Substance use and driving: the coexistence of risky and safe behaviors

Two risky behaviors (driving after drinking/getting drunk, riding with drinking drivers) and two safe behaviors (deciding not to drive under the influence of alcohol (DUI), preventing someone else from DUI) were examined in relation to use frequency and friends' DUI to determine whether individuals tend to engage in both types of behaviors.

Self-report questionnaires were administered to a random sample of 1233 young adults in New Jersey (USA) on two occasions (mean age 21 and mean age 28). Structural equation modeling was used to assess the goodness of fit of a hypothesized model of cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships.

Relationships between the four behaviors were strongly positive for men and women at both occasions and were substantially accounted for by use frequency and friends' DUI. At the later age, however, it was necessary to add non-recursive pathways to the model, which were different for men and women.

Findings suggest that (1) riding with drinking drivers plays an important role in the maintenance of the other behaviors and (2) most individuals vacillate between risky and safe behaviors indicating that drinking contexts are best viewed as risky decision-making situations requiring individuals to choose between riskier and safer courses of action.