title: Study of Psycho-Social Factors Affecting Traffic Accidents Among Young Boys in Tehran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Unprecedented growth of fatalities due to traffic accidents in the recent years has raised great concerns and efforts of authorities in order to identify and control the causes of these accidents.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In the present study, the contribution of psychological, social, demographic, environmental and behavioral factors on traffic accidents was studied for young boys in Tehran, emphasizing the importance of psychosocial factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  The design of the present study was quantitative (correlational) in which a sample population including 253 boys from Tehran (Iran) with an age range of 18 to 24 who had been referred to insurance institutions, hospitals, correctional facilities as well as prisons, were selected using stratified cluster sampling during the year 2013.The subjects completed the following questionnaires: demographic, general health, lifestyle, Manchester Driving Behavior Questionnaire (MDBQ), young parenting, and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). For data analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient, and inferential statistics including simultaneous regression, stepwise regression, and structural equations modeling were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings indicated that in the psychosocial model of driving behavior (including lapses, mistakes, and intentional violations) and accidents, psychological factors, depression (P < 0.02), personality trait of conscientiousness (P < 0.02), failure schema due to the parenting style of mother (P = 0.001), and perception of police commands (P < 0.002), played an important role in predicting driving behavior. Among social factors, perception of police regulations (P = 0.003), had an important effect on violations and mistakes. Among environmental and behavioral factors, major factors such as driving age (P = 0.001), drug and alcohol use (P = 0.001), having driver's license (P = 0.013), records of imprisonment or committing a crime (P = 0.012) were also able to predict occurrence of accidents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As the results of this study show, different factors contribute to different driving behaviors and accidents. The broad scope of these factors links accidents to other social issues and damages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Seyyed Mohammad Hossein
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Javadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fekr Azad
authors.affiliation: Department of Preschool, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Siyamak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tahmasebi
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Welfare, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rafiei
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahgozar
authors.affiliation: Country Coordinating Mechanism, Global Fund, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tajlili
keywords: Automobile Driving; Psychosocial Factors; Traffic Accidents; Youths