TY - JOUR
T1 - Context and culture
T2 - Reasons young adults drink and drive in rural America
AU - Greene, Kaylin M.
AU - Murphy, Samuel T.
AU - Rossheim, Matthew E.
N1 - Funding Information:
Research reported in this article was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers P20GM104417 and P20GM103474 . The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Montana, a large and rural U.S. state, has a motor vehicle fatality rate almost double the national average. For young adults, the alcohol-related motor vehicle fatality rate in the state is almost three times the national average. Yet little research has explored the underlying reasons that young people in rural areas drink and drive. Drawing from the theory of triadic influence (TTI) and a series of qualitative focus group discussions, the current study examined how aspects of the landscape and culture of rural America promote and hinder drinking and driving among young people. In 2015 and 2016, 72 young adults (36 females) aged 18–25 years old (mean age = 20.2) participated in 11 semi-structured focus groups in 8 rural counties in Montana. Discussions were transcribed, and two reviewers independently coded text segments. Themes were identified and an inductive explanatory model was created. The results demonstrated that aspects of the social context (e.g., peer pressure and parental modeling), rural cultural values (e.g., independence, stoicism, and social cohesion), and the legal and physical environment (e.g., minimal police presence, sparse population, and no alternative transportation) promoted drinking and driving. The results also identified salient protective factors in each of these domains. Our findings demonstrate the importance of examining underlying distal determinants of drinking and driving. Furthermore, they suggest that future research and interventions should consider the complex ways in which cultural values and environmental factors intersect to shape the risky health behaviors of rural populations.
AB - Montana, a large and rural U.S. state, has a motor vehicle fatality rate almost double the national average. For young adults, the alcohol-related motor vehicle fatality rate in the state is almost three times the national average. Yet little research has explored the underlying reasons that young people in rural areas drink and drive. Drawing from the theory of triadic influence (TTI) and a series of qualitative focus group discussions, the current study examined how aspects of the landscape and culture of rural America promote and hinder drinking and driving among young people. In 2015 and 2016, 72 young adults (36 females) aged 18–25 years old (mean age = 20.2) participated in 11 semi-structured focus groups in 8 rural counties in Montana. Discussions were transcribed, and two reviewers independently coded text segments. Themes were identified and an inductive explanatory model was created. The results demonstrated that aspects of the social context (e.g., peer pressure and parental modeling), rural cultural values (e.g., independence, stoicism, and social cohesion), and the legal and physical environment (e.g., minimal police presence, sparse population, and no alternative transportation) promoted drinking and driving. The results also identified salient protective factors in each of these domains. Our findings demonstrate the importance of examining underlying distal determinants of drinking and driving. Furthermore, they suggest that future research and interventions should consider the complex ways in which cultural values and environmental factors intersect to shape the risky health behaviors of rural populations.
KW - Adolescents
KW - Alcohol
KW - Drinking and driving
KW - Driving under the influence
KW - Rural populations
KW - Young adults
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053815414&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.aap.2018.09.008
DO - 10.1016/j.aap.2018.09.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 30253343
AN - SCOPUS:85053815414
SN - 0001-4575
VL - 121
SP - 194
EP - 201
JO - Accident Analysis and Prevention
JF - Accident Analysis and Prevention
ER -