Driving-related Attitudes Among Older Adults in Australia

Abstract

The Decisional Balance Scale (DBS) was developed to assess older adults’ attitudes related to driving and includes both intra- and inter-personal motivations for driving. The current study examines the DBS in a sample of older drivers from Australia (n = 257). Longitudinal evaluation of the DBS subscales revealed that changes in attitudes covary with changes in self-regulatory driving practices across 6 annual assessments. Specifically, negative attitudes related to inter-personal motivations for driving (con-other) were associated with participants’ scores on the Situational Driving Frequency (SDF) scale. Negative attitudes related to intra-personal motivations for driving (con-self) were associated with participants’ scores on the Situational Driving Avoidance (SDA) scale. These findings highlight the importance of considering attitudes in understanding older drivers’ decisions to regulate their driving practices.