Exploring the Use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Reducing Rider Stress and Stress-Related Anxiety, Anger, and Worry

Kristen Fernández-Medina,Nick Reed

doi:10.3390/safety2040022

Kristen Fernández-Medina, Nick Reed

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/safety2040022

Copy DOI

Journal: Safety	Publication Date: Oct 20, 2016
Citations: 31	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Transport Research Laboratory (United Kingdom)

Abstract

Stress can have serious implications on road safety and evidence suggests that it could lead to increases in driving errors, lapses, and even crashes. Motorcyclists are a vulnerable road user group, and lapses in attention and risky behaviours resulting from stress could increase the risk of collision. However, few safety interventions for reducing stress have been developed and evaluated, especially in motorcyclists. The purpose of this research was to develop and pilot a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) course for the treatment of rider stress. Five motorcyclists experiencing a range of life and work stressors completed the CBT course between January and March 2015. Findings from the Driver Stress Inventory and Driver Behaviour Questionnaire showed positive trends in the overall reduction of rider stress traits, such as aggression, thrill seeking, and dislike of riding. Qualitative data showed that participants engaged well with the intervention and believed it had aided them in their riding-related stress. Although these results are promising, the results warrant further investigation in order to validate CBT as a viable means of reducing the collision risk both for this already vulnerable road user group and other driver categories.

Highlights

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics from the United Kingdom show that in 2014/15 stress accounted for 35% of all work-related illness reported and 43% of all working days lost due to illness [1]
The results indicate a potential safety benefit through lower risk on the DSI and Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) scores, given the small sample involved in the work, these scales were used as a means to observe the changes in these measures that could be associated with the application of the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) intervention, and the authors are not able to draw any conclusions about how these relate to wider group norms
The findings discussed in this paper suggest that CBT could be an effective intervention for motorcyclists experiencing stress, when this is having an impact on their self-reported riding abilities

Summary

Introduction

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics from the United Kingdom show that in 2014/15 stress accounted for 35% of all work-related illness reported and 43% of all working days lost due to illness [1]. The effects of stress (whether work- or life-related) on health and wellbeing are well evidenced and can even trigger short- and long-term physiological changes [2]. It is, likely that such changes could affect the performance of everyday tasks, such as driving. The practitioner and participant worked together to assess the identified stressor(s) and the participant’s emotional state and to identify rider behaviours of interest. This part of the intervention included psycho-education (developed to integrate rider-specific risk and road safety education) and the development of mutual goals

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion