title: The prevalence and correlates of risky driving behavior among National Guard soldiers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies have reported that risky driving is associated with deployment and combat exposure in military populations, but there is limited research on risky driving among soldiers in the National Guard and Reserves, a group increasingly deployed to active international conflicts. The goal of this analysis was to assess the prevalence of risky driving and its demographic, mental health, and deployment-related correlates among members of the Ohio Army National Guard (OHARNG).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study group comprised 2,616 eligible OHARNG soldiers enlisted as of June 2008, or who enlisted between June 2008 and February 2009. The main outcome of interest was the prevalence of risky driving behavior assessed using six questions: "How often do you use seat belts when you drive or ride in a car?"; "In the past 30 days, how many times have you driven when you've had perhaps too much to drink?"; "In the past year, have you ever become impatient with a slow driver in the fast lane and passed them on the right?"; "In the past year have you crossed an intersection knowing that the traffic lights have already changed from yellow to red?"; "In the past year have you disregarded speed limits late at night or early in the morning?"; and "In the past year have you underestimated the speed of an oncoming vehicle when attempting to pass a vehicle in your own lane?" We fit multiple logistic regression models and derived the adjusted prevalence of risky driving behavior for soldiers with mental health conditions, deployment experience, exposure to combat or trauma, and psychosocial stressors or supports.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of risky driving was higher in soldiers with a history of mental health conditions, deployment to a conflict area, deployment-related traumatic events, and combat or post-combat stressors. In contrast, the prevalence of risky driving was lower for soldiers who reported high levels of psychosocial support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Efforts to mitigate risky driving in military populations may be more effective if they incorporate both targeted messages to remediate dangerous learned driving behaviors and psychosocial interventions to build resilience and address underlying stressors and mental health symptoms.
authors.affiliation: a VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, VA Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation , Implementation & Policy (CSHIIP) , Sepulveda , California.
authors.forename: Katherine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hoggatt
authors.forename: Marta R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Goldmann
authors.forename: Marijo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamburrino
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Liberzon
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galea
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: combat; mental health; military medicine; risky driving; trauma; veterans of war