The role of sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and harmful alcohol use in riding with an alcohol-impaired driver

Accident Analysis and Prevention 48 (2012) 326–334

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The role of sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and harmful alcohol use in riding with an alcohol-impaired driver Jun-Hong Kim a,1 , Kwang Sik Kim b,∗ a b

School of Media and Communication, Korea University, 145, Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Public Administration, Sungkyunkwan University, 53, 3-ga, Myungryun-dong, Chongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 9 February 2011 Received in revised form 27 January 2012 Accepted 31 January 2012 Keywords: RAID (riding with an alcohol-impaired driver) Sensation seeking Peer pressure Harmful drinking Sex Gender Communication Campaign

a b s t r a c t Alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions have been the top of policy agenda for more than three decades in Korea. Despite implementation of various traffic safety measures, some drivers’ alcohol use and abuse has resulted in a high number of alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities every year. This paper presents the association of theoretical factors with behavior of riding with an alcohol-impaired driver (RAID) among all age groups in the Korean adult sample. The theoretical factors of the drivers are personality factor, socio-psychological factor, and alcohol-related behavioral risk factor. We utilized national survey data from 1007 respondents consisting of 703 males and 304 females aged 20–66 collected by Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC) to test our theorized model. Our results indicated that there were three major predictors of RAID involvement: sensation seeking propensity, perceived peer pressure, and frequent harmful drinking. Overall, prediction of RAID behavior by gender was mediated entirely through these predictors. The issue of males’ higher risk of RAID involvements was addressed for effective communication strategies such as campaigns. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions are a major social problem seen throughout South Korea. Road Traffic Authority statistics show that alcohol use and abuse are responsible for nearly 1000 traffic fatalities and cause more than 50,000 injuries each year despite widespread anti-drinking efforts since the year 2000. In contrast to young adults’ playing a disproportionate role in incidences of crashes involving driver impairment that has been reported in multiple studies from western cultures (Beck et al., 2010; Nygaard et al., 2003; Perkins et al., 2010; Sun and Longazel, 2008), national data (2007–2009) on motor vehicle crashes in South Korea indicate that alcohol involvement is relatively frequent in 31–50-year-old drivers. 41–50-year olds and 31–40-year-old represented 27.95–28.49% and 26.63–29.24%, respectively, of all alcohol-related crashes in South Korea while 21–30-year-old drivers represented 25.27–26.51% during that period. Many researchers have investigated the internal and external factors of the drivers and have found some variables that significantly distinguish individuals who committed alcohol-impaired

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 27600368; fax: +82 27601316. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J.-H. Kim), [email protected], [email protected] (K.S. Kim). 1 Tel.: +8227601326; fax: +82227601316. 0001-4575/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2012.01.033

driving from others, but relatively few researchers have investigated the factors affecting the behavior of individuals who choose to ride with an alcohol impaired driver. The available literature on the topic puts young people in the spotlight: previous analyses of data from countries such as Spain, Canada, and the United States suggest nearly one-third of the youths have ridden in a car driven by someone who had been drinking (Adlaf et al., 2003; Calafat et al., 2009; Everett et al., 2001). However, little is known about the risk of injury among adult male and female population in general who reported being a passenger in a car driven by alcohol-impaired drivers. Though the acceptance and refusal to ride with a driver under the influence of alcohol have an actual positive and a negative effect, respectively, on the deviant behavior, little is known about risk factors predicting RAID (riding with an alcohol-impaired driver). Personality factors, socio-psychological factors, and alcohol-related behavioral risk factors of individuals have traditionally and even as recently as the 2000s been described as associated with RAID in western literature, but the information concerning the risk factors related to RAID is still scarce. The purpose of the present study was to explore the association of theoretical factors with behavior of RAID among all age groups in the South Korean adult sample, with a special focus on gender differences. This paper is organized as follows. A brief literature review will be provided in Section 2, which is followed by a description of dataset, measurements, and statistical methods in Section 3. Analysis of the results will be elaborated

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in Section 4, and finally conclusion will be provided in Section 5. 2. Literature review 2.1. Theoretical factors associated with RAID 2.1.1. Personality factor: sensation seeking Reviews of literature on personality factors and driving-related problem behaviors have varied somewhat in their interpretation of which personality trait risk factor is most important. However, the trait of sensation seeking has been interpreted consistently as being an important precursor of high risk in driving-related behaviors. A high sensation seeker is a person who “feels a heightened need for different experience, actively seeks thrill and adventure experiences, is disinhibited, and easily bored” (Thombs et al., 1994: 73). Years earlier, sensation seeking was defined as a trait reflected in “the need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences and willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences” (Zuckerman, 1979: 10). Previous research have related the sensation seeking personality trait to various indicants of road accidents, traffic offense (af Wahlberg, 2010), and risky driving practices such as alcoholimpaired driving (Arnett, 1990; Cherpitel and Tam, 2000; Little and Robinson, 1989; Mann et al., 2009; Schell et al., 2006a; Turrisi et al., 1997; Zakletskaia et al., 2009). In addition to all the evidence cited, there is yet other research which examined the relationship between sensation seeking or risk taking propensities and riding with a driver who is alcohol-impaired (Calafat et al., 2009; Pedersen and McCarthy, 2008; Ryb et al., 2006; Thombs et al., 1994; Zakletskaia et al., 2009). Such studies revealed that measures of risk taking/impulsivity/sensation seeking were highly and positively associated with RAID behavior. Zakletskaia et al. (2009), in particular, showed that not only alcohol-impaired drivers but also passengers of alcohol-impaired drivers scored higher on the SSS (Sensation Seeking Scale) (Zakletskaia et al., 2009). 2.1.2. Socio-psychological factor: perceived peer pressure Social psychology of peer pressure has a basic theoretical foundation that can be expressed as follows: people are always open to persuasion from significant others (Ajzen, 1989; Grasmick and Bursik, 1990) or influential socializing agents (Lau et al., 1990). According to social norms theory (Berkowitz, 2004), perceived peer pressure or peer influence reflects the extent to which peers are seen to be able to exert social pressure on him/her by approving or disapproving of one’s particular behavior and by engaging in that behavior themselves. As people attempt to avoid feeling of isolation or inadequacy by aligning many of their social behaviors with their perception concerning the prevalence and acceptability of these behaviors in their environment (Lashbrook, 2000), perceived peer pressure may have a greater impact on individual behavior than any other influence (Berkowitz, 2004). Drinking episodes represent a distinct social realm that has its own norm. As such, perceptions of peer pressure or perceived peer drinking norms is known as the most consistent predictor of alcohol-related behavioral patterns after adjusting for other background variables (Gaughan, 2006; Lewis and Neighbors, 2004). There is some specific evidence on the link between normative perceptions of reference groups or peers and RAID: several studies investigated the role of perceived peer pressure on individuals’ behavior to ride with an alcohol-impaired driver (DiBlasio, 1986; Klitzner, 1989; Powell and Drucker, 1997). Such studies suggest a strong peer pressure component in youths’ RAID behaviors. Especially noticeable was empirical research of DiBlasio (1986) which yielded evidences supporting the social learning model by

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investigating the role of peers among other social context in explaining youths’ involvement of RAID. Another notable study is the experimental study that showed the presence of one peer who refuses to ride with an alcohol-impaired driver would cause better consequences in individuals’ decisions than in cases when no one refuses or no one else is in the car (Powell and Drucker, 1997). 2.1.3. Alcohol-related behavioral risk factor The links between alcohol-related behavioral risk factors and RAID involvement are not yet established, while hundreds of research studies have been amassed providing the evidence of the links between alcohol-related behavioral risk factors and risky driving practices such as alcohol-impaired driving. However, there is growing interest in how involvement in RAID is affected by alcohol consumption or harmful drinking habits. Frequency of alcohol consumption was the strongest predictor of alcohol-impaired driving (Schell et al., 2006b), and also served as a predictor of increased involvement of RAID as well (Klitzner et al., 1988). Not only frequency but amount of alcohol intake had effects to increase RAID among 16–20-year-old licensed drivers from the United States (Grube and Voas, 1996). Similarly, heavy drinking of 16–24-year-old males was associated with alcohol-impaired driving and involvement of RAID (Atkin and Freimuth, 2001). While RAID behaviors are strongly related to total volume of alcohol consumed and heavy drinking episodes, any studies have not yet revealed that extremely excessive and harmful alcohol intake can also be associated with RAID involvements. 2.2. Perspective of gender difference Some recent studies from western cultures show that there are no significant differences among RAID rates based on gender. Gender showed up as insignificant after adjusting for various confounders in the logistic regression model predicting involvements of RAID among young people (Calafat et al., 2009). Another research shows that 31.9% of the university students reported RAID involvements, a proportion which did not vary significantly by gender (Adlaf et al., 2003). When seen from the perspective of gender difference2 , however, it can be supposed that males and females differ significantly on the following theoretical factors discussed above: sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and frequency of harmful drinking. First of all, sensation seeking is a personality trait influenced not only by genetic, biological and psycho-physiological factors but social factors (Zuckerman, 1983), which influence certain beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, both sex and gender tend to be large source of variance on total sensation seeking (Zuckerman et al., 1991) or risk assessment (Harris & Jenkins, 2006). Males score higher on the SSS than females in general (Beullens and Van den Bluck, 2008; Farrow and Brissing, 1990; Rosenblitt et al., 2001; Zuckerman et al., 1978). Next, in general, prior research on social learning theory offers some promise for understanding the gender–deviance relationship indicating that peer group associations are based on homophily (i.e., love of the same). If males were more likely than females to be engaged in delinquencies such as an alcohol-impaired driving, then associating with other delinquent males would serve to facilitate more delinquency (Piquero et al., 2005). For example, there is a gender difference regarding peer pressure on driving under the influence of alcohol (Rienzi et al., 1996). In short, much of the effect

2 Sex is a biological construct based on physiologic differences, while gender is a socially constructed standards and expectations including cultural norms, roles, and behaviors shaped by relations among males and females (Ferdman, 1999; Krieger, 2003).

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of gender on anti-social behaviors can be mediated by peer pressure (Jensen, 2003). Lastly, gender difference, in many cultures, can provide one important context for understanding hazardous drinking problems in terms that males have long been known to have a greater prevalence of harmful drinking, and related problem behaviors (Berg et al., 2010; Li et al., 2010; Neighbors et al., 2010), and that males are reported to experience onset of alcohol dependence at an earlier age. Sex and gender are distinct, not interchangeable, terms (Krieger, 2003). Nevertheless, the two can be difficult to distinguish in data from population based study: they are intertwined with reciprocal effects (Clougherty, 2010). For example, biological characteristics such as sensation seeking become engendered as social roles and behaviors (e.g., deviant behaviors such as alcohol-impaired driving or riding with an alcohol-impaired driver), which are “gendered expressions of biology.” In the same manner, gendered social roles and behaviors affect biological or physiologic characteristics, which are socially derived “biological expression of gender” (Krieger, 2003: 653). In sum, research suggests that the effects of gender may be mediated by sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and harmful drinking. No research currently examines whether gender could have an indirect effect on RAID behaviors. 2.3. Theoretical model Our working hypotheses based on the literature reviewed were that sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and frequency of harmful drinking would, respectively, have a positive association with RAID behaviors. In addition, we hypothesized that gender would have strong indirect effects on RAID via theoretical factors reviewed above. In our current study, an analysis using crosssectional data from South Korea in perspective of gender difference was performed in order to examine a possible indirect effect of gender on RAID via the three theoretical factors. A structural equation model (SEM) was proposed, as specified in Fig. 1, to test the theorized relationships of risk factors and RAID behavior from the perspective of gender difference. This work could also be a theory-building exercise, since there is a lack of available theories to drive the inclusion of factors in the causal model explaining RAID. 3. Method 3.1. Data An indication of interest in the policy relevance of behavioral changes in the domain of alcohol-impaired driving and RAID is shown in ‘A survey of drivers’ recognition and actual conditions of alcohol-impaired driving’ by Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC) in South Korea. To test the theoretical model, we used ‘A survey of drivers’ recognition and actual conditions of alcohol-impaired driving’ (2004) come from and made available by Korea Social Science Data Archive. Under the provision of KIC, the dataset used in this study was collected through the survey, an 18 page survey that assesses the behaviors, values, self-perceptions regarding driving, alcohol use, and alcohol-impaired driving. The survey is a population-based survey administered to Korean civilian non-institutionalized participants among all age-groups. Alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers were included in the sample. The entire random sample consisted of 1007 participants (703 males and 304 females) aged 20–66 (M = 40.00, SD = 8.987). All of the participants had driver’s licenses and participated in the study

on an unpaid voluntary basis. In the entire sample, we included total abstainers (n = 136) from alcohol, since the focus of the present study was riding with an alcohol-impaired driver. Below we detail features of these data sets pertinent to measurements. 3.2. Measures Three types of measures were created from the data sources: (a) the exogenous variable of gender; (b) mediator variables of sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and frequency of harmful drinking in South Korean context, which are theoretically the most proximal predictors of criterion variable; and (c) criterion variable i.e., RAID involvement. 3.2.1. Exogenous variable: gender Gender is coded 1 for males, and 0 for females. Females comprised 30.19% of the entire sample. 3.2.2. Mediator variables: sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and frequency of harmful drinking Sensation seeking is one of the most proximal predictors of RAID behavior. SSS has undergone a number of stages of development (Öngen, 2007). In many previous studies, it was measured by responses to four questions regarding 4-item subscales (experience seeking, thrill and adventure seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility) of Zuckerman (1979)’s scale, which were modified slightly for the current study by not mentioning drinking alcohol in the items and by adding two impulsivity items (Breen & Zuckerman, 1999; Stacy et al., 1991). Scale items are similar to “Impulsive Unsocialized Sensation Seeking” (Zuckerman et al., 1988; Zuckerman et al., 1991) scales: “I sometimes like to do things that are a little frightening,” “I usually act without stopping to think,” “I enjoy new and exciting experience even if they are unusual,” “I got bored seeing the same old faces,” “Generally, I am an impulsive person,” and “I prefer friends who are exciting and unpredictable.” These items were scaled from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much), which means higher scores indicate higher indicators of sensation seeking propensities. We deleted the one item concerning preferences for parachute jumping and driving a motor cycle to assess orientations toward risk taking activities in general rather than specific risky behaviors. Internal consistency of the resulting 6-items was .710 for this sample.3 The subscales were served as measurement variables of the latent variable of sensation seeking in the subsequent structural equation modeling. Perceived peer pressure is the most consistent and strongest predictor of alcohol-related behaviors in previous research. In the present study, it was assessed using respondents’ responses to two measurement items assessing beliefs concerning the prevalence and acceptability of an alcohol-impaired driving in their peers (proximal reference groups) environment (Franc¸a et al., 2009; Lashbrook, 2000; Sela-Shayovitz, 2008): “Among your friends, how many drive after drink occasionally?” and “What would your close friends think if you drive after drink occasionally? Would they disapprove or approve?” Each item was scaled from 1 (none/strongly disapprove) to 5 (a great majority/strongly approve). Choices are rank-ordered in order that higher numbers indicate higher perception about acceptability of an alcohol-impaired driving to peers. Internal consistency of the items was .816 for this sample. These two items were used as measurement variables of the latent variable of perceived peer pressure in the subsequent structural equation modeling.

3

Internal consistency scores are Cronbach’s coefficient Alphas.

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Fig. 1. Theoretical model. Note: every arrow indicates positive relationship. The initial model includes a path from gender to RAID.

Frequency of harmful drinking is another mediator variable between gender and involvement of RAID. Three questions were used to measure harmful/heavy drinking (Alaniz, 1996; ChristieMizell & Peralta, 2009; Berg et al., 2010) modified for the Korean setting: “Do you have more than two bottles of Soju4 on a typical day when you are drinking?” “How often are you drunk like a fish?” and “How often do you pass out drunk enough to remember nothing about the previous night?” Items measuring frequencies were scaled from 1 (never) to 4 (very often), so that higher scores indicate higher frequency of harmful alcohol use of respondents. Internal consistency of the items was .840 for this sample. These three items were used as measurement variables of the latent variable of frequency of harmful drinking in the subsequent structural equation modeling.

3.2.3. Criterion variable: involvement in RAID Involvement in riding with an alcohol-impaired driver was measured by responses to a single question regarding the frequency of RAID committed, i.e., how often he or she chose RAID. A single item measuring frequency was scaled from 1 (never) to 4 (very often). People involved in RAID comprised 24.1% (n = 243) of the entire sample (n = 1007).

4. Results 4.1. Sample characteristics The average age of men was 40.02; 79.7% were married, 62.0% were employed, and 78.1% reported a monthly income of 3,000,000 won or less, 62.3% reported at least some college education, and 43.3% reported themselves as religious. In the female sample, the average age was 39.96; 88.2% were married, 41.1% were employed, and 97.0% reported a monthly income of 3,000,000 won or less, 51.6% reported at least some college education, and 60.2% reported themselves as religious. Stark differences between the gender groups were found in terms of the mean values of the theoretical variables as shown in Table 1. As would be expected, males scored higher in the three theoretical variables than females: more likely to show higher levels of sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and more frequent harmful alcohol use. A bivariate correlation was run for all study variables in order to rule out any multicollinearity problems in the models.5 No multicollinearity problems were found among the variables, as none of variables were correlated above .70. Table 2 presents zero-order correlations among the variables of all the hypothesized underlying factors and dependent variables.

3.3. Statistical analysis 4.2. Model specification SEM was used as a technique that allowed analysis of relationships among exogenous, mediator, and criterion variables simultaneously (Kline, 1998). A two-step approach was adopted to examine the relations among gender, sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, frequency of harmful drinking, and involvement in RAID in the sample of South Korean people. First, using AMOS 18 software, a theorized model (theoretical factors mediated models) was constructed by comprising three latent mediator variables explained above. In a second step, maximum likelihood estimates for the model parameters using the covariance matrices for the total sample were calculated. Multiple measures were used to assess the goodness-of-fit of data to the proposed models. The indicators of the model fit included a chi-squared goodness of fit, goodness-offit index (GFI), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), normed fit index (NFI), incremental fit index (IFI), and comparative fit index (CFI). Having model fit statistics allows researchers to examine the extent to which the tested SEM fits the data and is valid in reference to the data.

4 Soju is typical distilled spirits of South Korea, one of the few places in the world where the frequency and volume of alcohol consumption is excessive.

Two structural equation models (theoretical factors mediated models) were generated, as specified in Fig. 1, to test the theorized relationships: one examining direct and indirect effects of gender on the frequency of riding with an alcohol-impaired driver (model 1) and the other testing only indirect effects of gender in the modified model (model 2). In this way, possible direct and indirect effects of the exogenous predictor (gender) on involvement of RAID were modeled (model 1), while only possible indirect effects of gender as mediated through sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and frequent harmful drinking were modeled (model 2). We started by fitting our theorized model described in Fig. 1. We first ran fully saturated alternate model and then reran this model trimming any non-significant paths. According to standard modification approaches for the refinement of structural equation models (Kline, 1998), non-significant paths were recommended to

5 Prior to testing the structural equation models, variance inflation factors (VIF) were examined in multiple regression equations with the observed variables. As multicollinearity can be a confounder for our analysis, collinearity diagnostics were performed for each of the variables in full model with variance inflation factors and tolerance. We are recommended that a VIF of less than 3 is an acceptable limit (Ai et al., 2006).

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Table 1 Theoretical factors and RAID characteristics of the sample by gender. Variables

Males (n = 703)

Females (n = 304)

All (n = 1007)

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Sensation seekinga Like to do things a little frightening Act without stopping to think Enjoy new/exciting experience Got bored seeing the same face Be an impulsive person Prefer exciting/unpredictable friends Perceived Peer pressure Perceived prevalence of drunk drivingb Perceived acceptability of drunk drivingc Harmful drinkingd Have more than 2 bottles of Soju Be drunk like a fish Pass out drunk RAID frequencyd

2.83 3.23 2.59 2.72 2.48 2.68 3.27 1.99 1.97 2.01 1.64 1.70 1.77 1.46 1.28

.632 .996 .997 1.069 1.050 .980 .936 .770 .831 .830 .546 .696 .648 .547 .467

2.71 2.96 2.69 2.43 2.39 2.60 3.16 1.88 1.86 1.91 1.20 1.16 1.31 1.13 1.17

.655 1.014 .983 1.051 1.006 .921 .961 .732 .783 .845 .336 .405 .476 .341 .380

2.79 3.15 2.62 2.63 2.45 2.66 3.24 1.96 1.94 1.98 1.51 1.53 1.63 1.36 1.25

.641 1.009 .994 1.071 1.037 .963 .944 .760 .818 .836 .533 .671 .638 .518 .445

RAID involvement

N 190

% 27.03

N 53

% 17.43

N 243

% 24.43

a

Subscales of sensation seeking were coded: 1 = not at all, 2 = a little, 3 = somewhat, 4 = a lot, 5 = very much. Subscales of perceived prevalence of drunk driving were coded: 1 = none, 2 = less than one third, 3 = about half, 4 = more than two thirds 5 = a great majority. c Subscales of perceived acceptability of drunk driving were coded: 1 = strongly disapprove, 2 = disapprove, 3 = neither disapprove nor approve, 4 = approve, 5 = strongly approve. d Subscales of harmful drinking and RAID frequency were coded: 1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = very often. b

Table 2 Zero-order correlations among study variables. Variables

1

2

3

4

5

1. Gender 2. Sensation seeking 3. Perceived peer pressure 4. Harmful drinking 5. RAID frequency

– .086** .067* .386*** .108**

– .189*** .132*** .118***

– .139*** .150***

– .314***

–

* ** ***

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

remove to identify the best fitting model. Notably, however, no path in our theoretical model 2 was removed in the procedure. 4.3. Model fit Model fitting were carried out by means of structural equation modeling using the Amos 18.0 software package. In the same way as for the confirmatory factor analyses, given that the observed variables deviated slightly from the multi-normal distribution, the proposed models (model 1 and model 2) were estimated using the maximum likelihood procedure. Figs. 2 and 3 present the Amos estimates of structural relationships among gender, sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, frequency of harmful drinking, and involvement of RAID in the sample of South Korean people. Overall these models fits data well, so estimated models showed reasonably acceptable goodness-of-fit measures, as shown in Table 3. The only index outside the acceptable limits was the Chisquare value of 335.013 and 336.410, respectively, which proved to be significant (p < .001), although, for large samples, as was the case in our study (1007 individuals), their values do not really indicate the model’s true fit, which needs to be evaluated using the rest of the fit measurements. In sum, there is little evidence of model inadequacy. 4.4. Relationships among latent variables We can see that sensation seeking disposition, perceived peer pressure and harmful drinking play key mediating roles between gender and RAID involvement in model 1. As shown in Fig. 2 below,

the relationship observed supports the view that males have higher levels of sensation seeking disposition, perceived peer pressure, and harmful drinking, which in turn, contribute to RAID involvement. In this model 1, three theoretical factors played in mediating the effect of gender (male) on RAID involvement, while gender did not have a significant direct impact on criterion variable, which meant there were no statistically significant gender differences among RAID rates. However, in comparison to model 1, sensation seeking disposition and frequent harmful drinking, unlike perceived peer pressure, played key mediating roles between gender and RAID involvement in model 2. As shown in Fig. 3 below, the relationship observed supports the view that males have a higher level of sensation seeking disposition and harmful drinking, which in turn, contributes to

Table 3 Goodness-of-fit measures for the estimated models. Indices

Values obtained (model 1)

Values obtained (model 2)

Recommended values

Chi-square (d.f.) p-value

335.013 (60) <.001

336.410 (61) <.001

GFI AGFI RMSEA IFI CFI

.952 .927 .067 .919 .919

.952 .928 .067 .919 .919

Small value Check significance of test Value above .90 Value above .90 Value below .08 Value above .90 Value close to 1.00

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Fig. 2. Standardized coefficients for causal model 1.

more frequent involvement in RAID. In this model, sensation seeking disposition and harmful drinking frequency played in mediating the effect of gender (male) on RAID involvement, while perceived peer pressure did not have a significant mediating role.

4.5. Effects of sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and frequent harmful drinking Consistent with our hypothesized relationships, the result revealed that sensation seeking (ˇ = .075, p = .042), perceived peer pressure (ˇ = .113, p = .004) and frequent harmful drinking (ˇ = .325, p < .001) were positively associated with frequent RAID behavior, playing partial mediating roles in a causal model 1. The result also revealed that sensation seeking propensity (ˇ = .073, p = .047), perceived peer pressure (ˇ = .112, p = .004) and frequent harmful drinking (ˇ = .306, p < .001) were positively associated with frequent RAID behavior in a causal model 2, consistent with our hypothesized relationships.

4.6. Effects of gender 4.6.1. Direct effects on the mediators In causal model 1, gender (male) was positively associated with sensation seeking (ˇ = .100, p = .009), with perceived peer pressure (ˇ = .065, p = .049), and with frequent harmful drinking behavior (ˇ = .411, p < .001). In comparison, in causal model 2, gender (male) was positively associated with sensation seeking (ˇ = .099, p = .010), with perceived peer pressure (ˇ = .064, p = .053), and with frequent harmful drinking behavior (ˇ = .409, p < .001). The results revealed that males had a higher level of sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and harmful alcohol use than

females. As we have seen, only the difference in the level of perceived peer pressure was not statistically significant.

4.6.2. Direct and Indirect effects on the criterion variable In particular, in causal model 2, it was hypothesized that sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and harmful alcohol use would play full mediating roles between gender and RAID involvement. The direct relationship between gender and RAID involvement was not estimated as standardized structural coefficients. However, in causal model 1, a path from gender to RAID involvement was generated. The result showed that gender did not have a significant effect on RAID involvement (ˇ = .040, p = .237): males had a higher level of RAID rates, but the gender difference was not significant. One of the primary issues investigated in current study was the indirect (mediational) effect of gender on involvement in RAID. The structural equation modeling analysis used to estimate the models enables us to obtain not only the direct effect of gender and three constructs, but also the indirect effect of gender on the RAID behavior in causal models. Consistent with our theorized model in perspective of gender difference, the results for indirect effects suggest a series of mediating connections among variables. The indirect effects are given by the product of the direct effect of the exogenous variable (gender) on the mediators (sensation seeking, perceived peer pressure, and frequent harmful drinking) over the direct effect of mediators on final variable (involvement in RAID). Specifically, when decomposing the total effects of gender on RAID involvement by estimating direct and indirect effects separately, we found that gender had indirect effects on variation in RAID behavior. Table 4 shows the indirect effects of gender on RAID. Of the mediating latent variables, frequent harmful/excessive drinking had the most decisive influence on RAID involvement in both models.

Fig. 3. Standardized coefficients for causal model 2.

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Table 4 Standardized indirect effects of gender on involvement in RAID. Mediator latent variable Sensation seeking Perceived peer pressure Frequent harmful drinking

Model 1 (partial mediation) .0075 .0073 .1336

Model 2 (full mediation) .0072 – .1252

Note: Perceived peer pressure did not play a significant mediating role in model 2.

5. Conclusion and discussion We can first note that we were impressed with the regularity with which variables in the theoretical models were involved overall in statistically significant relationships in predicted directions from theoretical standpoint. The models utilized revealed that sensation seeking was a significant predictor of RAID involvement. Previous studies investigating the role of sensation seeking personality profiles on reckless behaviors mainly focused on more advanced level of drinking and alcohol-impaired driving (e.g., Mann et al., 2009). Our results extend this knowledge by demonstrating that sensation seeking disposition profiles are associated with riding with a driver under the influence of alcohol. The fact that personality dimensions concerning specific, rather than general personality dispositions are significant factors indicate that these profiles are important in explaining individual differences in RAID behaviors of individuals among all age groups. Identifying risk profiles is of crucial importance, because it may facilitate effective prevention efforts targeted at people who are at risk for RAID involvements. As a rule, there are many situations in which high sensation seeking people have tended to respond in a substantially more risky and deviant manner than low sensation seeking individuals. A substantial implication of these findings for RAID prevention is that personality traits associated with RAID involvement, such as need to experience new, exciting and arousing stimuli can be employed to design successful interventions. We recommend that such instructions should not only include information specific to the special needs of the vulnerable targeted audiences, but also that they should be taught in manners more likely to be effective in reducing RAID. This study also contributes to the existing corpus of research knowledge in that it enables analysis of the effects of perceived peer pressure on RAID involvement in general population in South Korea: the models used revealed that perceived peer pressure was another significant predictor of RAID involvement. Consequently, in order to avoid a proliferation of RAID, effective intervention programs can be beneficial by influencing the perception of potential and actual involvers in RAID about peer pressures via social norms approach (Berkowitz, 2004) targeted at reducing the disparities between their perceptions and the actual social environments. RAID prevention efforts should continue throughout adulthood, focusing increasingly on replacing the perceptions of drunk driving or RAID as normal with a realistic understanding the prevalence and consequences of the deviant behavior. Results of this study can also provide evidence that a social norms media campaign can have a population-wide effect on perceived norms and RAID behaviors. Changing normative perception is a prerequisite for a social marketing (Goldberg, 1995) media campaign to influence behaviors (Dunlop and Romer, 2010). Communication strategies based on the approach can help the vulnerable people to develop skills to protect themselves when they seem to have no other option but to ride with an alcohol-impaired driver (Bohman et al., 2004). In addition, the present study supports an intervention program targeted at reducing RAID involvements that involves increasing friends’ protective behaviors. On the basis of peer pressure model (Lamerichs et al., 2009), peer educators or

communicators can be often trained as expert to persuade friends of appropriate behaviors thus avoiding RAID. RAID behaviors are common even when alcohol is not present. However, our findings show that RAID involvement is exacerbated by harmful alcohol use. It is clear from the current study that frequent harmful drinking is the most consistent and strongest predictor of involvement of RAID. The present results of predictive effects of harmful alcohol use are consistent with previous research testing the relationships between heavy alcohol consumption and RAID involvement (Calafat et al., 2009). The importance for risk factor of harmful alcohol use stood out in causal models, which meant behavioral pattern or habit of high-risk drinking had stronger causal effects on RAID involvements. Moreover, hazardous drinking among high-risk group may be a hidden barrier to programs promoting anti-RAID activities. Accordingly, public health professionals can provide frequent lawbreakers involving in RAID after high-risk drinking with information on associations among harmful alcohol consumptions, impairment of brain functions, and risks of RAID. In this study, the consistency of findings with those generally found in previous research on associations between risk factors and RAID involvement provides some assurance that our observations have validity. The primary implication of the current study was, however, not confined to just a replication of the findings of previous research in the context of South Koreans’ group drinking. Rather, the current study attempted to provide novel findings about the conditions under which gender predicted RAID behaviors, especially in Korean culture. One important issue was whether the predictive effects of sex/gender on RAID behavior were indirect and mediated via three theoretical factors: sensation seeking personality trait, perceived peer pressure, and frequent harmful drinking. By and large, the findings of the current study supported this possibility, after testing mediation models with and without direct effects of gender on RAID. Less expected results were that we found no significant indirect effect of gender on RAID frequency via perceived peer pressure in full mediation model specified in this paper. In short, however, the prediction of RAID behavior by gender was mediated entirely through those three theoretical factors overall. The analysis of the indirect effects of gender showed the relative weighting that some of mediating roles have on the generation of deviant and risky behaviors of RAID. At all events, these research findings have practical implications for prevention and intervention among high-risk group. First, harm minimization education and campaigns should address RAID for the males, as they are potential passengers of an alcohol-impaired driver in the Korean setting. A strong link between gender (male) and sensation seeking may help men to reassess their risk-taking decisions and activities that are part of their social life. Secondly, the significant effect found for men’s perceptions of peer pressure from friends might be taken into account, for example, in education for RAID prevention. Thirdly, campaigns and educational interventions should emphasize the elevated RAID risk of males that could occur when drinking at extreme levels. To design effective intervention strategies in order to reduce RAID behaviors, RAID involvement after excessive and harmful drinking need to be considered as a social behavior, a gender specific behavior, at least, in the South Korean culture. While the present study was rigorous in many important ways, it is warranted to identify some of the limitations of this study. First, the associations revealed in this study must be interpreted with a degree of caution. The survey of drivers’ recognition and actual conditions of alcohol-impaired driving (2004) by KIC is a self-report instrument. Our use of self-reports might have led to measurement errors; secondly, this survey is a cross-sectional study, therefore it may not be possible to ascertain any causal relationships. A longitudinal study should be used to observe changes over time in various

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factors affecting RAID practices in the future. Thirdly and finally, although the application of the findings from the current study may be partly responsible for improved criminal and health policy intervention efforts, the heterogeneity of riders of an alcohol-impaired driver is such that the effectiveness of a given intervention will substantially vary with respect to the characteristics of the sample (Turrisi et al., 1997). Therefore, professionals attempting to design more effective interventions would need to take these variances into account to reduce potential for the future RAID involvement.

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