01632194

Component

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one the most prevalent neurological disorders in childhood that commonly persist into adolescence and adulthood. ADHD is characterized with hallmark symptoms of inattention, hyperactive/impulsivity, or a combination of the two (CDC, 2016). These symptoms are not exclusive to ADHD, in that they are assessed on a continuum and occur in the general population (Stavrinos & Barton, 2011; Stavrinos & Schwebel, 2011). Previous research has shown a significant relation between ADHD symptoms and risky driving, with consistent evidence of driving risk and impairment for adolescents with untreated ADHD (Barkley & Cox, 2007) and when assessed on a continuum in adolescents (Garner et al., 2014). Many psychological processes have a complex relationship with ADHD, one being temperament (Foley, McClowry, & Castellanos, 2008). One particular temperamental factor, effortful control (EC; i.e. the ability to inhibit dominant responses and use attentional processes in efforts of self-regulation) is of interest as it shares substantial overlap with the cognitive control of behavior (e.g. executive function) (Bridgett, Oddi, Laake, Murdock, & Bachmann, 2013; Zhou, Chen, & Main, 2012), is hypothesized as a factor in ADHD-related behavioral manifestations (Rettew & McKee, 2005), and is associated with driving performance. For adolescents with more reported difficulty in various domains of executive function there were greater odds of having a motor vehicle collision (MVC), being pulled over by the police, and receiving a traffic ticket (Pope, Ross, & Stavrinos, 2016). Furthermore, Schwebel, Severson, Ball, and Rizzo (2006) found that the attentional control subscale of EC was related to more driving errors and violations in college-age drivers, supporting a relation between executive attention and aberrant driving behavior such as driving mistakes and violations. This study investigated the association between EC and self-reported risky driving behavior in adolescents. Secondly, inattention ADHD symptom severity was investigated as a possible mediator in this association.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB30 Standing Committee on Operator Education and Regulation. Alternate title: Role of Effortful Control, Inattention Symptom Severity, and Risky Driving Behavior in Adolescent Drivers.

01618707

17-02092

English

7p

2017

Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References

Adolescents; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; High risk drivers; Risk assessment; Risk taking; Teenage drivers

Highways; Safety and Human Factors

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2017 Paper #17-02092

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 8 2016 10:45AM