Driving/riding after alcohol and marijuana use among young adults: Is residing with family protective?

Abstract

Objective: Driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs increases the risk of motor vehicle fatalities, the leading cause of death among young adults. The current study documented the prevalence of driving after alcohol and marijuana use in the past 2 weeks as well as the prevalence of riding with a driver who had used each substance during that time frame. We tested whether young adults who lived with family members (i.e., their parents or their children) were less likely to engage in these behaviors.

Methods: Participants aged 18–25 who resided in nonmetropolitan areas in the United States (N = 1,131; 55% female, M_age = 22.6) completed an online survey. Multivariate logistic regressions examined alcohol- and marijuana-related driving and riding behaviors adjusting for demographic factors. Interactions tested whether associations varied by gender.

Results: In the 2 weeks prior to the survey, 17% of participants drove after drinking alcohol and 21% had ridden with a driver who had been drinking. The prevalence of driving after marijuana use was 11%, and 16% of the sample had ridden with a driver who had been using marijuana. Participants who lived with their parents were less likely to ride with a driver who had been using alcohol or marijuana (adjusted odds ratios [AORs] = 0.71 and 0.55, respectively). Living with parents was also associated negatively with driving after both substances, but these associations were no longer significant when controlling for substance use frequency and driving frequency. Surprisingly, the odds of driving after marijuana use were over 2 times larger for young adults who lived with their children. For women, but not men, residing with children decreased the odds of driving and riding after alcohol use.

Conclusions: Living with parents protects against riding after substance use among young adults. Prevention programs should target young adults who live independently or those transitioning away from the parental home. Furthermore, given the higher rates of driving after marijuana use among young adult parents, this group should be educated about the risks associated with this behavior.

Keywords:

• Rural populations
• alcohol
• marijuana
• driving under the influence
• young adults
• adolescent

Disclosure statement

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers P20GM104417 and P20GM103474. The National Institutes of Health had no role in data collection, analysis, or interpretation. Similarly, they had no role in the writing of the article and the decision to submit the article for publication. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.