls from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds scored lowest on the route construction task. Speed of processing was a significant predictor for identifying crossing sites and socioeconomic status was a significant predictor for route-construction.ConclusionsPedestrian skills are complex and influenced by age, gender, socioeconomic status and cognitive development. Results are discussed in relation to child pedestrian safety research in Iran and road safety education for children.

► We examined effects of demographic factors on Iranian children's pedestrian skills.
► We examined the role of cognition in the pedestrian skills of Iranian children.
► Age, gender and socioeconomic status influenced the pedestrian skills of children.
► Cognition was related to the ability to identify road crossing sites.
► Socioeconomic status was related to the ability to plan a safe route to cross roads.