title: Validation of the Driver's Angry Thoughts Questionnaire (DATQ) in a Chinese sample.
abstract: The relationship between driving anger and negative driving outcomes, such as dangerous driving behaviors and traffic violations, has been the topic of several studies, but few studies have explored drivers' angry thoughts when they encounter anger-provoking situations and the potential consequences of such thoughts. The purpose of this study was to investigate drivers' angry thoughts behind the wheel and their relationship with dangerous driving behaviors. A total of 303 Chinese drivers completed the Chinese version of the Driver's Angry Thoughts Questionnaire (DATQ), the Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI) and the Driving Anger Scale (DAS). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the Chinese DATQ yielded a five-factor solution with 20 items that showed the best goodness of fit for the data. The brief DATQ also showed good reliability and validity. Three forms of aggressive thinking were positively correlated with dangerous driving behaviors, and coping self-instruction was negatively correlated with dangerous driving behaviors and traffic violations. More importantly, aggressive thinking mediated the effect of driving anger on dangerous driving behaviors, indicating the importance of thoughts behind the wheel. These results provide evidence supporting the development of strategies to reduce and prevent aggressive driving and accidents.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jingyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wenguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: quwn@psych.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Weina
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D000786:Anger; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aggressive thinking; Angry thoughts; Dangerous driving behavior; Driving anger