The aim was to examine the moderation effect of driving licensure status on the association between different environmental contexts and transportation-related physical activity to and from school and/or work (TPA-SW) among emerging adults. The data were from Wave 4 (n = 2,026, year 2013) of the NEXT Generation Health Study, an annual assessment of a nationally representative cohort across the nine U.S. Census Divisions. The outcome variable, TPA-SW, was derived from walking or cycling as modes of travel to and from school and/or work. Environmental context variables included residence, college attendance, and work status. Driving licensure status indicated whether or not participants had an independent driver’s license. Poisson regression models, adjusted for potential confounders, were used to test interactions between environmental context and driving licensure. There were significant interactions between environmental context and licensure. Interaction contrasts indicated that participants who did not have a driver’s license engaged in more TPA-SW than their licensed counterparts if they were living at home (β = 1.10, p < 0.001), not attending school (β = 0.73, p < 0.001), attending a technical school/community college (β = 1.13, p < 0.001), working 1–30 hours/week (β = 0.69, p < 0.001), or working 30+ hours/week (β = 1.12, p < 0.001). Among nonworkers, those without a license engaged in less TPA-SW than participants with a license (β = − 0.22, p = 0.05). Among emerging adults in certain environmental contexts, delayed driver licensing may result in more physical activity with the possible tradeoff of less transportation mobility.
Purpose:
We examined demographic characteristics and risky driving behaviors associated with street racing among adolescents in the NEXT Generation Health Study (N = 2,395).
Method:
Binomial logistic regression tested associations between demographics and driving in a street race (DSR) or being a passenger in a street race (PSR). Sequential logistic regression tested the robustness of the association between DSR and crashes.
Results:
Hispanic/Latino, non-Hispanic Black/African-American, and mixed-race participants were more likely to engage in DSR. Males were more likely and teens with moderate socioeconomic status were less likely to engage in DSR and PSR. DSR was associated with other risky driving behaviors in bivariate models but was not independently associated with crashes after sequential modeling.
Conclusions:
Among adolescents, those who are male, racial/ethnic minorities, or low socioeconomic status may be at higher risk of DSR. However, overall driving risk might explain the association between DSR engagement and higher crash risk.
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