Predicting underage drinking and driving behaviors.

A social-psychological model of underage drinking and driving (DUI) and riding with drinking drivers (RWDD) was tested with data from a random digit dial telephone survey of 706 16-20-year-old drivers from seven western states in the United States. Consistent with the model, a structural equations analysis indicated that DUI and RWDD were primarily predicted by (a) expectancies regarding the physical risks of DUI, (b) normative beliefs about the extent to which friends would disapprove of DUI, (c) control beliefs about the ease or difficulty of avoiding DUI and RWDD and (d) drinking. Expectancies concerning enforcement had a significant effect on RWDD, but not on DUI. Among the background and environmental variables included in the analysis, only night-time driving and age had significant direct effects on DUI and RWDD. Drinking and involvement in risky driving had indirect effects on DUI and RWDD that were mediated through expectancies and normative beliefs. Males, European Americans, Latinos, respondents who drove more frequently and respondents who were less educated held beliefs that were more favorable toward DUI and RWDD, drank more and engaged more frequently in risky driving. As a result, such individuals may be at greater risk for DUI and RWDD.