The present research will develop and evaluate an intervention strategy designed to reduce the drunk driving of adolescents. The approach taken is relatively novel in that the focus of the intervention is on influencing adolescent drunk driving behavior through the parents of the adolescents. Our previous NIAAA funded research has identified empirically the kinds of information that needs to be conveyed to teenagers in order to reduce drunk driving. Such information potentially could be conveyed to the teen by parents. Thus, the proposed research will develop educational materials as an intervention program designed to teach parents how to convey information about drunk driving to their teenage sons and daughters, so as to maximize the impact of the information in reducing drunk driving. The research will formally evaluate the impact of the intervention on both a short term and long term basis. In addition, the research will identify demographic and social-psychological correlates of parents for whom the intervention seems to be relatively successful (in terms of reducing drunk driving) versus those for whom the intervention it relatively ineffective. Finally, the research will evaluate, in the context of an experimental study involving change, a model of the social-psychological determinants of drunk driving in adolescents. This model has previously been tested with correlational data. The proposed research extends past research efforts by going beyond purely correlational data.
| Jaccard, J; Turrisi, R (1999) Parent-based intervention strategies to reduce adolescent alcohol-impaired driving. J Stud Alcohol Suppl 13:84-93 |
