The proposed research flows directly from an ongoing project involving in- depth interviews with large samples to investigate the probabilities of drunken driving among the U.S. public and among motorists convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). As such, the proposed research will focus on selected aspects of the ongoing project for continuation, prognostication, validation, and expansion. It will augment other ongoing projects investigating: drinking-and-driving behavior and attitudes among adolescents, the nocturnal driving population, and the nocturnal bar population, especially regarding high tolerance to alcohol. By concentrating heavily on both female and older drinking driver subpopulations, the proposed project will greatly expand previous research and begin to fill several important gaps in the literature.
The specific aims focus (in order) on continuation, prognostication, validation, and expansion: 1. Reduce the extensive exploratory instrument (Survey of Health Attitudes and Practices (HAP) through multivariate statistical analyses to obtain a set of items which discriminates most effectively between the general driving population, first DUI offenders, and multiple DUI offenders. 2. Test the prognostic capability of the shortened HAP to differentiate among DUIs (regarding prediction of recidivism, treatment program compliance and completion, probation completion, etc.). 3. Follow-up prospectively and re-interview both DUI and general drinking population respondents to assess the validity of major instruments and key variables. 4. Evaluate the relationship between patterns of alcohol consumption, loss of control drinking, and DUI activity in the subject driving populations. 5. Track the driver records (DMV) of DUI respondents for 4 to 10 years to determine the magnitude and the rate of subsequent alcohol and non- alcohol traffic offenses. 6. Analyze the archival records (i.e., court, treatment program, DMV, etc.) of DUI respondents. 7. Recruit and interview 3 segments of the female driving population (i.e., general driving population, DUI offenders in treatment programs, and bar customers) to identify: (a) the drinking-and-driving pattern of females, (b) different possible typologies of the female drinking driver, (c) reasons for drinking among the female driving population including self-medication for stress reduction, and (d) circumstances surrounding arrest of female drunken drivers. 8. Recruit and interview 3 similar segments of the older driving population for essentially the same objectives as with the female driving population. 9. Assess reliability and validity of self-reported information regarding (a) driving infractions by comparison with DMV records, and (b) drinking behavior by comparison with bar observations. Long-term objectives. The proposed research is designed to augment several ongoing projects concerned with drinking and driving. Together, the proposed research and these other projects will enable the development of statistical profiles for female drinking drivers, older drinking drivers, adolescent drinking drivers, high-tolerant drivers, selected alcoholic drivers, and almost all other segments of the drinking-and-driving population. Successful achievement of these objectives, as well as the validation and prognostic specific aims, should facilitate: (1) early identification and differential assessment of problematic drinking drivers for referral purposes, (2) understanding of gender and age differences among drinking drivers, and (3) developing customized, gender-specific and age-specific prevention strategies and programs.
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