The influence of social factors and personality constructs on drink driving among young licenced drivers

Abstract

Young adults continue to be overrepresented in alcohol-related crashes on Australian roads. Social factors are important factors associated with drink driving behaviours among young adults and have been the focus of several intervention efforts. However, research also demonstrates that personality constructs are associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in harmful drinking and risky driving behaviours. To better understand the influence of both social and personality constructs with drink driving, 390 male and female licenced drivers aged 18–24 years completed a questionnaire that assessed Akers' social learning theory constructs and the personality constructs of Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioural Approach System (BAS) for their association with drink driving in the past 12 months. Result indicated that a relatively large proportion (36.67%) of participants engaged in drink driving. A sequential logistic regression analysis further found that several social and personality variables were associated with drink driving. Specifically, the Akers’ social learning theory constructs of Personal Definitions, Differential Reinforcement–Punishment (High), Differential Association Drink Driving–Friends, and Imitation–Friends variables and the BAS constructs of Fun Seeking and Drive were associated with drink driving. While these findings highlight the importance of targeting the social context around drink driving, the impact of personality constructs also warrants consideration with intervention efforts.