Health Education & Behavior (April 2002)a tos et al. / Adolescent Risky Driving Parenting Practices and Adolescent Risky Driving: A Three-Month Prospective Study

This study examined relations between risky driving, parenting, and deviance, and the stability of risky driv-ing over time. Two hundred and sixty-one licensed adolescents completed telephone interviews about risky driving, parenting practices, and orientations toward deviance at baseline and about risky driving at follow-up 3 months later. The results indicated that risky driving at follow-up was predicted by risky driving at baseline, parental restrictions on driving, and sensation seeking. In addition, risky driving was stable within 80 % of teens. When compared with adolescents with low risky driving over time (n = 129), adolescents with high risky driving over time (n = 79) were 3 times more likely to report low parental monitoring, 2 times more likely to report low parental restrictions, and almost 5 times more likely to report high deviance acceptance. The results suggest that high levels of risky driving are related to parenting. Motor vehicle crashes are the major cause of death and injury among adolescents aged 16 through 20, resulting in more than 5,000 deaths.1 Crash rates among adolescents aged 16 through 19 are higher than those of any other age-group.2-5 Moreover, adolescents are more likely to be at fault in crashes when compared to more experienced drivers.3,4,6 One contributor to this high crash rate is adolescents ’ propensity for risky behaviors.3 Compared with older drivers, adolescent drivers report more risky driving behaviors suc