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Original research
Mental health and behavioural factors involved in road traffic crashes by young adults: analysis of the Raine Study
  1. Robert Tait1,
  2. Rebecca Ivers2,
  3. Jennifer L Marino3,4,5,6,
  4. Dorota Doherty7,8,
  5. Petra L Graham9,
  6. Michelle Cunich10,11,12,13,
  7. Lena Sanci14,
  8. Katharine Steinbeck15,
  9. Leon Straker16,
  10. S Rachel Skinner15
  1. 1 National Drug Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  2. 2 School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  3. 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne & Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  4. 4 Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. 5 Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  6. 6 School of Population Health and Global Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  7. 7 Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  8. 8 Women and Infants Research Foundation, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
  9. 9 Centre for Economic Impacts of Genomic Medicine (GenIMPACT) and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  10. 10 Charles Perkins Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health (Central Clinical School), University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  11. 11 Sydney Institute for Women, Children and their Families, Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
  12. 12 The ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Concord, New South Wales, Australia
  13. 13 Sydney Health Economics Collaborative, Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
  14. 14 Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
  15. 15 Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  16. 16 School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Robert Tait, National Drug Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; robert.tait{at}curtin.edu.au

Abstract

Background Road traffic crashes (RTC) are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in young people. Severe mental health and behavioural conditions increase the likelihood of RTC, as do a range of driving-risk activities.

Method We used data from the Raine Study, a prebirth cohort from Perth, Australia, to assess the relationship between measures of common mental health or behavioural conditions (Child Behavior Checklist Internalising and Externalising scores) at age 17 and subsequent RTC by 27 years, controlling for substance use and driving-risk activities.

Results By 27 years of age, of 937 participants, 386 (41.2%) reported zero crashes and 551 (58.8%) reported ≥1 crashes. In the baseline Poisson model, increased Externalising scores (eg, aggression and delinquency) were associated with increased RTC (incidence rate ratio (IRR)=1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.02): increased Internalising scores (eg, anxiety and depression) were associated with fewer RTC (IRR=0.99, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.00). In the fully adjusted model, the mental health measures were not significant (Externalising IRR=1.01, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.02: Internalising IRR=0.99, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.00). Risky driver activities, such as falling asleep while driving (IRR=1.34), more frequent use of a hands-free telephone (IRR=1.35) and more frequent hostility towards other drivers (IRR=1.30) increased the rate of RTC.

Conclusion Measures of mental health scores at age 17 were not predictive of subsequent RTC, after adjusting for measures of driving-risk activities. We need to better understand the determinants of externalising and risky driving behaviours if we are to address the increased risk of RTC.

  • mental health
  • substance abuse
  • accidents
  • adolescent

Data availability statement

Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Access to Raine Study data is strictly controlled to protect the privacy of participants. Details of application procedures can be found at the study website https://rainestudy.org.au/

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-218039

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    Data availability statement

    Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Access to Raine Study data is strictly controlled to protect the privacy of participants. Details of application procedures can be found at the study website https://rainestudy.org.au/

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors RT: conceptualisation, writing original drafting, formal analysis, writing – review and editing, guarantor. RI: conceptualisation, writing original drafting, writing – review and editing. JLM: conceptualisation, funding acquisition, project administration, writing – review and editing. DD: conceptualisation, formal analysis, writing – review and editing. PLG: conceptualisation formal analysis, writing – review and editing. MC: conceptualisation, formal analysis, writing – review and editing. LS: conceptualisation, writing – review and editing. KS: conceptualisation, funding acquisition, supervision, writing – review and editing. LS: conceptualisation, funding acquisition, writing original drafting, writing – review and editing. SRS: conceptualisation, funding acquisition, supervision, writing – review and editing.

    • Funding The current study was supported by a grant from the NHMRC (Skinner at al, 1141445). JLM is supported by NHMRC grants 1161445 (Skinner et al) and 1134894 (Steinbeck et al). RT is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Drug and Alcohol Programme through employment at the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.