2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

325427
Continuity of drunk and drugged driving behaviors four years post-college


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Kimberly Caldeira, MS, Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Amelia M. Arria, PhD, Center on Young Adult Health and Development/Dept of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD
Hannah Allen, MHS, Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Brittany A. Bugbee, MPH, Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Kathryn B. Vincent, MA, Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Kevin O'Grady, PhD, Center on Young Adult Health and Development/Dept of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Background: Driving under the influence of alcohol, alone or in combination with other substances, is a leading cause of injury and premature death among young adults, and college-educated individuals are at particularly high risk.

Method: This study describes prospective 7-year trends in drunk and drugged driving among a young-adult sample beginning with the second year of college, and documents the extent of continuity in such behaviors over time. Originally recruited as incoming first-year students at one large public university, participants (N=1,253) were interviewed annually about driving while drunk and driving while under the influence of other drugs. Follow-up rates were high (>75% annually).

Results: Among individuals with access to a car, annual prevalence peaked at modal age 21 for both drunk driving (24%) and drugged driving (19%). During college, drunk driving increased significantly whereas drugged driving was stable. Post-college declines were statistically significant for both drugged and drunk driving (p<.05), but less pronounced for the latter. Likelihood of drunk driving among individuals who engaged in heavy episodic drinking did not change significantly over time, but likelihood of drugged driving among marijuana-using individuals declined significantly after college (p<.05). Most of the college drunk drivers (72%) and college drugged drivers (64%) continued the behavior after college. A minority of drunk drivers (30%) and drugged drivers (28%) reported doing so in only one year.

Conclusion: Results suggest that, rather than being a transient aberration, drugged and drunk driving tend to be part of an ongoing pattern of behavior that persists after college.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe trends in drunk and drugged driving during and after college. Articulate the importance of developmental changes in substance-related driving risk behaviors among college-educated young adults, in the context of post-college changes in drinking and drug use. Discuss intervention opportunities for reducing drunk/drugged driving risk among college students and college-educated young adults.

Keyword(s): College Students

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been working on this project as part of my doctoral training. My co-authors on this presentation have been mentoring me on data analysis and interpretation. My scientific interests include both substance use and the transition period of young adulthood.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2059.0: Polysubstance use in youth, emerging adults, and other priority populations