Empirical Profiles of Alcohol and Marijuana Use, Drugged Driving, and Risk Perceptions

Arterberry, Brooke J.; Treloar, Hayley; McCarthy, Denis M. · 2017 · Crossref

DOI: 10.15288/jsad.2017.78.889

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Summary

This study investigates the relationship between risk perceptions and patterns of alcohol, marijuana, and drugged driving behaviors among young adults. Motivated by the high prevalence of substance-impaired driving and the need to understand how specific risk attitudes influence behavior, the researchers sought to empirically identify distinct profiles of substance use and driving. Specifically, they examined whether perceived dangerousness and perceived likelihood of negative consequences for driving while intoxicated or high could predict membership in high-risk groups. The study aimed to determine if marijuana-specific risk perceptions offered unique predictive value compared to alcohol-specific perceptions, addressing gaps in understanding simultaneous substance use and driving. The researchers employed a person-oriented approach using latent profile analysis (LPA) on survey data from 897 college students recruited from introductory psychology classes at a large public Midwestern university. Participants reported on their past-month and past-year frequency and quantity of alcohol and marijuana use, including simultaneous use, as well as the frequency of driving after heavy episodic drinking, marijuana use, or both. They also rated the perceived dangerousness and likelihood of consequences for driving under these conditions. The LPA identified four distinct profiles based on these behaviors, and multinomial logistic regressions were used to test whether risk perceptions predicted profile membership. The analysis revealed a four-profile model with the best fit: low-level engagers, alcohol-centric engagers, concurrent engagers, and marijuana-centric/simultaneous engagers. Low-level engagers exhibited minimal substance use and drugged driving. Alcohol-centric engagers had higher alcohol use but low marijuana use and driving after use. Concurrent engagers showed elevated rates of both substance use and drugged driving. The marijuana-centric/simultaneous engagers displayed the highest rates of marijuana use, co-use, and related driving behaviors. Crucially, perceived dangerousness of driving while high significantly predicted membership in the lower-risk profiles (low-level, alcohol-centric, and concurrent), with higher perceived danger associated with reduced likelihood of being in the highest-risk marijuana-centric group. In contrast, perceived dangerousness and likelihood of consequences for driving after alcohol or simultaneous use did not significantly predict profile membership. The findings indicate that perceived dangerousness of driving after marijuana use is a stronger predictor of drugged driving risk patterns than alcohol-related risk perceptions. This suggests that young adults may have more uniform, high-risk perceptions regarding drunk driving, potentially due to established prevention efforts, whereas perceptions of driving while high vary more and directly influence behavior. The study concludes that intervention programs targeting young adults should specifically address marijuana-impaired driving risk perceptions, as these attitudes appear to be a critical lever for reducing high-risk substance use and driving behaviors.

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• polydrug
• illicit drugs