The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #40279

Stuart Usdan, PhD, CHES¹, Leslie Pickett², Joseph E Schumacher³, Stephen Green, MS², J. Don Chaney, MS⁴, and Barry Hunt, EdD². (1) Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University, Box 6186, Mississippi State, MS 39762, 662-325-9281, susdan@colled.msstate.edu, (2) HPERS, Mississippi State University, Box 6186, Mississippi State, MS 39762, (3) University of Alabama at Birmingham, 401 Beacon Parkway W, Birmingham, AL 35209, (4) The Department of Health Sciences, The University of Alabama, Department of Health Sciences, Box 870311, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487

Impaired driving is perhaps the most dangerous problem associated with alcohol use and remains one of the leading causes of death among teens and young adults (NHTSA, 1997). Research conducted at over 140 U.S. colleges found that those college students who binge drink are six times more likely to drive after drinking than their light-drinking counterparts (Wechsler et al., 1998). This study also revealed that drinking and driving among college students increased in frequency from 1993 to 1997. A modified version of the Timeline Followback method, the Impaired Driving Assessment (IDA) was developed to collect detailed information on impaired driving behaviors among college students. Traditional assessment methods yield limited information on impaired driving, but the IDA collects information on such variables as number of drinks consumed, drinking location, and time elapsed between consumption and driving. Previous research which established the reliability of the IDA revealed that participants drove after drinking an average of 7.9 times (SD=7.7) and were a passenger in a car of a driver who had been drinking 6.4 times (SD=8.7) during the past 30 days. In order to establish its validity, retrospective information from the IDA will be compared to a prospective assessment of impaired driving via the Internet. During a 5-week period, participants were asked to respond daily to questions via the Internet about their alcohol use and impaired driving behaviors over the past 24 hours. This paper discusses the development and testing of a web-based prospective assessment of impaired driving.

Learning Objectives: “At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Discuss the utility of the Impaired Driving Assessment in future prevention programs.
• Identify key issues in data collection via the Internet.
• Discuss findings from the comparison of a prospective, web-based assessment to an existing, retrospective measure of impaired driving.”

Keywords: Alcohol, College Students

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.