Does gender moderate the relationship between driver aggression and its risk factors?

AIM

The current study assessed gender as a potential moderator of the relationship between self-reported driver aggression and various demographic variables, general and driving-related risk factors.

METHODS

Using data from a general-population telephone survey conducted from July 2002 through June 2005, two approaches to binary logistic regression were adopted. Based on the full dataset (n=6259), the initial analysis was a hierarchical-entry regression examining self-reported driver aggression in the last 12 months. All demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, income, education, marital status), general risk factors (i.e., psychological distress, binge drinking, cannabis use), and driving-related risk factors (i.e., driving exposure, stressful driving, exposure to busy roads, driving after drinking, driving after cannabis use) were entered in the first block, and all two-way interactions with gender were entered stepwise in the second block. The subsequent analysis involved dividing the sample by gender and conducting logistic regressions with main effects only for males (n=2921) and females (n=3338) separately.

RESULTS

Although the prevalence of driver aggression in the current sample was slightly higher among males (38.5%) than females (32.9%), the difference was small, and gender did not enter as a significant predictor of driver aggression in the overall logistic regression. In that analysis, difficulty with social functioning and being older were associated with a reduced risk of driver aggression. Marital status and education were unrelated to aggression, and all other variables were associated with an increased risk of aggression. Gender was found to moderate the relationships between driver aggression and only three variables: income, psychological distress, and driving exposure. Separate analyses on the male and female sub-samples also found differences in the predictive value of income and driving exposure; however, the difference for psychological distress could not be detected using this separate regression approach. The secondary analysis also identified slight differences in the predictive value of four of the risk factors, where the odds ratios for both males and females were in the same direction but only one of the two was statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate the importance of conducting the gender analysis using both regression approaches. With few exceptions, factors that were predictive of driver aggression were generally the same for both male and female drivers.

Girls and weapons: an international study of the perpetration of violence

The purpose of this study was to describe delinquent girls' weapons preferences where and how often they carried weapons and to identify the most important factors that explained four different weapon-related violent outcomes. A large, high-risk sample of female adolescents consisting of 510 girls aged 14-17 in four cities were interviewed using the same questionnaire and methods. Tabular and logistic regression analyses were applied. Knives emerged as the most frequently reported weapon in all cities. Rates of both lifetime victimization and perpetration of violence with weapons were high in all sites. Starting to carry a weapon as a result of violence was reported by 40% of the girls in Toronto, 28% in Philadelphia, 25% in Amsterdam, and 16% in Montreal. The major predictors of weapon perpetrated violent behaviours included ethnic origin, early onset of delinquent activities, participation in delinquent acts in the past 12 months, gang fighting and carrying a weapon as a result of violence. Site, age and heavy alcohol consumption had a minor impact, and drug use, drug selling, and neighborhood features, none. Despite numerous differences in weapons' prevalence across cities, the logistic regression found that site was only significant in use of an object (Toronto) and not significant in threatening or hurting someone with either a knife or a gun or actually hurting others with a weapon. These findings suggest commonality in serious female violence that extends beyond borders and cultures.

Assessing road rage victimization and perpetration in the Ontario adult population: the impact of illicit drug use and psychiatric distress

BACKGROUND

To investigate the association among illicit drug use, psychiatric distress and road rage victimization and offending. Particular attention is given to the most serious forms of road rage behaviour.

METHODS

The data are based on the 2002 CAMH Monitor and include a sample of 2,421 Ontario adults aged 18 and older. Logistic regression analyses were conducted with illicit drug use and psychiatric distress (GHQ) and demographic factors as independent variables.

RESULTS

Past-year road rage victimization was reported by 42% of the sample and 31% reported any type of road rage offending. Approximately 5% were classified as respondents with serious road rage involvement. The logistic regression analyses revealed significant relationships between illicit drug use and road rage outcomes. Cannabis use was significantly associated with general road rage victimization and offending, while stimulant use substantially increased the likelihood of victimization and membership in the serious road rage classification. Psychiatric distress significantly increased the odds of both road rage victimization and serious road rage involvement.

CONCLUSION

These data reveal different indicators of road rage offending, victimization and serious involvement. Further work is needed to clarify the mechanisms associated with the relationship among stimulant use, psychiatric distress and serious road rage involvement.

Assessing road rage victimization and perpetration in the Ontario adult population: the impact of illicit drug use and psychiatric distress

BACKGROUND

To investigate the association among illicit drug use, psychiatric distress and road rage victimization and offending. Particular attention is given to the most serious forms of road rage behaviour.

METHODS

The data are based on the 2002 CAMH Monitor and include a sample of 2,421 Ontario adults aged 18 and older. Logistic regression analyses were conducted with illicit drug use and psychiatric distress (GHQ) and demographic factors as independent variables.

RESULTS

Past-year road rage victimization was reported by 42% of the sample and 31% reported any type of road rage offending. Approximately 5% were classified as respondents with serious road rage involvement. The logistic regression analyses revealed significant relationships between illicit drug use and road rage outcomes. Cannabis use was significantly associated with general road rage victimization and offending, while stimulant use substantially increased the likelihood of victimization and membership in the serious road rage classification. Psychiatric distress significantly increased the odds of both road rage victimization and serious road rage involvement.

CONCLUSION

These data reveal different indicators of road rage offending, victimization and serious involvement. Further work is needed to clarify the mechanisms associated with the relationship among stimulant use, psychiatric distress and serious road rage involvement.

Illicit drug use, alcohol use and problem drinking among infrequent and frequent road ragers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between illicit drug and alcohol use, problem drinking, and road rage. Particular attention is devoted to the association between these behaviors and frequent involvement in road rage activities. The data are taken from the 2002 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Monitor, a representative telephone survey with a sample of 2421 adults aged 18 and older in Ontario. A cluster analysis was performed and analysis of variance procedures were used to test for group differences. The cluster analysis revealed five distinct groups involved in various types of road rage behavior. Frequent road ragers, accounting for 5.3% of the sample, were involved in the most severe forms of road rage behavior and were most likely (24%) to report problem drinking and past year cannabis (23.8%), cocaine (5.4%), and ecstasy (10%) use. These data indicate that illicit drug use and alcohol problems are significantly greater for those involved in the most serious forms of road rage behavior. Further work is needed to identify the mechanisms by which illicit drug use and problem drinking are linked to road rage.

How does the Canadian juvenile justice system respond to detained youth with substance use associated problems? Gaps, challenges, and emerging issues

Despite a juvenile justice system that, since its inception in 1908, has been predicated on meeting the rehabilitative needs of youth, Canada has few specialized programs for substance misusing young offenders, preferring more holistic approaches. This is in keeping with an addictions treatment system that has evolved recently in the direction of more integrated services within the general health care and social services delivery systems. In addition, Canada has tended to emphasize community-based over institutional treatment programs. Nevertheless, for youth in conflict with the law, "substance abuse" is recognized as a significant risk factor for recidivism. The approximately 9000 young persons held in custodial facilities on any given day across the country are exposed to a variety of programs aimed at reducing antisocial behavior and hence, re-offending. Some of these have a substance use component. Programs for Aboriginal youth offer some of the most innovative approaches for particular drug use problems. This article provides an overview of the Canadian response and elaborates features of some programs, particularly Multisystemic Therapy, mainly in the province of Ontario. Few programs have received adequate evaluation, however, and the need for systematic assessment is crucial for the development of future effective interventions for youth with multiple drug and other problems.

Promoting healthy choices: the importance of differentiating between ordinary and high risk cannabis use among high-school students

Education can affect the lives of adolescents by reinforcing healthy choices and promoting a healthy lifestyle. However, difficulties experienced in the school and family environments may interfere with these goals. This may be particularly true for those youth already participating in health-compromising behaviors such as drug use. Of course, patterns of drug use take many forms, and some are more serious than others. Youth using cannabis at more intensive levels have often been overlooked in the literature. This paper, based on 1997 data, addressed this gap by examining the effects of individual and cumulative school and family factors on not only the probability of any cannabis use but also the progression to problem use among 1980 Ontario students. The results suggested that disrupted family structure increased the likelihood of cannabis use in general. However, patterns of problem use were displayed among youth experiencing problems in school and poor family relationships. As anticipated, adolescents experiencing multiple school and family factors were also significantly more likely to engage in cannabis use, and in its more serious form, when controlling for other demographic predictors. The implications for health promotion initiatives in the school are discussed.

Family stressors and adolescent cannabis use: a pathway to problem use

The extent to which the family environment is characterized by stress may have a substantial impact on life-course trajectories of young people. Illicit drug use is a fairly common part of these trajectories. This paper estimates the direct impact of family stressors on the progression to problem cannabis use, as well as their indirect effects via the youth's school experience among adolescents in Ontario. The results suggest that family stressors have direct and indirect effects increasing the probability of cannabis use outcomes. The implications of these more complex associations between factors believed to influence adolescent drug use trajectories are discussed.