The impacts of anxiety over driving on self-reported driving avoidance, work performance and quality of life

Correlates of Quality of Life in Anxiety Disorders: Review of Recent Research

“…Recent research reaffirms these findings, documenting the direct effects of symptom severity and diagnostic status on QOL for individuals with anxiety disorders. Specifically, anxiety symptom severity was inversely associated with QOL among adolescents with anxiety [12][13][14], adults with anxiety [15][16][17][18][19][20][21], andolder adults with anxiety [22]. Research within communitybased samplesunderscores the severity of QOL impairments for individuals with moderate tohigh levels of anxiety symptoms (e.g., [14]) and suggests that early intervention couldbe key to preventing severe functional impairment.…”

Driving anxiety and anxiolytics while driving: Their impacts on behaviour and cognition behind the wheel

“…Positive correlation between fear and avoidance and slips and lapses, and with errors Nees et al (2021) [ 30 ] USA 601 18 to 75 (35.27 ± 13.6) 53.6% F 46,1% M Licensed drivers Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI) Accident Concern Scale Driving Skill Self-rating Driving Speed Questionnaire Desirability of Control Scale Illusion of Control Scale Accidents, Violations, and Close Calls questionnaire Anxious driving style is associated with more self-reported accidents, violations and close calls (MDSI) Nordfjaern & Rundmo (2013) [ 31 ] Norway 1731 18 to 65 (47.22 ± 11.8) 48.1% F 51.9% M Licensed drivers Road traffic relates worry Driver, perceived safety skills behaviours Attitudes towards road traffic safety NEO-Personality inventory People who scored high anxiety and reported low normlessness and sensation seeking traits had the safest behaviours related to road traffic Przepiorka et al (2020) [ 32 ] Poland 310 18 to 51 (24.4 ± 6.1) 51% F 49% M Licensed drivers and learners, mainly students Driving Behaviour Survey (DBS) Driving Cognitions Questionnaire (DCQ) Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Positive correlations between anxiety-based performance deficits and exaggerated safety/caution behaviours (by DBS) and avoidance (by DRAS) Stephens et al (2020) [ 7 ] Australia 535 …”

“…Refs. [ 6 , 7 ], where a higher proportion of women took part. All ages were considered within the different studies, without making groups according to these factors, just two studies focused on only young people [ 28 , 33 ].…”

“…Some people seem to have specific anxiety about driving, whereas for others the anxiety does not seem to be limited to the driving domain, but spreads to a wider scope [ 4 ]. Drivers with moderate or extreme driving anxiety have reported that it affects their mental health, their quality of life as well as their quality of work [ [5] , [6] , [7] ]. Driving-related anxiety has also been associated with high levels of shame, both for experiencing anxiety as well for the associated avoidance behaviour [ 6 ].…”

How Does Driving Anxiety Relate to the Health and Quality of Life of Older Drivers?

“…Driving anxiety has been more directly associated with poorer health and lower quality of life. People with DA, especially high levels, report more mental health problems and lower quality of life than control participants (da Costa et al, 2014;Stephens et al, 2020). A cross-sectional survey of 2473 people aged 55-70 found DA had a small but independent effect on mental health, physical health and quality of life, after accounting for socio-demographic variables such as age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, education and economic living standard (Hempel et al, 2017).…”