Citation

Couture S, Ouimet MC, Dedovic K, Laurier C, Plusquellec P, Brown TG. Int. J. Adolesc. Med. Health 2018; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Addiction Research Program, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Freund Publishing)

DOI

10.1515/ijamh-2017-0123

PMID

29331098

Abstract

Adolescent risky driving is a significant burden on public health. Young offenders (i.e. under custody and supervision of the criminal justice system) may be particularly vulnerable, but research is scant. Previous work indicated that blunted cortisol reactivity to stress is a marker of risk-taking predisposition, including risky driving. In this study, we hypothesized that young offenders display higher levels of risky driving than a non-offender comparison group, and that cortisol reactivity contributes to the variance in risky driving independent of other associated characteristics (i.e. impulsivity, risk taking, alcohol and drug use). We found that young offenders (n = 20) showed riskier driving in simulation than comparison group (n = 9), and blunted cortisol reactivity was significantly associated with risky driving. The results suggest young offenders are prone to risky driving, and that individual differences in the cortisol stress response may be an explanatory factor.

Keywords: Juvenile justice

Language: en

Keywords

cortisol; risky driving; young offenders