A study of the effectiveness of the Oregon DUII (driving under influence of intoxicants) mandated educational program in changing knowledge and attitude concerning driving after drinking

Graduation date: 1984The primary purpose of this study was to determine the\ud effectiveness of the Oregon Level I Diversion Program in changing\ud knowledge and attitude concerning driving after drinking.\ud A secondary purpose was to determine the effect of the eight\ud different class-time schedules used to teach the required 12-hour\ud curriculum on the clients' test scores. An additional purpose was to\ud determine if a significant correlation existed between gain in\ud knowledge scores and selected instructional variables.\ud The 61 Item Drinking and Driving Inventory was administered to\ud all 965 individuals in the sample. Pretest and posttest scores were\ud analyzed using a Paired T and Analysis of Covariance. Data from\ud questionnaires administered to teachers in the Oregon Diversion\ud Program were correlated with students' gains in knowledge scores.\ud The Pearson r and Spearman rho were used in the correlation analyses.\ud Results of the statistical analyses at the .05 level of\ud significance were:\ud 1. There was a significant difference in pretest and posttest\ud scores for all four dependent variables (knowledge score, two\ud attitude scores and the behavioral intention score).\ud 2. There was a significant difference in the adjusted means\ud among the eight time spans for three of the dependent\ud variables (knowledge score, one attitude score and the\ud behavioral intention score).\ud 3. The instructional variable identified as Cultural Differences\ud on the questionnaire correlated significantly with students'\ud gains in knowledge scores.\ud An additional finding was gathered from the Oregon Department of\ud Motor Vehicles' statistics. There was a lower re-arrest rate for the\ud clients who completed the Level I Diversion Program than for the\ud persons who chose to be processed through the court system.\ud Selected recommendations included:\ud 1. A long range study of recidivism to include correlation of\ud personal and demographic variables of clients should be conducted.\ud 2. A demographic analysis of program instructors, including\ud their educational background correlated with\ud performance, should be undertaken