| | Predicting
Underage Drinking and Driving--A Regional Study
Principal Investigator:
Joel W. Grube, Ph.D.
Drinking
and driving (DUI) and riding with drinking drivers (RWDD)
are serious problems for underage adolescents and young adults.
Prevention of these behaviors should be a public health priority.
Little current data are available, however, regarding the
prevalence of these behaviors in representative samples of
young people. In addition, there is only a limited understanding
of the social-psychological processes that underlie underage
DUI and RWDD or how these processes may differ by gender and
ethnicity. This study undertakes a random-digit-dial (RDD)
telephone survey of 1,400 15 to 20-year-old adolescents and
young adults from California. The survey collects data continuously
over a two-year period. African American, Asian American,
and Latino youth will be over-sampled. In addition to providing
detailed data on the prevalence of underage DUI and RWDD,
the survey proceeds from a relatively well-developed conceptual
model and will obtain data on a range of environmental and
social-psychological variables.
The
study has five specific goals:
- Obtain
systematic data on the overall prevalence of DUI and RWDD
in a representative sample of underage young people from
a large western state (California) with an ethnically
and culturally diverse population
- Investigate
differences in the extent of involvement in DUI and RWDD
among young men and women from major ethnic groups (African
Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, and Latinos)
and attempt to ascertain why such differences occur
- Provide
information about the seasonal patterning of underage
DUI and RWDD
- Model
underage DUI and RWDD using structural equations analyses
with latent variables in order to gain a better understanding
of the environmental and social-psychological factors
that underlie these behaviors, their relative predictive
importance, and whether they affect DUI and RWDD directly
or are mediated through other variables.
- Undertake
multi-group structural equations analyses to investigate
differences and similarities in the predictors of DUI
and RWDD among young men and women who are African American,
Asian Americans, European American, or Latino.
The
ultimate goals of this research are:
- To
provide a better understanding of how and why young people
become involved in DUI and RWDD, and
- To
provide a better basis for designing and implementing
more effective interventions to reduce and prevent these
behaviors.
Proceed
to PRC CD Presentation featuring Dr. Joel W. Grube
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