1. Continuity of drunk and drugged driving behaviors four years post-college.
- Author
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Caldeira KM, Arria AM, Allen HK, Bugbee BA, Vincent KB, and O'Grady KE
- Subjects
- Alcoholism, Automobile Driving, Humans, Prevalence, Prospective Studies, Students, Universities, Young Adult, Alcohol Drinking epidemiology, Driving Under the Influence
- Abstract
Background: Driving under the influence of alcohol is a leading cause of injury and premature death among young adults, and college-educated individuals are at particularly high risk. Less is known about driving under the influence of other drugs, which is on the rise., Method: This study describes prospective seven-year trends in alcohol and other drug (AOD)-involved driving among a young-adult sample beginning with their second year of college (i.e., Years 2-8), and documents the extent of continuity in such behaviors across time. Originally recruited as incoming first-year students at one large public university, participants (n=1194) were interviewed annually about how frequently they drove while drunk/intoxicated (DWI), after drinking any alcohol (DAD), and/or while under the influence of other drugs (DD). Follow-up rates were high (>75% annually)., Results: Among participants with access to drive a car, annual prevalence peaked in Year 4 (modal age 21) for both DWI (24.3%
wt ) and DD (19.1%wt ) and declined significantly thereafter through Year 8 (both ps<0.05). DAD was far more prevalent than DWI or DD, increasing from 40.5%wt in Year 2 to 66.9%wt in Year 5, and plateauing thereafter. Among marijuana-using participants, likelihood of DD was consistently greater than the likelihood of DWI among Heavy Episodic and Light-to-Moderate drinkers, and it declined significantly during Years 5-8 (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Post-college declines in heavy drinking and DWI prevalence were encouraging but did not necessarily translate to reductions in likelihood of engaging in DWI, depending on drinking pattern. College-educated individuals represent an important target for AOD-involved driving prevention., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2017
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