The Role of Mental Health Components in High-Risk Driving Behaviors

High-risk driving behaviors are of the factors that increase road accidents and casualties, which are very costly for the community and endanger the safety of the community. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental health components and high-risk driving behaviors among intercity drivers on the Tabriz-Ahar road, Iran.

This study is a correlation-predictive type that was conducted among all drivers of Tabriz-Ahar road who had at least two years of driving experience in 2018. A sample of 100 people from 130 intercity drivers was selected through available sampling method. Data collection tools were the Manchester Driving Behavior Questionnaire with a reliability of 0.96 and a validity of 0.81, and the General Health Questionnaire with a reliability of 0.84 to 0.92 and a validity of 0.55. Data analysis was performed using multiple regression analysis with simultaneous method in the form of SPSS 20 software.

The present study was performed on 100 male drivers with an average age of 38.56±2.80 years. The mean scores of mental health components and high-risk behaviors among drivers were below average, and the findings showed that the relationship between the components of physical symptoms, anxiety, social functioning and depression with high-risk driving behaviors was significant (p<0.05). Mental health components were able to predict high-risk driving behaviors, and these four indicators together explained 69.7% of the variance of the high-risk driving behavior index.

High-risk behaviors can be predicted by physical symptoms, anxiety, depression, and social dysfunction.