Volume 29, Issue 2: April, 2002

Abstract

PARENTING PRACTICES AND ADOLESCENT RISKY DRIVING: A THREE-MONTH PROSPECTIVE STUDYS

Jessica Hartos, PhD, Patricia Eitel, PhD, and Bruce Simons-Morton, EdD, MPH

This study examined relations between risky driving, parenting, and deviance, and the stability of risky driving over time. Two hundred and sixty-one licensed adolescents completed telephone interviews about risky driving, parenting practices, and orientations toward deviance at baseline and about risky driving at follow-up 3 months later. The results indicated that risky driving at follow-up was predicted by risky driving at baseline, parental restrictions on driving, and sensation seeking. In addition, risky driving was stable within 80% of teens. When compared with adolescents with low risky driving over time (n = 129), adolescents with high risky driving over time (n = 79) were 3 times more likely to report low parental monitoring, 2 times more likely to report low parental restrictions, and almost 5 times more likely to report high deviance acceptance. The results suggest that high levels of risky driving are related to parenting.