Behavioral Economic Predictors of Substance-Impaired Driving among College Substance Users

Substance-impaired driving among college students represents a significant public health concern yet little is known about specific theoretical risk factors for driving after substance use among heavy drinking college students. The present study evaluated the hypothesis that substance users with elevated substance demand and steeper delay discounting would be more likely to report driving after substance use. Participants were 419 college students who reported at least one day of past month alcohol or marijuana use. Participants completed two Alcohol Purchase Tasks (APT), a Marijuana Purchase Task, a Delayed Discounting task, and a series of questions regarding driving after substance use. In binary logistic regression models that controlled for a number of covariates, participants who reported higher alcohol demand were more likely to report driving after drinking. Additionally, in a series of ANCOVAs, DD+ participants reported significantly less of a reduction in demand as a function of the driving scenario