Citation

Clapp JD, Sloan DM, Unger W, Lee DJ, Jun JJ, Litwack SD, Beck JG. J. Anxiety Disord. 2019; 67: e102134.

Affiliation

University of Memphis, Department of Psychology, 202 Psychology Building, Memphis, TN, 38152, United States. Electronic address: jgbeck@memphis.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.janxdis.2019.102134

PMID

31473554

Abstract

Despite high levels of traffic-related mortality, injury, and impairment among former service members, measures validated to assess problematic driving in this population remain limited. The current study examined characteristics of the Driving Behavior Survey (DBS) in male veterans (76.3% White; age: M = 56.4, SD = 12.3) meeting criteria for PTSD. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated acceptable fit of a 3-factor model specifying dimensions of anxiety-based performance deficits, exaggerated safety/caution, and hostile/aggressive driving behavior. Concurrent associations with indices of anxiety, depression, trauma history, and clinician-rated PTSD were consistent with small (r = .10-.29) to medium (r =.30-.49) effects. Discriminative validity was noted through elevations in performance deficit (d = .26), safety/caution (d = .50), and hostile/aggressive (d = .39) scales relative to published data from student drivers. Scores comparable to civilian motorists with accident-related PTSD help to qualify the severity of problematic driving behavior in trauma-exposed veterans.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Assessment; Driving anxiety; Driving behavior; Military veterans; Posttraumatic stress disorder