Adolescent and young adult crash risk: sensation seeking, substance use propensity and substance use behaviors

Adolescent Substance Use at the Intersection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

BACKGROUND

Substance use in adolescence is associated with multiple negative outcomes. Lesbian, gay, or bisexual or transgender or nonbinary (TNB) youth, and those who question their sexual orientation or gender, are more likely to engage in substance use than straight or cisgender youth. However, the extant literature largely considers sexual orientation and gender identity independently. Accordingly, this study examines the associations between the intersectional identities of sexual orientation and gender and substance use to identify those with the greatest need for prevention interventions.

METHODS

Data were from 36 504 high school students aged 14 to 18 years (mean = 15.7, SD = 1.18) enrolled in the 2019 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey using a statewide stratified random sampling design. Logistic regression models examined the associations between intersectional sexual orientation and gender on marijuana use, prescription drug misuse, and polysubstance use, as well as depression and violence victimization (eg, forced sex, partner violence).

RESULTS

Adjusted odds of substance use for sexual and gender minority youth varied by intersectional identity and substance. The largest effect sizes were seen for prescription drug misuse, especially among those questioning their gender and sexual orientation and heterosexuals either questioning their gender or who identified as TNB. Effect sizes for marijuana use and polysubstance use were highest for TNB and heterosexual participants. Depression and violence victimization were significantly associated with each substance use outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions to reduce substance use in these populations may benefit from targeted interventions for youth with different intersectional identities, and a focus on violence prevention and depression screening and treatment.

Avoidance Self-Efficacy: Personal Indicators of Risky Sex and Substance Use among At-Risk Youth

Adolescent substance use (SU) is associated with risky sex behavior and sexually transmitted infections and is a risk factor for subsequent risky sex decisions. Based on a sample of 1,580 youth in residential SU treatment, this study investigated how a static factor (race) and two dynamic personal factors (risk-taking, assertiveness) contributed to adolescents' perceived ability to avoid high-risk SU and sex behavior (avoidance self-efficacy). Results showed that race correlated with risk-taking and assertiveness, with White youth reporting higher ratings of assertiveness and risk-taking. Self-reported assertiveness and risk-taking also predicted SU and risky sex avoidance. This study underscores the importance of race and personal factors in relation to adolescents' confidence in avoiding high-risk situations.

Exploring the facilitators and barriers to high-risk behaviors among school transportation drivers: a qualitative study

Background

School transportation (ST) crashes are associated with serious adverse consequences, particularly for students in developing countries. High-risk behaviors (HRBs) of ST drivers are a major factor contributing to ST crashes. This study aimed at exploring the facilitators and barriers to HRBs among ST drivers.

Methods

This qualitative study was conducted in 2019–2020. Participants were ST drivers, students, parents, and school staff purposively selected from Tehran, Iran. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions and were concurrently analyzed through conventional content analysis.

Findings

Participants were fifteen ST drivers with a mean age of 45 ± 10.2 years and 24 students, parents, and school staff with a mean age of 28.62 ± 16.08 years. The facilitators and barriers to HRBs came into five main categories, namely previous experiences of HRBs, perceived gains and risks of HRBs, motivating and inhibiting feelings and emotions, positive and negative subjective norms, and perceived mastery in driving.

Conclusion

A wide range of facilitators and barriers can affect HRBs among ST drivers. Strategies for preventing HRBs among ST drivers should be multidimensional and individualized and should focus on strengthening the barriers and removing the facilitators to HRBs.

Self-Assessed Driving Skills and Risky Driver Behaviour Among Young Drivers: A Cross-Sectional Study

The first few years of driving is a critical period when driving skills develop and the driving style is established. While the actual driving skills improve during the first few years of driving, a novice driver's view of himself/herself as a safe and/or skilful driver also develops rapidly. The aim of this study was to investigate self-evaluated driver safety and perceptual-motor skills among different age groups of young drivers, along with the relationships between self-evaluated skills and driving behaviour. The sample consisted of a stratified random sample of 18-25-year-old drivers from the Finnish driving licence register. The questionnaires, which included the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI), Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) and background information, were completed and returned by a total of 1,058 participants. While female drivers assessed their safety skills to be higher than their perceptual-motor skills, the opposite was true for males. In both sexes, perceptual-motor skills increased, and safety skills decreased with experience. Perceptual-motor skills correlated negatively with safety skills, lapses and errors, but positively with aggressive and ordinary violations. Safety skills correlated negatively with all DBQ variables. Safety orientation seems to be most clearly reflected in deliberate aberrant driving behaviours. Sex differences were observed in the development of behaviours and skills, perceptual-motor skills only increased with age among males, while safety skills decreased through experience among both men and women. Results showed that driving experience was strongly related to both driving style (violations, errors) and the drivers' view of their skills (safety orientation), highlighting the importance of the first few years of driving.

Risk‐Taking Patterns of Children, Associated Cognitive Weaknesses, and Prevention of Negative Outcomes

Objective

Accidents, drug use, and unsafe sex associated with greater propensity for risk‐taking are leading causes of illness and death among adolescents. This study aimed to help identify and further characterize children with maladaptive risk‐taking to improve primary prevention interventions.

Methods

Two scores from the Bubblegum Analog Risk‐Taking Task for Children (BART‐C), total points and average inflations of unpopped bubbles, were used in a cluster analysis to identify distinct patterns of risk‐taking among 6,267 kindergarten through eighth‐grade children. Clusters were compared with the Flanker Test of Focused Attention, the Go/No‐Go test of inhibition, and the List Sorting Working Memory Test.

Results

Both BART‐C scores made significant (p<0.001) contributions in defining three clusters of children: reckless, risk avoidant, and adaptive risk‐taking. Clusters differed significantly on Flanker Test measures of incongruent accuracy (p=0.004) and reaction time (p<0.001), Go/No‐Go inhibition (p=0.001), and List Sorting Working Memory Test scores (p<0.001). The reckless cluster had lower Flanker accuracy and Go/No‐Go inhibition than did the other groups and lower working memory than the adaptive risk‐taking group. Compared with adaptive risk‐takers, the risk‐avoidant group was slower (p<0.001), showed a nonsignificant trend toward greater accuracy on the Flanker test, and had lower working memory scores (p<0.001).

Conclusions

The BART‐C defined two maladaptive risk‐taking clusters: reckless and risk avoidant. Significant differences in cognitive function between these groups and the adaptive risk‐taking group provides external validation of and further characterizes the clusters. Early intervention may prevent future health‐compromising behaviors among reckless children and may promote fuller learning and development among risk‐avoidant children.

Risk‐taking is a part of adaptive human development but may evolve to maladaptive risk‐taking with detrimental effects on future health and well‐being.

Distinct patterns of maladaptive risk‐taking (i.e., recklessness and risk‐avoidance) are significantly associated with cognitive weaknesses.

Identifying children with different maladaptive risk‐taking behaviors and cognitive weaknesses can help primary prevention programs reduce risk‐associated behaviors with negative health consequences.

Does pregnancy make women more cautious and calm? The impact of pregnancy on risk decision-making

During pregnancy, a variety of psychological and physical changes occur in women, which may have different impacts on risk decision-making involving different processes systems. Based on the dual-process theories of decision-making, using the Columbia Card Task (CCT) as the experimental paradigm, which can trigger deliberative versus affective decision-makings respectively, this study recruited 240 pregnant women and non-pregnant women aged 20-40 as the experimental group and control group respectively, investigated how pregnancy impacted on women’s risk decision-making, as well as the possible roles played by a series of psychological factors (impulsivity; sensation seeking; emotional state) and physiological factors (gestational age; human Chorionic Gonadotropin, hCG; progesterone) in the above process. The results were as follows: (a) Compared with non-pregnant women, pregnant women tended to choose fewer cards, indicating a higher risk aversion consistent with a more conservative strategy, both in cold and hot CCTs; in both cold and hot CCTs, compared with pregnant women in the second trimester of pregnancy, pregnant women in the first and the third trimesters of pregnancy had a higher risk aversion tendency. (b) Pregnant women had lower levels of all dimensions of sensation seeking than did non-pregnant women, pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy had lower levels of Disinhibition (DIS) and Boredom Susceptibility (BS) of sensation seeking than pregnant women in the first and the second trimesters of pregnancy, but there was no significant difference in levels of emotional state or impulsivity between pregnant woman and non-pregnant women. (c) DIS of sensation seeking played a fully mediating role in the impact of pregnancy on hot CCT performance. (d) Both hCG and progesterone levels were negatively correlated with pregnant women’s hot CCT performances. (e) Positive emotion played a partial mediating role in the effect of progesterone on hot CCT performance of pregnant women.

A cognitive modeling analysis of risk in sequential choice tasks

There are many ways to measure how people manage risk when they make decisions. A standard approach is to measure risk propensity using self-report questionnaires. An alternative approach is to use decision-making tasks that involve risk and uncertainty, and apply cognitive models of task behavior to infer parameters that measure people’s risk propensity. We report the results of a within-participants experiment that used three questionnaires and four decision-making tasks. The questionnaires are the Risk Propensity Scale, the Risk Taking Index, and the Domain Specific Risk Taking Scale. The decision-making tasks are the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, the preferential choice gambling task, the optimal stopping problem, and the bandit problem. We analyze the relationships between the risk measures and cognitive parameters using Bayesian inferences about the patterns of correlation, and using a novel cognitive latent variable modeling approach. The results show that people’s risk propensity is generally consistent within different conditions for each of the decision-making tasks. There is, however, little evidence that the way people manage risk generalizes across the tasks, or that it corresponds to the questionnaire measures.

Sensation Seeking's Differential Role in Face-to-Face and Cyberbullying: Taking Perceived Contextual Properties Into Account

Several studies have demonstrated a relationship between sensation seeking and aggression. However, few studies have examined the relationships between sensation seeking and face-to-face and cyberbullying. The few existing studies assessed sensation seeking with items partly referring to antisocial behavior. This could have led to tautological findings. Moreover, contextual properties that could account for differences between bullying contexts (face-to-face, cyberspace) were neglected. Therefore, the first goal of this study was to investigate the relationships between sensation seeking and face-to-face and cyberbullying in a way that avoids tautological findings. Thus, sensation seeking was operationalized as a motivational disposition encompassing the dimensions "need for stimulation" and "avoidance of rest." Furthermore, students' perceptions of the contextual properties of the face-to-face and cyber context and their relevance for the relationships between the dimensions of sensation seeking and face-to-face and cyberbullying were examined. A total of 523 students (M age = 17.83; SD = 2.13; ♀ = 37.4%) from four vocational schools answered online questionnaires on face-to-face and cyberbullying involvement, perceived contextual properties, and the two dimensions of sensation seeking during regular school hours. Structural equation modeling revealed positive associations between need for stimulation and both forms of bullying. Avoidance of rest, however, was positively related to cyberbullying only. The differences in all regression slopes between contexts were statistically significant. That is, the positive associations with the two dimensions of sensation seeking were stronger for cyberbullying than for face-to-face bullying. Dependent t-tests revealed differences in students' perceptions of contextual properties between contexts (face-to-face, cyberspace). Nevertheless, no significant relationships between either dimension of sensation seeking and either form of bullying were moderated by any perceived contextual property. Our results demonstrate sensation seeking's greater role in cyberbullying and confirm differences in perceived contextual properties between the face-to-face and cyber context. Furthermore, the fact that no perceived contextual property moderated the significant relationships between the dimensions of sensation seeking and face-to-face or cyberbullying shows the relatively greater role of a single person factor compared to single contextual properties.

Characterizing the Learning-to-Drive Period for Teens with Attention Deficits

OBJECTIVE

Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death among teenagers, accounting for approximately 1 in 3 deaths for this age group. A number of factors increase crash risk for teen drivers, including vulnerability to distraction, poor judgment, propensity to engage in risky driving behaviors, and inexperience. These factors may be of particular concern and exacerbated among teens learning to drive with attention deficits. To our knowledge, our study is among the first to systematically investigate the experiences of novice adolescent drivers with attention deficits during the learner period of a Graduated Drivers Licensing program.

METHOD

Survey and on-road driving assessment (ODA) data were used to examine parent and teen confidence in the teens' driving ability, driving practice frequency, diversity of driving practice environments, and driving errors among teens with attention deficits as defined by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis or parent-reported trouble staying focused (TSF).

RESULTS

When teens' driving skill was evaluated at the conclusion of the learner period, teens with ADHD exhibited more driving errors than their typically developing (TD) counterparts (p = 0.034). Teens with TSF were more likely to have their ODA terminated (p = 0.019), had marginally lower overall driving scores (p = 0.098), and exhibited more critical driving errors (p = 0.01) compared with TD teens.

CONCLUSION

These findings may have implications on the learning-to-drive period for adolescents with attention deficits. Adjustments may need to be made to the learner period for teens with attention deficits to account for attention impairments and to better instill safe driving behavior.

Challenges and common weaknesses in case-control studies on drug use and road traffic injury based on drug testing of biological samples

PURPOSE

To determine and discuss common weaknesses and errors in case-control studies on the association between drug use and road traffic crash injury among drivers and recommend improvements for future studies.

METHODS

A search for case-control studies published between 2000 and 2016 was performed using PubMed and other databases in addition to manual search. The used methodologies were compared with requirements and recommendations for case-control studies as well as current knowledge on the interpretation of drug concentrations in biological samples.

RESULTS

Seventeen studies were identified. The major difficulties in the studies were related to likely selection bias, information bias, and confounding. In some studies, the definition of drug exposure was different for controls than for cases, generating potentially serious errors in the odds ratio estimations. Other weaknesses include lacking explanation of the assessment of drug exposure, missing covariates, lacking description of statistical methods, and lack of discussion of bias and confounding.

CONCLUSIONS

Many of the observed challenges and weaknesses can be overcome or reduced. Recommendations for future studies are presented.

The role of individual and personality factors in controlling risky behaviours related to AIDS: Proposing a causal model

BACKGROUND

Investigating previous studies show that personality traits have an important role in controlling risky behaviours related to AIDS; therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between AIDS health literacy, personality traits and mental health and controlling risky behaviours related to AIDS through self-efficacy.

METHODS

The statistical population includes all the young people in western provinces of Iran, 2015. Data analysis was carried out for a sample of 756 participants (59% female).

RESULTS

The results show that except for the socializing trait, all the other variables are related to controlling risky behaviours. In addition, variables of health literacy related to AIDS, mental health, activity, impulsive sensation seeking and hostility have a direct relation to controlling risky behaviours. Also, the predicting behaviours can predict 62% of the variance in controlling risky behaviours related to AIDS. The analysis results show that health literacy has an indirect impact on controlling risky behaviours through self-efficacy. In other words, health literacy related to AIDS leads to controlling risky behaviours when self-efficacy is high for controlling risky behaviours.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results, it is recommended that the role of self-efficacy in controlling risky behaviours be considered as a strategy for preventing AIDS. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Unique and interactive effects of impulsivity facets on reckless driving and driving under the influence in a high-risk young adult sample

Risky driving behaviors are disproportionately high among young adults and impulsivity is a robust risk factor. Recent conceptualizations have proposed multidimensional facets of impulsivity comprised of negative urgency, premeditation, perseverance, sensation seeking, and positive urgency (UPPS-P model). Prior studies have found these facets are associated with risky driving behaviors in college student samples, but no prior studies have examined these facets in clinical samples. This study examined the unique and interactive effects of UPPS-P impulsivity facets on past-year risky driving behaviors in a sample of high-risk young adults (ages 18-30 years) with a history of substance use and antisocial behavior and their siblings (n=1,100). Multilevel Poisson regressions indicated that sensation seeking and negative urgency were uniquely and positively associated with both frequency of past-year reckless driving and driving under the influence. Moreover, lack of premeditation was uniquely and positively associated with reckless driving, whereas lack of perseverance was uniquely and positively associated with driving under the influence. Furthermore, lack of premeditation moderated and strengthened the positive association between sensation seeking and driving under the influence. These study findings suggest that assessing multiple facets of trait impulsivity could facilitate targeted prevention efforts among young adults with a history of externalizing psychopathology.

Off-Road Vehicle Crash Risk during the Six Months after a Birthday

Background

Off-road vehicles are popular and thrilling for youth outside urban settings, yet sometimes result in a serious crash that requires emergency medical care. The relation between birthdays and the subsequent risk of an off-road vehicle crash is unknown.

Methods

We conducted a population-based before-and-after longitudinal analysis of youth who received emergency medical care in Ontario, Canada, due to an off-road vehicle crash between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2014. We identified youth injured in an off-road vehicle crash through population-based health-care databases of individuals treated for medical emergencies. We included youth aged 19 years or younger, distinguishing juniors (age ≤ 15 years) from juveniles (age ≥ 16 years).

Results

A total 32,777 youths accounted for 35,202 emergencies due to off-road vehicle crashes within six months of their nearest birthday. Comparing the six months following a birthday to the six months prior to a birthday, crashes increased by about 2.7 events per 1000 juniors (18.3 vs 21.0, p < 0.0001). The difference equaled a 15% increase in relative risk (95% confidence interval 12 to 18). The increase extended for months following a birthday, was not observed for traffic crashes due to on-road vehicles, and was partially explained by a lack of helmet wearing. As expected, off-road crash risks did not change significantly following a birthday among juveniles (19.2 vs 19.8, p = 0.61).

Conclusions

Off-road vehicle crashes leading to emergency medical care increase following a birthday in youth below age 16 years. An awareness of this association might inform public health messages, gift-giving practices, age-related parental permissions, and prevention by primary care physicians.

Peer Passenger Norms and Pressure: Experimental Effects on Simulated Driving Among Teenage Males

OBJECTIVE

Serious crashes are more likely when teenage drivers have teenage passengers. One likely source of this increased risk is social influences on driving performance. This driving simulator study experimentally tested the effects of peer influence (i.e., risk-accepting compared to risk-averse peer norms reinforced by pressure) on the driving risk behavior (i.e., risky driving behavior and inattention to hazards) of male teenagers. It was hypothesized that peer presence would result in greater driving risk behavior (i.e., increased driving risk and reduced latent hazard anticipation), and that the effect would be greater when the peer was risk-accepting.

METHODS

Fifty-three 16- and 17-year-old male participants holding a provisional U.S., State of Michigan driver license were randomized to either a risk-accepting or risk-averse condition. Each participant operated a driving simulator while alone and separately with a confederate peer passenger. The simulator world included scenarios designed to elicit variation in driving risk behavior with a teen passenger present in the vehicle.

RESULTS

Significant interactions of passenger presence (passenger present vs. alone) by risk condition (risk-accepting vs. risk-averse) were observed for variables measuring: failure to stop at yellow light intersections (Incident Rate Ratio (IRR)=2.16; 95% Confidence Interval [95CI]=1.06, 4.43); higher probability of overtaking (IRR=10.17; 95CI=1.43, 73.35); shorter left turn latency (IRR=0.43; 95CI=0.31,0.60); and, failure to stop at an intersection with an occluded stop sign (IRR=7.90; 95CI=2.06,30.35). In all cases, greater risky driving by participants was more likely with a risk-accepting passenger versus a risk-averse passenger present and a risk-accepting passenger present versus driving alone.

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure of male teenagers to a risk-accepting confederate peer passenger who applied peer influence increased simulated risky driving behavior compared with exposure to a risk-averse confederate peer passenger or driving alone. These results are consistent with the contention that variability in teenage risky driving is in part explained by social influences.

Do as I say, not as I do: Distracted driving behavior of teens and their parents

INTRODUCTION

Driver distraction is an important contributor to crash risk. Teenage driver distraction can be influenced by the attitudes and behaviors of parents. This study examined teens' and their parents' engagement in distracting behavior while driving.

METHOD

Survey data were collected from a national sample of 403 parent-teen dyads using random-digit dialing telephone interviews.

RESULTS

Results demonstrated few parent or teen sex differences in distracting behavior engagement while driving, or in their perceptions of each others' behavior. Parents and teens' frequencies of distracting behavior engagement were positively correlated. Parents' and teens' perceptions of each others' distracting behavior engagement while driving exceeded their own selfreports. Finally, the likelihood that teens reported engaging in distracting behavior while driving was more strongly associated with their perceptions of their parents' distracting behavior than by parents' self reports of their own behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that parents' examples of driving behavior are an important influence on teen driving behavior, but potentially more important are teens' perceptions of their parents' behaviors.

Early Substance Use and Subsequent DUI in Adolescents

OBJECTIVE

Little is known about risk factors in early adolescence that lead to driving under the influence (DUI) and riding with a drinking driver (RWDD). In a diverse group of adolescents, we longitudinally explored the influence of alcohol and marijuana (AM) use, AM beliefs, and peer and family factors (including familism) on DUI/RWDD in high school.

METHODS

We conducted 3 surveys 2 years apart of 1189 students recruited from 16 middle schools in Southern California. We used multivariable models to evaluate the effects of AM use, AM beliefs, and peer and family factors at ages 12 and 14 on DUI/RWDD at age 16.

RESULTS

At age 12, adolescents with more positive beliefs about marijuana (odds ratio [OR] = 1.63, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20-2.20) and more ability to resist marijuana offers (OR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.22-2.92) had significantly higher risk of DUI/RWDD 4 years later. At age 14, youth with more past month alcohol use (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.07-4.11), positive beliefs about marijuana (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.31-2.13), exposure to peer AM use (alcohol: OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.02; marijuana: OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.28-4.53), and family marijuana use (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.12-2.11) had higher risk of DUI/RWDD at age 16.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate a need to target adolescents as young as sixth grade at multiple levels to help prevent DUI/RWDD in high school. Given recent changes in legislation in several states, research should begin to focus on the distinction between DUI/RWDD of AM.

Alcohol and marijuana use patterns associated with unsafe driving among U.S. high school seniors: high use frequency, concurrent use, and simultaneous use

OBJECTIVE

This article examines noncausal associations between high school seniors' alcohol and marijuana use status and rates of self-reported unsafe driving in the past 12 months.

METHOD

Analyses used data from 72,053 students collected through annual surveys of nationally representative cross-sectional samples of U.S. 12th-grade students from 1976 to 2011. Two aspects of past-12-month alcohol and marijuana use were examined: (a) use frequency and (b) status as a nonuser, single substance user, concurrent user, or simultaneous user. Measures of past-12-month unsafe driving included any tickets/warnings or accidents, as well as tickets/warnings or accidents following alcohol or marijuana use. Analyses explored whether an individual's substance use frequency and simultaneous use status had differential associations with their rate of unsafe driving.

RESULTS

Higher substance use frequency (primarily alcohol use frequency) was significantly and positively associated with unsafe driving. The rate of engaging in any unsafe driving was also significantly and positively associated with simultaneous use status, with the highest rate associated with simultaneous use, followed by concurrent use, followed by use of alcohol alone. Individuals who reported simultaneous use most or every time they used marijuana had the highest likelihood of reporting unsafe driving following either alcohol or marijuana use.

CONCLUSIONS

This article expands the knowledge on individual risk factors associated with unsafe driving among teens. Efforts to educate U.S. high school students (especially substance users), parents, and individuals involved in prevention programming and driver's education about the increased risks associated with various forms of drug use status may be useful.

Validation of the Chinese-language brief sensation seeking scale: implications for risky riding behaviors of parental motorcyclists and their child passengers

Motorcycles are the leading cause of road traffic deaths in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia, where Mandarin Chinese is the most commonly used language. Sensation seeking (SS) is reported to correlate with many risky motor vehicle behaviors, and therefore a culture-adapted Chinese instrument is needed to assess this personality trait in Chinese-speaking motorcycling populations. The standard front and blinded-backward process was carried out to formulate the Chinese-language Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (C-BSSS). 193 parental motorcyclists who rode with their young children were interviewed concerning their SS levels, demographics, riding behaviors, and the driving/riding experiences. A random sample of 30 subjects was re-interviewed 1-2 weeks later to examine the test-retest reliability. Psychometric analyses revealed satisfactory item characteristics, internal consistency, intraobserver reliability, and interobserver reliability. Additionally, parental motorcyclists who had the following characteristics were more likely to be the high sensation seekers (SSers), including male, younger age, presenting risky motor vehicle behaviors of themselves (e.g., higher riding speeds, operating after drinking, using a mobile phone while operating, and receiving a traffic ticket), and carrying child passengers who demonstrated dangerous motorcycling behaviors (e.g., a younger age, non-helmeted, and overloaded). We conclude that the C-BSSS is a useful and reliable measure of SS for ethnic Chinese populations. This instrument may be helpful to develop the future prevention strategy of motorcycle injuries in Chinese parental motorcyclists and their young child passengers.

Sensation seeking and drunk driving: the mediational role of social norms and self-efficacy

The aim of this work was to examine the role of sensation seeking in drunk driving by youths, and the potential mediational effect of social, cognitive and emotional variables on their relationship. To this end, a survey was conducted on 274 drivers (164 females and 110 males) aged 24.36±2.96 years (range 18-30 years). The results obtained confirm the significance of sensation seeking to drunk driving by youths and the mediating role of biased self-efficacy perceptions in their relationship. The important practical implications of this finding on the development of effective interventions to prevent the risks of drunk driving in youths are discussed.

Social norms and risk perception: predictors of distracted driving behavior among novice adolescent drivers

PURPOSE

Adolescent drivers are at elevated crash risk due to distracted driving behavior (DDB). Understanding parental and peer influences on adolescent DDB may aid future efforts to decrease crash risk. We examined the influence of risk perception, sensation seeking, as well as descriptive and injunctive social norms on adolescent DDB using the theory of normative social behavior.

METHODS

403 adolescents (aged 16-18 years) and their parents were surveyed by telephone. Survey instruments measured self-reported sociodemographics, DDB, sensation seeking, risk perception, descriptive norms (perceived parent DDB, parent self-reported DDB, and perceived peer DDB), and injunctive norms (parent approval of DDB and peer approval of DDB). Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to predict the influence of descriptive and injunctive social norms, risk perception, and sensation seeking on adolescent DDB.

RESULTS

92% of adolescents reported regularly engaging in DDB. Adolescents perceived that their parents and peers participated in DDB more frequently than themselves. Adolescent risk perception, parent DDB, perceived parent DDB, and perceived peer DDB were predictive of adolescent DDB in the regression model, but parent approval and peer approval of DDB were not predictive. Risk perception and parental DDB were stronger predictors among males, whereas perceived parental DDB was stronger for female adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescent risk perception and descriptive norms are important predictors of adolescent distracted driving. More study is needed to understand the role of injunctive normative influences on adolescent DDB. Effective public health interventions should address parental role modeling, parental monitoring of adolescent driving, and social marketing techniques that correct misconceptions of norms related to around driver distraction and crash risk.

Adolescence, attention allocation, and driving safety

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading source of morbidity and mortality in adolescents in the United States and the developed world. Inadequate allocation of attention to the driving task and to driving hazards are important sources of adolescent crashes. We review major explanations for these attention failures with particular focus on the roles that brain immaturity and lack of driving experience play in causing attention problems. The review suggests that the potential for overcoming inexperience and immaturity with training to improve attention to both the driving task and hazards is substantial. Nevertheless, there are large individual differences in both attentional abilities and risky driving tendencies that pose challenges to novice driver policies. Research that can provide evidence-based direction for such policies is urgently needed.

Commentary: why is the odds ratio for involvement in serious road traffic accident among drunk drivers in Norway and Finland higher than in other countries?

OBJECTIVE

Recent Norwegian and Finnish studies have found high odds ratios for serious or fatal injury in road traffic accidents among drivers after drinking alcohol. In this report we have compared the odds ratios with results from studies in other countries.

METHODS

A literature review was conducted.

RESULTS

The odds ratios were significantly higher than in countries where drunk driving is more common.

CONCLUSION

The calculated odds ratios are not only related to alcohol use or blood alcohol concentration per se but also related to the study design-for example, the inclusion of nonculpable drivers among cases-and confounding factors not included in statistical analysis; for example, risk-taking behavior. Those two issues may contribute to explaining why the reported odds ratios are higher for Norway and Finland.

Sexual sensation seeking, co-occurring sex and alcohol use, and sexual risk behavior among adolescents in treatment for substance use problems

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated relations between sexual sensation seeking, co-occurring sex and alcohol use, and sexual risk behaviors (eg, unprotected intercourse and multiple sex partners) among adolescents receiving treatment for substance abuse problems.

METHOD

The ethnically diverse sample included 394 adolescents recruited from outpatient treatment (280 males; Mage  = 16.33 years, SDage  = 1.15). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test direct and indirect paths between sexual sensation seeking and sexual risk behaviors via the frequency of co-occurring sex and alcohol use. Conditional indirect effects by gender were also tested.

RESULTS

Analyses identified significant effects of sexual sensation seeking on co-occurring sex and alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors. The path from co-occurring sex and alcohol use to unprotected intercourse was significantly stronger among adolescent girls, suggesting a mediation effect moderated by gender. No gender difference was found for the indirect path from sexual sensation seeking and number of past year sexual partners via co-occurring sex and alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS

Selected prevention efforts are needed to promote HIV risk reduction among adolescents in substance abuse treatment. The documented conditional indirect effect for unprotected intercourse suggests that HIV prevention programs should pay special attention to gender-specific patterns of alcohol use and sexual risk behavior when tailoring program content. (Am J Addict 2013; 22:197-205).

Discriminant Profile of Young Adulthood Driving Behavior among Brazilian Drivers

The aim of this article was to describe the driving behavior profile of drivers aged 18 to 25 years old. Four hundred young adults were interviewed, 320 (80%) of them male and 80 (20%) female. Cluster analysis identified a group characterized by sensation-seeking behavior (Cluster 1), a group that did not show any risky driving behavior (Cluster 2), and a group engaged in transgressive behavior and driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (Cluster 3). Discriminant analysis classified successfully and correctly 81.3% of the young adults into their original profiles. Function 1 distinguished cluster 1 from clusters 2 and 3, on the basis of the following factors: higher frequency of alcohol consumption, intrusive behavior, and motorcycle riding, as well as younger age, more aggressive behavior, and lower education level. Function 2 distinguished cluster 3 from cluster 1 and 2, especially as to higher amounts of alcohol consumption, higher frequency of marijuana use and delinquent behavior, larger number of traffic tickets and motor vehicle accidents, higher paternal education level, which were the variables with discriminant values above .20. Characteristics of vulnerability were identified, especially those related to alcohol consumption, drug use, and externalizing issues.

Changing mobility patterns and road mortality among pre-license teens in a late licensing country: an epidemiological study

Background

Whereas the safety of teens in early licensing countries has been extensively studied, little is known about the safety of pre-license teens in late licensing countries, where these teens also may be at risk. This risk exists because of the combination of a) increasing use of travel modes with a high injury risk, such as bicycles and mopeds, b) inexperience, and c) teens’ developmental stage, known to be associated with risk taking and novelty seeking, especially among males. To explore the magnitude and nature of pre-license road risk, this study analysed epidemiological data from the Netherlands, and hypothesized that in this late licensing country, ‘independent travel’ and the use of riskier modes of transport increase among pre-license teens 10 to 17 years of age, resulting in higher fatality rates, with ‘experience’ and ‘gender’ as risk modifying factors.

Method

National travel and fatality data of pre-license adolescents in the Netherlands were analysed by traffic role (cyclist, pedestrian, car passenger and moped rider), and compared to a younger age group (0–9 years) and an older age group (18+ years).

Results

The study of travel data showed that teens migrate from being car occupants to being users of riskier modes of transport, specifically bicycles and mopeds. This migration resulted in a strong rise in road fatalities, illustrating the importance of mobility patterns for understanding changes in road fatalities in this age group. The data further suggested a protective role of early cycle experience for young adolescent cyclists, particularly for young males. But further study into the underlying mechanism is needed to confirm this relationship. Moped risk was extremely high, especially among young males, and even higher than that of young male car drivers.

Conclusions

The study confirmed the importance of changes in mobility patterns for understanding the rising road mortality when youngsters enter into their teens. The focus on fatalities has led to an underestimation of the magnitude of the problem because of the physical resilience of young adolescents that leads to high survival rates but probably also to long term disabilities. In addition, to explore the generalizability of these results, international comparisons among and between early and late licensing countries are necessary, especially in relation to moped riding as an alternative for car driving.

Coverage of adolescent substance use prevention in state frameworks for health education: 10-year follow-up

BACKGROUND

The use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) by adolescents is a national health issue. One way in which the United States approaches the prevention of substance use among adolescents is by teaching high school students about ATOD at school. The curriculum for health education courses is based upon each state's framework. The purpose of this study was to conduct a 10-year follow-up to a study that analyzed state frameworks for key mediators of adolescent substance use.

METHODS

Researchers performed an extensive content analysis of all 50 states' curriculum frameworks for high school health education to identify if, and to what degree, key mediators of adolescent substance use were included in each state's curriculum framework. After training, inter-rater agreement was greater than 95%.

RESULTS

Mediators identified most often in the 50-state curriculum frameworks for high school health education were beliefs about consequences, decision making, social skills, assistance skills, and goal setting. Twenty-two of 50-state curriculum frameworks for high school health education had dedicated sections for ATOD.

CONCLUSION

There were modest improvements since 2001 in the inclusion of mediators of adolescent substance use within state curriculum frameworks. There still exists many opportunities to more effectively use curriculum frameworks to improve classroom health instruction.

Association between adverse life events and addictive behaviors among male and female adolescents

BACKGROUND

Adverse life events have been associated with gambling and substance use as they can serve as forms of escapism. Involvement in gambling and substance use can also place individuals in adversely stressful situations.

OBJECTIVES

To explore potential male-female differences in the association between addictive behavior and adverse life events among an urban cohort of adolescents.

METHOD

The study sample comprised of 515 adolescent participants in a randomized prevention trial. With self-reported data, four addictive behavior groups were created: nonsubstance users and nongamblers, substance users only, gamblers only, and substance users and gamblers. Multinomial logistic regression analyses with interaction terms of sex and adverse life events were conducted.

RESULTS

Adverse life events and engaging in at least one addictive behavior were common for both sexes. Substance users and gamblers had more than twice the likelihood of nonsubstance users and nongamblers to experience any event as well as events of various domains (ie, relationship, violence, and instability). Neither relationship nor instability events' associations with the co-occurrence of substance use and gambling significantly differed between sexes. Conversely, females exposed to violence events were significantly more likely than similarly exposed males to report the co-occurrence of substance use and gambling.

CONCLUSION

Findings from the current study prompt future studies to devote more attention to the development of effective programs that teach adaptive coping strategies to adolescents, particularly to females upon exposure to violence.

Factors associated with adolescents' propensity to drive with multiple passengers and to engage in risky driving behaviors

PURPOSE

Research shows that parenting factors and individual difference variables, such as sensation seeking (SS) and risk perceptions (RPs), are associated with increased motor vehicle crash risk for young drivers. The presence of peer passengers is also known to be associated with increased crash risk. However, as previous studies did not study these factors concurrently, less is known about the factors that are associated with driving with peer passengers and if peer passengers may mediate the effect of parenting and individual difference variables on adolescents' engagement in risky driving behavior.

METHODS

We examined predictors of driving with multiple passengers (DWMPs) and explored it as a potential mediator of pathways from three factors: (1) SS, (2) RPs, and (3) Parental monitoring and rule-setting to risky driving behaviors in a convenience sample of 198 adolescent drivers using a cross-sectional Web-based survey.

RESULTS

Findings indicate that both stronger RPs and perceiving parents as strong monitors and rule setters were associated with less engagement in risky driving, whereas greater SS was associated with more engagement in risky driving; RPs, monitoring, and SS were also significantly associated with DWMPs in these same directions. DWMPs partially mediated the effect of these risk factors on risky driving behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Results inform theory and policy by examining factors associated with risk taking in the context of adolescent driving. Interventions can be developed to complement graduated driver licensing laws by targeting individual difference variables and decreasing opportunities for peer passenger carriage.

Religiosity profiles of American youth in relation to substance use, violence, and delinquency

Relatively little is known in terms of the relationship between religiosity profiles and adolescents' involvement in substance use, violence, and delinquency. Using a diverse sample of 17,705 (49 % female) adolescents from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, latent profile analysis and multinomial regression are employed to examine the relationships between latent religiosity classes and substance use, violence, and delinquency. Results revealed a five class solution. Classes were identified as religiously disengaged (10.76 %), religiously infrequent (23.59 %), privately religious (6.55 %), religious regulars (40.85 %), and religiously devoted (18.25 %). Membership in the religiously devoted class was associated with the decreased likelihood of participation in a variety of substance use behaviors as well as decreases in the likelihood of fighting and theft. To a lesser extent, membership in the religious regulars class was also associated with the decreased likelihood of substance use and fighting. However, membership in the religiously infrequent and privately religious classes was only associated with the decreased likelihood of marijuana use. Findings suggest that private religiosity alone does not serve to buffer youth effectively against involvement in problem behavior, but rather that it is the combination of intrinsic and extrinsic adolescent religiosity factors that is associated with participation in fewer problem behaviors.

Testing the length of time theory of recall decay: examining substance use report stability with 10 years of national longitudinal survey of youth data

AIM

This article examines whether the proportion of recanters increases (or decreases) as a function of time o test length of time theory.

SAMPLE

2,221 US respondents in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth child data. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used.

RESULTS

Among recanters, 50% of cigarette and alcohol users recanted use by 4 years, and 50% of marijuana users recanted by 3 years. Predictors of recanting was being Black or Hispanic and younger age. The theory was not supported. Further research is needed to identify potential reasons why adolescents recant their use is such a short time span. The study's limitations are noted.

Indoor tanning, mental health, and substance use among college students: the significance of gender

This study examined relations among indoor tanning frequency, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance use. A total of 421 college students (68% female) completed self-report measures on one occasion. Among men, indoor tanning was positively associated with symptoms of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, whereas indoor tanning was unrelated to these symptoms among women. Among women, indoor tanning was positively associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances. Further research is needed to explore contextual and coping processes that may underlie these gender differences.