NCJ Number
179580
Journal
American Journal of Public Health Volume: 89 Issue: 5 Dated: May 1999 Pages: 678-684
Date Published
1999
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Data from annual national surveys conducted during 1984-97 were used to study the prevalence of and trends in driving after drinking and riding in a car with a driver who has been drinking among high school seniors.
Abstract
Logistic regressions were used to assess the effects of demographic factors (gender, region of the country, population density, parental education, and race/ethnicity) and selected lifestyle factors (religious commitment, high school grades, truancy, illicit drug use, evenings out per week, and miles driven per week). Rates of adolescent driving after drinking and riding with a driver who had been drinking declined significantly from the mid-1980's to the early or mid-1990's, but the declines have not continued in recent years. Rates or driving or riding after drinking were higher among high school seniors who were male, white, living in the western and northeastern regions, and living in rural areas. Truancy, number of evenings out, and illicit drug use all related significantly positively with the dependent variables. In contrast, grade point average and religious commitment had a negative relationship. Miles driven per week related positively to driving after drinking. Findings suggested that a process of generational forgetting of the dangers of drinking after driving may be occurring and that new prevention efforts may be necessary, including policy initiatives and systematic media campaigns, to avert a relapse in driving after drinking among newer cohorts of teenagers. Figures, tables, and 19 references (Author abstract modified)