Mental health and driving behaviour of students and alumni of a university in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study
DOI: 10.26719/emhj.22.059
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
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Summary
This cross-sectional study investigates the relationship between mental health markers, physical factors, and driving behavior among students and alumni of a university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research was motivated by the UAE government’s national agenda to reduce traffic-related deaths to 3 per 100,000 people by 2021, necessitating a better understanding of factors contributing to risky driving. Specifically, the authors aimed to determine if correlations existed between driving performance and variables such as years of driving experience, daily sleep hours, general mental health indicators, and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study utilized a convenient non-probability sampling method, distributing an integrated 27-item questionnaire via email to 350 students and alumni permanently residing in the UAE. Of these, 275 participants responded, yielding a 79% response rate with zero missing data due to survey design constraints. The instrument combined three validated scales: the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess social dysfunction, anxiety, and loss of confidence; the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (Mini-DBQ) to measure violations, errors, and lapses; and the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) to evaluate ADHD symptoms. Two additional questions captured demographic data, including age, sex, years of driving experience, and daily sleep duration. Spearman’s correlation coefficients were calculated to analyze relationships between these variables, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05. The results indicated that neither years of driving experience nor daily hours of sleep had any statistically significant correlation with any dimension of driving behavior. General mental health markers showed only weak correlations with risky driving; for instance, anxiety and loss of confidence had weak positive correlations with violations, errors, and lapses, while social dysfunction had a very weak correlation only with violations. In contrast, ADHD symptoms demonstrated moderate, statistically significant correlations with driving errors (r = 0.49) and lapses (r = 0.47), and a weak but significant correlation with violations (r = 0.31). The authors suggest that while general mental health has a limited impact, ADHD symptoms significantly impair driving performance, particularly regarding attention-related errors and lapses, likely due to deficits in sustained attention and impulsivity. The study concludes that policymakers and public health officials in the UAE should consider screening for ADHD during driver licensing examinations to mitigate traffic risks. Additionally, programs aimed at improving general mental health may offer marginal benefits for driving performance. The authors acknowledge limitations, including the reliance on self-reported data, the cross-sectional design, and a sample skewed heavily toward female participants from a single university. They recommend future studies with broader, more balanced populations and longitudinal designs to validate these findings.
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-24 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-24 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-25 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence
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