Drinking adolescents on the roads

A social-learning model [R. C. Akers, M. D. Krohn, L. Lanza-Koduce, and M. Radosevich (1979), "Social Learning and Deviant Behavior: A Specific Test of a General Theory,"American Sociology Review, 44: 636-655] was tested for its ability to explain why adolescents drive under the influence of alcohol and ride with drinking drivers. Data were gathered from a survey of 1,082 high school students. Findings indicate that all five subsets of the model are significant determinants of adolescent driving under the influence and riding with drinking drivers. The study demonstrates that if adolescent drinking and driving is to be prevented, careful attention must be paid to ways that it is learned and maintained.