Risky Driving Behavior in Young Adults: Decision Making and Executive Functioning Correlates

Background: Road accidents are a major cause of deaths, injuries, and financial losses globally, especially in developing countries. Iran is one of the countries with a high rate of road accidents causing considerable damage in different domains. Therefore, in order to tackle this problem, we need to examine its causes. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine the association of risky driving behavior with impulsiveness, attentional bias, and decision-making styles. Patients and Methods: This was a descriptive-correlational study. The sample included 117 male drivers, aged 20 - 34 years, attending car insurance agencies in Tehran. The participants were selected using the convenience sampling method. The data were gathered using the Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), the Decision-Making Style Scale (DMS), and the Dot Probe Task to assess attentional bias. All data analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis, by using SPSS, version 22. Results: According to the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient, risky driving behavior was significantly correlated with impulsiveness subscales (P < 0.01) and attentional bias (P < 0.05). In addition, significant relationships were observed between risky driving behaviors and three decision-making styles, including rational (P < 0.05), spontaneous (P < 0.01), and avoidant (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Based on the study results, impulsivity, decision-making styles, and attentional bias as factors influencing drivers’ cognitive skills related to driving, could explain the increase in the frequency of risky driving behavior.

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The relationship of the feedback-P3 to executive function and decision-making in adolescents and young adults

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e571212013-439 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Tina Zottoli ◽

Rose Aime ◽

Danielle Faele ◽

Jill Grose-Fifer

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Young Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Adolescents And Young Adults ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

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The Effect of General Trust on Game Decision Making in Young Adults

PARIPEX-INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ◽

10.15373/22501991/may2014/21 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 60-63

Author(s):

JingChen JingChen ◽

◽

Weihai Xia ◽

Qing Pei

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Young Adults ◽

General Trust

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Attributes and Decision-making Styles of Young Adults in Selecting Footwear

Studies on Home and Community Science ◽

10.1080/09737189.2015.11885434 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 9 (2-3) ◽

pp. 82-90 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ruby Jain ◽

Arti Sharma

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Young Adults ◽

Decision Making Styles

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Age Differences in Executive Control Assessed with a Robotic Object Hit and Avoid Test of Rapid Motor Decision Making

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3255 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 881-882

Author(s):

Alexandra Watral ◽

Kevin Trewartha

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Decision Making ◽

Executive Functioning ◽

Age Differences ◽

Executive Control ◽

Test Performance ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Neuropsychological Tasks ◽

Measures Of Performance

Abstract Motor decision-making processes are required for many standard neuropsychological tasks, including the Trail Making Test (TMT), that aim to assess cognitive functioning in older adults. However, in their standard formats, it is difficult to isolate the relative contributions of sensorimotor and cognitive processes to performance on these neuropsychological tasks. Recently developed clinical tasks use a robotic manipulandum to assess both motor and cognitive aspects of rapid motor decision making in an object hit (OH) and object hit and avoid (OHA) task. We administered the OH and OHA tasks to 77 healthy younger adults and 59 healthy older adults to assess age differences in the motor and cognitive measures of performance. We administered the TMT parts A and B to assess the extent to which OHA performance is associated with executive functioning in particular. The results indicate that after controlling for hand speed, older adults performed worse on the OH and OHA tasks than younger adults, performance declines were far greater in the OHA task, and the global performance measures, which have been associated with cognitive status, were more sensitive to age differences than motor measures of performance. Those global measures of performance were also associated with measures of executive functioning on the TMT task. These findings provide evidence that rapid motor decision making tasks are sensitive to declines in executive control in aging. They also provide a way to isolate cognitive declines from declines in sensorimotor processes that are likely a contributing factor to age differences in neuropsychological test performance.

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Examining Risky Driving Behavior Among Older Drivers Using Self-Reported and Objective Data

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1507 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 465-465

Author(s):

Jennifer Zakrajsek ◽

Lisa Molnar ◽

David Eby ◽

David LeBlanc ◽

Lidia Kostyniuk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Vehicle ◽

Seat Belt ◽

Driving Behavior ◽

Video Data ◽

Older Drivers ◽

Driving Frequency ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Risky Driving ◽

Driving Behaviors ◽

Study Results

Abstract Motor vehicle crashes represent a significant public health problem. Efforts to improve driving safety are multifaceted, focusing on vehicles, roadways, and drivers with risky driving behaviors playing integral roles in each area. As part of a study to create guidelines for developing risky driving countermeasures, 480 drivers (118 young/18-25, 183 middle-aged/35-55, 179 older/65 and older) completed online surveys measuring driving history, risky driving (frequency of engaging in distracted [using cell phone, texting, eating/drinking, grooming, reaching/interacting] and reckless/aggressive [speeding, tailgating, failing to yield right-of-way, maneuvering unsafely, rolling stops] driving behaviors), and psychosocial characteristics. A cluster analysis using frequency of the risky behaviors and seat belt use identified five risky behavior-clusters: 1) rarely/never distracted-rarely/never reckless/aggressive (n=392); 2) sometimes distracted-rarely/never reckless/aggressive (n=33); 3) sometimes distracted-sometimes reckless/aggressive (n=40); 4) often/always distracted-often/always reckless/aggressive (n=11); 5) no pattern (n=4). Older drivers were more likely in the first/lowest cluster (93.8% of older versus 84.2% of middle-aged and 59.3% of young drivers; p<.0001). Fifteen older drivers participated in a follow-up study in which their vehicles were equipped with a data acquisition system that collected objective driving and video data of all trips for three weeks. Analysis of video data from 145 older driver trips indicated that older drivers engaged in at least one distracted behavior in 115 (79.3%) trips. While preliminary, this suggests considerably more frequent engagement in distracted driving than self-reported and that older drivers should not be excluded from consideration when developing risky driving behavior countermeasures. Full study results and implications will be presented.

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