Peer pressure and risky driving: Development of a new scale

INTRODUCTION

Peer pressure is a main factor influencing risky driving behavior in young people. Most empirical studies have focused either on direct or indirect peer pressure, and comprehensive measures assessing both are currently lacking. The present study aimed at developing and validating a scale to examine the influence of different types of peer pressure on risky driving in young drivers: the Peer Pressure on Risky Driving Scale (PPRDS).

METHOD

Scale construction and assessment of its psychometric properties involved four phases: item development, assessment of content validity by expert reviewers, pre-testing of the scale and evaluation of psychometric properties of the final version in a sample of 773 young drivers aged 18-29.

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure that reflected the multifaceted definition of peer pressure on risky driving in the immediate driving context: risk-encouraging direct peer pressure; risk-discouraging direct peer pressure, and indirect pressure. The three factor scales showed good internal consistency and construct reliability, and correlated as expected with self-reported risky driving. Younger drivers (18-24) reported more direct and indirect peer pressure to engage in risky driving. Males indicated more direct peer pressure towards risky driving. Finally, interaction effects between age and sex were observed. Young male drivers reported the greatest direct peer pressure and adult female drivers the lowest direct peer pressure.

CONCLUSIONS

The 23-item PPRDS scale has good psychometric properties and provides a useful tool for assessing different forms of peer pressure on risky driving.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The PPRDS can be used for evaluating the impact of peer-based education and road safety programs. The scale also provides valuable information for the design of evidence-based intervention.

A nationwide cross-sectional study of workers' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact of changes in working conditions, financial hardships, psychological detachment from work and work-family interface

Background

The COVID-19 disease has changed people’s work and income. While recent evidence has documented the adverse impact of these changes on mental health outcomes, most research is focused on frontline healthcare workers and the reported association between income loss and mental health comes from high-income countries. In this study we examine the impact of changes in working conditions and income loss related to the COVID-19 lockdown on workers’ mental health in Argentina. We also explore the role of psychological detachment from work and work-family interaction in mental health.

Methods

A total of 1049 participants aged between 18 and 65 who were working before the national lockdown in March 2020 were recruited using a national random telephone survey. Work conditions included: working at the usual workplace during the pandemic, working from home with flexible or fixed schedules, and being unemployed or unable to work due to the pandemic. Measures of financial hardship included income loss and self-reported financial problems related to the outbreak. Work-family interface included measures of work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC). Mental health outcomes included burnout, life satisfaction, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Data were collected in October 2020.

Results

Home-based telework under fixed schedules and unemployment impact negatively on mental health. Income loss and particularly self-reported financial problems were also associated with deterioration of mental health. More than half of the participants reported financial problems, and those who became unemployed during the pandemic experienced more often financial problems. Finally, psychological detachment from work positively influenced mental health; WFC and FWC were found to negatively impact on mental health.

Conclusions

Countries’ policies should focus on supporting workers facing economic hardships and unemployment to ameliorate the COVID-19’ negative impact on mental health. Organisations can protect employees’ mental health by actively encouraging psychological detachment from work and by help managing work-family interface. Longitudinal studies are needed to more thoroughly assess the long-term impact of the COVID-19-related changes in work and economic turndown on mental health issues.

From Work Well-Being to Burnout: A Hypothetical Phase Model

Upon exposure to chronic stressors, how do individuals move from being in a healthy state to a burnout? Strikingly in literature, this has prevailed a categorical view rather than a dimensional one, thus the underlying process that explains the transition from one state to another remains unclear. The aims of the present study are (a) to examine intermediate states between work engagement and burnout using cluster analysis and (b) to examine cortisol differences across these states. Two-hundred and eighty-one Argentine workers completed self-report measures of work engagement and burnout. Salivary cortisol was measured at three time-points: immediately after awakening and 30 and 40min thereafter. Results showed four different states based on the scores in cynicism, exhaustion, vigor, and dedication: engaged, strained, cynical, and burned-out. Cortisol levels were found to be moderate in the engaged state, increased in the strained and cynical states, and decreased in the burned-out state. The increase/decrease in cortisol across the four stages reconciles apparent contradictory findings regarding hypercortisolism and hypocortisolism, and suggests that they may represent different phases in the transition from engagement to burnout. A phase model from engagement to burnout is proposed and future research aimed at evaluating this model is suggested.

Best Practices in the Use of Bifactor Models: Conceptual Grounds, Fit Indices and Complementary Indicators

<p>Bifactor models have gained increasing popularity in the literature concerned with personality, psychopathology and assessment. Empirical studies using bifactor analysis generally judge the estimated model using SEM model fit indices, which may lead to erroneous interpretations and conclusions. To address this problem, several researchers have proposed multiple criteria to assess bifactor models, such as a) conceptual grounds, b) overall model fit indices, and c) specific bifactor model indicators. In this article, we provide a brief summary of these criteria. An example using data gathered from a recently published research article is also provided to show how taking into account all criteria, rather than solely SEM model fit indices, may prevent researchers from drawing wrong conclusions.</p>

Impacto de las dificultades en la regulación emocional sobre el comportamiento de los conductores

El objetivo del presente estudio consistió en evaluar la relación entre las dificultades en la regulaciónde las emociones y los estilos de conducción vehicular. Se aplicaron medidas de autoinformea una muestra de 137 conductores argentinos que conducían vehículos regularmente. Conforme alas hipótesis que sustentaron este trabajo, se observó que aquellos conductores que presentabanmayores dificultades en diferentes dimensiones de regulación emocional presentaron un estilode conducción más ansioso, agresivo, disociativo y riesgoso. Por el contrario, los conductores conmenores dificultades para regular sus emociones evidenciaron un estilo de conducción más cordialy prudente. Por otra parte, análisis de regresión múltiple (método stepwise) revelaron que lasdimensiones de regulación emocional realizaron una contribución diferencial en la predicción delos diferentes estilos de conducción. Se destaca la importancia de incluir en la evaluación no sólolas aptitudes psico-físicas sino también emocionales tanto en los aspirantes a la obtención comoen la renovación del permiso de conducir y se ofrecen algunas propuestas para el desarrollo deprogramas de entrenamiento en regulación emocional para conductores con estilos de manejodesadaptativos. Finalmente, se exponen las limitaciones de este trabajo y se recomiendan futuraslíneas de investigación.