Influence of Alcohol and Peer Passengers on Risky Driving Behavior in Young Adults

Among the many risk factors that contribute to young drivers' crash involvement, two are critical: peer passenger presence, which is unique to young drivers, and the influence of alcohol, a universal risk for drivers but one against which young drivers are most susceptible. Clarification of how passenger presence interacts with alcohol consumption to increase risk is needed. The impact of experimentally manipulated passenger characteristics and alcohol quantity on risky driving is observed using driving simulation and a random assignment experimental design with a sample of 18-21 year old male and female drivers.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Accidents, Traffic
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Passenger

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 240
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, J4K 0A8
      • Université de Sherbrooke

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 21 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• being 18 to 21 years of age (18 years old is the legal age for alcohol consumption in the province of Quebec)
• past experirence with drinking at least 2 alcoholic beverages in one episode
• having a provisional driving license
• driving in the past 3 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• health problem that contraindicates participation
• pregnant or breastfeeding
• signs of problem drinking
• positive BAC or recent drug use measured at arrival

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: no alcohol and passenger; Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) = 0.00% and risk accepting or averse passenger	Behavioral: Passenger; Driving with risk accepting or risk averse passenger
Experimental: low alcohol dose and passenger; BAC = 0.02% and risk accepting or averse passenger	Behavioral: Passenger; Driving with risk accepting or risk averse passenger
Experimental: moderate alcohol dose and passenger; BAC = 0.05% and risk accepting or averse passenger	Behavioral: Passenger; Driving with risk accepting or risk averse passenger

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Risky driving in a simulator	within 1 hr after alcohol dose

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marie Claude Ouimet, Ph.D., Université de Sherbrooke

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 30, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 3, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): June 3, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 5, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 8, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): May 10, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 25, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 23, 2018
• Last Verified: January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Alcohol; Risk; Gender; Young drivers; Passengers
• Other Study ID Numbers: MOP-111034

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No