Teen Drivers vs. Non-drivers: Are there differences in behaviour?
Author(s): Seeley, Vingilis, Hamilton
Slidedeck Presentation:
Abstract:
Background:
One of the first steps toward independence for a North American teen has been to obtain a driver’s licence. Often youths obtain their licence so they can participate in school, work, sporting events and other social activities. Yet, recent trends show that teens are delaying getting their licence (Raimond & Milthorpe, 2010; Sivak & Schoettle, 2011a,b; Tefft et al., 2014). Thus, licensure can be associated with freedom and independence to provide teens opportunities to participate in conventional and health-enhancing behaviours and/or to provide opportunities to engage in unconventional, risk taking and health compromising behaviours.
Aims:
The purpose of this study is to compare adolescents who have obtained their driver’s licence with those who have not by examining both their conventional/health-enhancing and unconventional/risk taking/health compromising behaviours, and controlling for their age, gender, and family socio-economic status(SES).
Methods:
The data used in the study were derived from the 2015 and 2017 cycles of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s OSDUHS, a stratified (region and school type), 2-stage (school, class) cluster sample design, representative of Ontario students in grades 7 through 12. Post-stratification weights are calculated for the sex-by-grade distributions within each regional stratum separately to ensure that the respondents in each region were proportionate to the population structure. Sample selected are students 16 years and older. Included measures: driver’s licence status, unconventional/risk taking/health compromising behaviours (tobacco, cannabis and alcohol use, hazardous drinking, binge drinking, problem drug use, antisocial behaviour scale, and screen time), conventional/health-enhancing behaviours (academic achievement, school connectedness, employment, physical activity, and sleep) and socio-demographics (gender, age, region, and family socio-economic status).
Results:
An estimated 67.59% of youth 16 to 19 years of age obtained their driver’s licence. By 17 years of age 58.70% of youth will have obtained at least their G2 driver’s licence. Males (54.87%), those who do not live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) (69.56%), and youths with an average family SES status (63.97%) received their driver’s licence. Significantly more licensed youths reported alcohol use (71.07%) compared to non-licensed youths (51.18%). A greater percentage of drivers reported higher use of all of these substances than non-drivers. Overall, the majority of youth (67.5%) exceeded the recommended amount of screen time, but a greater percentage of drivers reported met screen time guidelines (34.51%) compared to non-drivers (28.32%). In logistic regression analyses, older youths (1.52), males (1.39), and youths not living in the GTA (2.10) had higher odds of obtaining a driver’s licence than younger, females living in the GTA. Family SES was not significantly associated obtaining a driver’s licence. Significant conventional behaviours associated with licensing with a higher odds ratio include those youths with a high academic achievement (1.67), who are connected to school (1.58), are physically active (1.29), and work for pay (3.20). Significant unconventional behaviours associated with licensing include alcohol use (1.78) and binge drinking (1.92). All other substance use was not significantly associated with obtaining a driver’s licence.
Discussion:
Adolescent licensing decisions were affected by their age, sex, region, conventional behaviours (academic achievement, school connectedness, physical activity, employment), and unconventional behaviours (alcohol use and binge drinking) predicted if a youth were to obtain a driver’s licence. Logistic regression analyses show that a youth who gets a driver’s licence primarily report healthy, conventional behaviours, but also engage in an unconventional behaviour of alcohol and binge drinking, an age-grade socially accepted behaviour.
Conclusions:
Receiving a driver’s licence is a path to maturity for adolescents and yet their licensure rates are decreasing (Statistics Canada 2019; ORSAR 2016). This study analyzed license status with conventional and unconventional behaviours of adolescents. The OSDUHS, a provincially representative sample, surveyed youth about their behaviours and socio-demographics. Older, males, not living in the GTA who report higher academic performance, met physical activity guidelines, felt connected to their school, and binge drank were more likely to have obtained their licence. Results for this study show that youth who obtain their driver’s licence primarily have conventional, healthy lifestyle.