Initiation and Continuation of Drinking and Driving Behavior

Wieczorek | Welte | Nochajski | Marczynski | Wong

This study, led by Dr. William Wieczorek of Buffalo State College, was an investigation of the etiology of driving while intoxicated with the goal of informing prevention and intervention efforts. A fourth wave of interviews were added to the three waves collected by the Drinking and Delinquency in Young Men Study led by Dr. John W. Welte from 1991-97. At that time, 625 young men (ages 16-22) were interviewed. These men were re-interviewed to collect data on psychological traits, problem behaviors, and family information. Census data and neighborhood geographic information, such as the density of alcohol outlets, were added to the interview data. The specific goals include developing models of the initiation of drinking-driving behavior, long-term prospective models of continued drinking-driver behavior, and an examination of the impact of various geospatial methods of aggregating point data (e.g., alcohol outlets) into geographic units for use in multilevel and individual models of drinking and driving. The models developed included the psychological, deterrence, substance abuse, family, and neighborhood measures necessary to identify possible interventions. Co-Investigators included Dr. John W. Welte, RIA, Dr. Thomas Nochajski, UB’s Department of Social Work, Dr. Kelly Marczynski, Buffalo State College, and Dr. David Wong, George Mason University. Funded by NIAAA to Dr. Wieczorek, Buffalo State College, subaward to RIA, 2008-2012.