Acute effects of alcohol on inhibitory control and simulated driving in DUI offenders

Abstract

Introduction The public health costs associated with alcohol-related traffic accidents have prompted considerable research aimed at identifying characteristics of individuals who drive under the influence (DUI) in order to improve treatment and prevention strategies. Survey studies consistently show that DUI offenders self-report higher levels of impulsivity compared to their nonoffending counterparts. However, little is known about how individuals with a DUI history respond under alcohol. Inhibitory control is a behavioral component of impulsivity thought to underlie risky drinking and driving behaviors. Method The present study examined the degree to which DUI drivers display deficits of inhibitory control in response to alcohol and the degree to which alcohol impaired their simulated driving performance. It was hypothesized that DUI offenders would display an increased sensitivity to the acute impairing effects of alcohol on simulated driving performance. Young adult drivers with a history of DUI and a demographically-comparable group of drivers with no history of DUI (controls) were tested following a 0.65 g/kg dose of alcohol and a placebo. Inhibitory control was measured using a cued go/no-go task. Drivers then completed a driving simulation task that yielded multiple indicators of driving performance, such as within-lane deviation, steering rate, centerline crossings and road edge excursions, and drive speed. Results Results showed that although DUI offenders self-reported greater levels of impulsivity than did controls, no group differences were observed in the degree to which alcohol impaired inhibitory control and driving performance. The findings point to the need to identify other aspects of behavioral dysfunction underlying the self-reported impulsivity among DUI offenders, and to better understand the specific driving situations that might pose greater risk to DUI offenders.

The effect of age on the personality and cognitive characteristics of three distinct risky driving offender groups

“…Specifically, in male drivers aged 19-39 years, non-alcohol related reckless drivers (predominantly speeders) possessed thrill seeking, while drivers who engaged in both reckless driving and DWI showed associated with fearless behaviour. Finally, drivers who primarily engaged in persistent DWI behaviour possessed some cognitive control weakness but little sober risk takinga finding we, as others (Van Dyke & Fillmore, 2014), have posited to reflect their selective sensitivity to alcohol's disruptive effects on self-regulatory capacities. The role of age was not addressed in these analyses, though features characterizing group differences are susceptible to maturational processes (Shulman et al, 2016).…”

The influence of groups and alcohol consumption on individual risk-taking

“…Reckless driving whilst intoxicated has largely been examined using driving simulators in a laboratory, following the consumption of alcohol or a placebo (e.g., (Burian et al, 2002; E. L. R. Harrison & Fillmore, 2011;Van Dyke & Fillmore, 2014;Weafer & Fillmore, 2012a). Using such measures, consumption of alcohol has been found to increase risky choices at alcohol levels which are currently within legal driving limits (Burian et al, 2002).…”

Seemingly irrational driving behavior model: The effect of habit strength and anticipated affective reactions

“…Effortful inhibition, such as providing no-go cues in a go condition or vice versa, has been considered as an effective intervention to risky driving behaviors such as texting while driving (Bayer and Campbell, 2012). Drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol have impaired control over their driving behaviors and are thus more likely to demonstrate risky driving behaviors (such as speeding) compared with normal drivers (Fillmore, 2012;Van Dyke and Fillmore, 2014). Speed warning systems, such as warning speeding drivers by using audible, visible, or haptic means in vehicles, are a typical intervention that aims to assist drivers to exert effortful exhibition of the habitual response to speeding cues.…”