Unintentional injury remains the leading cause of death in children over age one. This is no different for children entering and traversing the adolescent period of life (age 10 - age 18). While adolescence has been described as a development period of strength and resilience, experts have highlighted the dual paradox that exists during this time of life. This dual paradox describes adolescence as a time of increased injury-related morbidity and mortality rates despite it also being a time of acquiring greater physical strength and capacity for decision-making. Because of their higher than expected mortality rate as they navigate the adolescent and emerging adult period of life, Latino adolescent males have been identified as the anomaly to the Latino Epidemiological Paradox. Cause of death during this time is largely attributed to motor vehicle crashes. The research proposed in this application will explore adolescent developmental sources of crash risk in the context of Latino and youth culture. The first component of this research program will involve analysis of data sets from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. It will provide longitudinal information on adolescent friend influence on risky driving behavior in the general population. The second component will involve comprehensive in-depth interviews of Latino adolescent males in order gain greater insight into Latino and youth culture and risky driving behavior. The last research component will utilize survey and diaries methodologies to elucidate the social context of risky driving in Latino adolescents and how this changes over the adolescent and emerging adult periods of life. Successfully completing this training and research, the applicant will acquire a skill set needed to become an independent clinical investigator. Furthermore, the information gained will lead to broader understanding of injury disparity in Latino adolescent males and be applied to future development of a clinical contact injury prevention intervention.
