Predictors of Long-Term Risky Driving Behavior in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2017 Oct;27(8):747-754. doi: 10.1089/cap.2017.0025. Epub 2017 Aug 3.

Abstract

Objective: This study examines predictors of later risky driving behavior in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: Stepwise logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used to explore baseline predictors of risky driving behavior for adolescents who completed the 8-year follow-up assessment in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA).

Results: Stepwise logistic regression analysis explained 19% of the total variance in risky driving behavior. Increased likelihood of risky driving behavior was associated with parental history of conduct disorder, low parental monitoring and supervision, and increased age. ROC analysis identified discriminative predictors for adolescents older and younger than 16 years of age at follow-up. The most discriminative predictors of later risky driving behavior were parental stress at baseline (for children 16 years or older) and increased child-rated parental protectiveness (for children less than 16 years old).

Conclusion: Risky driving behavior was significantly predicted by baseline characteristics for the MTA cohort. Aspects of parenting behavior (or the child's perception of them), including parental stress levels, parental protectiveness, and parental levels of monitoring and supervision, were most informative in predicting these outcomes. Our results suggest that interventions to reduce high-risk behaviors in these high-risk children with ADHD might involve targeted parenting interventions.

Keywords: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; long-term outcomes; risky driving.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / epidemiology*
  • Automobile Driving / statistics & numerical data*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Parent-Child Relations
  • Parenting*
  • Parents / psychology
  • ROC Curve
  • Risk Factors
  • Risk-Taking*
  • Stress, Psychological / epidemiology