Empowering Preschool Children With Personal Safety Skills

Empowering Preschool Children With Personal Safety Skills: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Multiple Intelligences-Based Education Program

Preschool children are vulnerable to preventable accidents due to limited hazard awareness. This randomized controlled study evaluated the effectiveness of a Multiple Intelligences Theory-based Personal Safety Education Program (MIT-based PSEP) on preschool children's safety knowledge and skills. Sixty children aged 4-5 years were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=30) or a control group (n=30). The intervention group received eight interactive MIT-based sessions, while the control group received routine education. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention using the Personal Safety and First Aid Subscale and analyzed with mixed-design ANOVA.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 4-5 years enrolled in the participating preschool
• Ability to speak and understand Turkish
• Written informed consent obtained from parents/legal guardians
• Availability of a parent/legal guardian to complete the outcome questionnaires at baseline and post-intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 3 years
• Children with incomplete baseline or post-intervention outcome data
• Parents/legal guardians who did not return the questionnaires at baseline or post-intervention