TY - JOUR
T1 - Does psychological distress increase the risk for motor vehicle crashes in young people? Findings from the drive study
AU - Martiniuk, Alexandra L.C.
AU - Ivers, Rebecca Q.
AU - Glozier, Nick
AU - Patton, George C.
AU - Senserrick, Teresa
AU - Boufous, Soufiane
AU - Lam, Lawrence T.
AU - Williamson, Ann
AU - Stevenson, Mark
AU - Woodward, Mark
AU - Norton, Robyn
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia , Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW , NRMA Motoring and Services , NRMA-ACT Road safety Trust , NSW Health and the Motor Accidents Authority of NSW . Alexandra Martiniuk and Teresa Senserrick are supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Capacity Building Grant in Injury Research and Dr Martiniuk is also supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research fellowship . Rebecca Ivers, Soufiane Boufous and Mark Stevenson also receive salary funding from the NHMRC. No funding agency had any role in the design, analysis or interpretation of the data. Data on crashes were collected by the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW. All authors had full access to all the data and take full responsibility for the integrity of this study and its analyses.
PY - 2010/11
Y1 - 2010/11
N2 - Purpose: Earlier research demonstrates increased and decreased risk of crash related to psychological distress; however, previous literature has almost entirely used retrospective study designs and has not been able to adequately control for important confounders such as exposure to driving, alcohol and drug use, or having had a previous crash. This study aimed to assess the relationship between psychological distress and risk of motor vehicle crashes. Methods: The DRIVE study is a prospective cohort study of 20,822 novice drivers aged 17-24 years in Australia. Information on risk factors for motor vehicle crash was collected through online questionnaire and subsequently linked to police-reported crashes. Poisson regression was used to analyze risk of various crash types by low, moderate, high, and very high levels of psychological distress, taking into account other known risk factors for crash. Results: Compared to the referent group with low or no distress, a protective effect against crash was observed for young people who reported a moderate amount of psychological distress in unadjusted (RR = .87; 95% CI = .76-1.00) and multivariable analyses (RR = .85; 95% CI = .74-.97). Severe psychological distress was not significantly associated with an increase or decrease in the risk of crash. Psychological distress was not significantly associated with an increased risk of single vehicle crash. Conclusion: Earlier studies may have overestimated risk for motor vehicle crashes associated with psychological distress. This study found little convincing evidence to support a strong risk relationship for higher levels of distress and indeed found a modest protective association for low levels of distress.
AB - Purpose: Earlier research demonstrates increased and decreased risk of crash related to psychological distress; however, previous literature has almost entirely used retrospective study designs and has not been able to adequately control for important confounders such as exposure to driving, alcohol and drug use, or having had a previous crash. This study aimed to assess the relationship between psychological distress and risk of motor vehicle crashes. Methods: The DRIVE study is a prospective cohort study of 20,822 novice drivers aged 17-24 years in Australia. Information on risk factors for motor vehicle crash was collected through online questionnaire and subsequently linked to police-reported crashes. Poisson regression was used to analyze risk of various crash types by low, moderate, high, and very high levels of psychological distress, taking into account other known risk factors for crash. Results: Compared to the referent group with low or no distress, a protective effect against crash was observed for young people who reported a moderate amount of psychological distress in unadjusted (RR = .87; 95% CI = .76-1.00) and multivariable analyses (RR = .85; 95% CI = .74-.97). Severe psychological distress was not significantly associated with an increase or decrease in the risk of crash. Psychological distress was not significantly associated with an increased risk of single vehicle crash. Conclusion: Earlier studies may have overestimated risk for motor vehicle crashes associated with psychological distress. This study found little convincing evidence to support a strong risk relationship for higher levels of distress and indeed found a modest protective association for low levels of distress.
KW - Crash
KW - Psychological distress
KW - Single vehicle crash
KW - Young people
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78049281830&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.03.010
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.03.010
M3 - Article
C2 - 20970084
AN - SCOPUS:78049281830
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 47
SP - 488
EP - 495
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 5
ER -
