National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Contracts Management Branch, 6100 Bldg., Suite 7A07, 6100- Executive Blvd MSC 7510, Bethesda, MD 20892-7510

A -- YOUNG DRIVERS INTERVENTION STUDY SOL NICHD-DESPR-98-06 DUE 051398 POC Charles Newman, Phone: 301-496-4611, Fax: 301-402-3676 WEB: NICHD Homepage, http://www.nih.gov/nichd/hribs.htm. E-MAIL: Use this address to contact the NICHD Contract Specialist, Charles Newman, via e-mail., cn43m@nih.gov. 100% Small Business Set-aside. The National Institute of Child Health Human Development (NICHD) is planning to award a contract for a "Young Drivers' Intervention Study." Motor vehicle crashes is the major cause of death and disability among adolescents. Sixteen-year-old drivers are 20 times more likely to have a serious crash as older drivers, due mainly to driving inexperience and risk taking. Some states have attempted to address the problems of inexperience and adolescent risky driving behavior by adopting graduated licensing systems in which young drivers progress to a regular driver's license by first obtaining a learner's permit and then completing a provisional or restricted licensing period. While graduated licensing systems are promising, their primary advantage is providing parents with the means to control the driving of their adolescent children. Therefore, facilitating parents establishment of clear expectations, rules, and restrictions regarding driving privileges is a potentially important complement to graduated licensing systems. The objectives of this research are to (1) examine associations between parental actions to monitor and control the driving behavior of their teenage children and driving behavior and motor vehicle crashes; and (2) test the efficacy of an educational intervention designed to facilitate the negotiation between parents and their children of a contract for safe driving that is consistent with the provisions of graduated licensing. The resultant contractor will recruit a sample of teenagers applying for their learner's permits and their parents to participate in the study. Each participating teen and a parent will be interviewed by the contractor upon recruitment and again at 6 months, 12-months and 24 months. Parent-teen dyads will be assigned randomly to the basic information comparison condition or the special treatment condition. A trained health educator will provide parents with a model parent-teen contract, describe the use of the contracts, and methods for negotiating and managing the contract. This brief, interpersonal intervention will take place at the driver's licensing site or elsewhere by arrangement. The contact between he health educator and the parent should be motivational, informative, and instructional in a why that is practical for all participating parents. Parents and teens will be interviewed again at six and eighteen months by telephone. The outcomes of the study are the teenagers driving experience and behavior. Driving records of the traffic citations and crash involvements of each participating teenager will be examined. Small Businesses that believe they have the capabilities necessary to conduct this research study, may request a copy of Request for Proposal(s) NICHD-DESPR-98-06. The Request for Proposal, NICHD-DESPR-98-06, will be available on or about March 13, 1998. The closing date for receipt of the Request for Proposal(s) will be May 13, 1998. Requests for copies of the Request for Proposal(s) should be sent to Charles Newman, ContractSpecialist, Contracts management Branch, NICHD, 6100 Executive Building, Suite 7A07-MSC 7510, Bethesda, MD 20892-7510. Please note, the government reserves the right to cancel the requirement at any time prior to contract award. SEE Note 1. (0057)

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