BACKGROUND: Research has limitedly focused on adolescents' emotional-behavioral functioning preceding road collisions and on the role of family support.
OBJECTIVE: To verify whether the rates of motorbikes collisions among adolescents are associated with their emotional-behavioral functioning, their use of specific defense strategies and family support.
METHOD: N = 150 adolescents who visited an emergency department for road accidents were selected and completed self-report questionnaires assessing emotional-behavioral functioning, difficulty in identifying and describing emotions, use of defense strategies and perceived family support.
RESULTS: Higher rates of motorbike collisions are associated with more maladaptive emotional-behavioral functioning. Higher perceived family support is associated with lower rates of collisions.
CONCLUSIONS: Recidivism of motor vehicle collision among adolescents can be considered as a form of acting-out caused by their psychological difficulties.