Assessing risky driving among Alberta teenagers: A developmental- and context-sensitive approach

Motor vehicle-involved accident is the leading cause of death among teenagers around the world. Death and injuries due to motor vehicle accidents among young drivers brings tremendous societal burden and economic cost to the Canadian society. To better address this major public health concern, better assessment tools are required to evaluate potential risky driving among teenagers and young adults for tailored intervention and insurance purpose. Impulsivity, sensation seeking, and emotion regulation are three individual characteristics that robustly and consistently predict adolescents’ and young adults’ involvement in risky behaviors. The assessment of these individual characteristics need to be sensitive to the daily context of adolescent and young adult development. This proposed research program aims to develop new measurement scales that are sensitive to both between- and within-person differences in these individual characteristics in adolescents and young adults, and assess their psychometric properties as well as predictability of long-term risky behaviors.

Faculty Supervisor:

Yao Zheng

Student:

Michael Zhang

Partner:

AMA Insurance

Discipline:

Psychology

Sector:

Finance, insurance and business

University:

University of Alberta