Street racing among the Ontario adult population: Prevalence and association with collision risk.

Background: Street racing has been identified as a significant public health concern, yet, little is known about the prevalence of this behaviour and its impact on collision risk. The current study was designed to address this dearth of knowledge by estimating the prevalence of street racing among the Ontario, Canada adult population, and examining its association to collision risk, controlling for demographics and other risk factors.

Methods: Data were based on telephone interviews with 11,263 respondents derived from the 2009-2014 cycles of the CAMH Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional survey of adults aged 18+ years.

The impact of probable anxiety and mood disorder on self-reported collisions: a population study.

Background: Individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disorder are at significantly increased risk of death and serious injury, to which motor vehicle collisions may be important contributors. This study examined the association between probable anxiety or mood disorder (AMD) and self-reported collision risk in a large representative sample of the adult population in Ontario.

Methods: Based on data from a regionally stratified general-population telephone survey of adults conducted from 2002 through 2009 (N=12,830), a logistic regression analysis examined self-reported collision involvement in the previous 12 months by measures of demographic characteristics, driving exposure, impaired driving behaviour, and probable AMD.

Does gender moderate the relationship between driver aggression and its risk factors?

Aim: The current study assessed gender as a potential moderator of the relationship between self-reported driver aggression and various demographic variables, general and driving-related risk factors.

Methods: Using data from a general-population telephone survey conducted from July 2002 through June 2005, two approaches to binary logistic regression were adopted. Based on the full dataset (n=6259), the initial analysis was a hierarchical-entry regression examining self-reported driver aggression in the last 12 months.

Prevalence and correlates of street racing among Ontario high school students.

Objectives: This study examined the prevalence and correlates of street racing among adolescents derived from the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), an epidemiological survey of students in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: The key response variable, self-reported street racing in past year, was examined in relation to grade level, rural/urban, school marks, cannabis use, drinking and driving, cannabis use and driving, and property, physical, drugs, and weapons delinquencies. All survey estimates were weighted, and variance and statistical tests were corrected for the complex sampling design.

Alcohol and driving factors in collision risk.

In this study we examine the effect of several alcohol-related measures on self-reported collision involvement within the previous 12 months while controlling for demographic and driving exposure factors based on a large representative sample of adults in Ontario. Data are based on the 2002-2006 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults aged 18 and older (n=8542). Three logistic regressions of self-reported collision involvement in the past 12 months were implemented, each consisting of 3 steps: (1) demographic factors and driving exposure entered, (2) driving after drinking within the last 12 months entered, and (3) one of three alcohol-related measures (AUDIT subscales of alcohol consumption, dependence and problems) entered.

Self-reported collision risk associated with cannabis use and driving after cannabis use among Ontario adults.

Objective: This study examined the effects of cannabis use and driving after cannabis use on self-reported collision involvement within the previous 12 months while controlling for demographics, driving exposure, binge drinking, and driving after drinking based on a large representative sample of adults in Ontario.

Methods: Data are based on the CAMH Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults aged 18 and older, conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Data on drivers who reported driving at least one kilometer per week and who responded to the collision item from 2002 to 2007 were merged into one data set (n = 8481).

Street racing: a neglected research area?

Objective: To review: (1) the extent and frequency of street racing and its consequences; (2) the characteristics of street racers; (3) explanatory theories for street racing; (4) the legal issues; and (5) the best methods of preventing street racing.

Methods: Review of academic and other literature.

Results: Very limited official statistics are available on street racing offenses and related collisions, in part because of the different jurisdictional operational definitions of street racing and the ability of police to determine whether street racing was a contributing factor.

Cannabis use and self-reported collisions in a representative sample of adult drivers.

Problem: This study examines the relationships between collision involvement and several measures of cannabis use, including driving after using cannabis, among drivers, based on a population survey of Ontario adults in 2002 and 2003.

Method: Logistic regression analyses examined self-reported collision involvement in the last 12 months by lifetime use of cannabis, past year use of cannabis, and past year driving after using cannabis, while controlling for demographic characteristics.

Results: We found that the odds of reporting collision involvement was significantly higher among cannabis users, and among those who reported driving after cannabis use.

Road rage victimization among adolescents.

Purpose: Although much has been learned about road rage among adults, data on road rage experiences among adolescents has not been available previously. We examine the prevalence and demographic correlates of road rage victimization based on a population survey of Ontario students.

Methods: Based on the 2005 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey, a self-administered survey of Ontario students in grades 7-12 (n = 7726), the contribution of demographic factors (gender, region, driver's license status, grade, overall marks) to three road rage victimization measures was examined with logistic regression analysis.

Road rage and collision involvement.

Objectives: To assess the contribution of road rage victimization and perpetration to collision involvement.

Methods: The relationship between self-reported collision involvement and road rage victimization and perpetration was examined, based on telephone interviews with a representative sample of 4897 Ontario adult drivers interviewed between 2002 and 2004.

Results: Perpetrators and victims of both any road rage and serious road rage had a significantly higher risk of collision involvement than did those without road rage experience.

Alcohol consumption, alcoholics anonymous membership, and homicide mortality rates in Ontario 1968 to 1991.

Background: Research has shown a strong link between alcohol use and a variety of problems, including violence. Parker and colleagues have presented a selective disinhibition theory for the link between alcohol use and homicide (and other violence) that posits a causal relationship that is also influenced by other situational and contextual factors. This model is particularly well suited for aggregate-level investigations.

Assessing road rage victimization and perpetration in the Ontario adult population: the impact of illicit drug use and psychiatric distress.

Background: To investigate the association among illicit drug use, psychiatric distress and road rage victimization and offending. Particular attention is given to the most serious forms of road rage behaviour.

Methods: The data are based on the 2002 CAMH Monitor and include a sample of 2,421 Ontario adults aged 18 and older.

Can we prevent road rage?

Road rage has become a serious concern in many countries, and preventive efforts are required. This article reviews what can be done to prevent road rage by exploring potential prevention avenues in five areas. First, legal changes aimed at increasing the penalties for road rage behavior could be instituted, drawing on models from aggressive-driving or impaired-driving laws.

Cirrhosis mortality in Ontario: effects of alcohol consumption and Alcoholics Anonymous participation.

Aims: We test the hypotheses that cirrhosis mortality rates are positively associated with per capita alcohol consumption and negatively associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) membership rates.

Design: The impact of alcohol consumption levels and AA membership rates on cirrhosis mortality rates in Ontario from 1968 to 1989 were examined. Time-series analyses with ARIMA modelling were applied to male and female cirrhosis mortality rates in three age groups: 15-44, 45-64 and 65 + years.

Illicit drug use, alcohol use and problem drinking among infrequent and frequent road ragers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between illicit drug and alcohol use, problem drinking, and road rage. Particular attention is devoted to the association between these behaviors and frequent involvement in road rage activities. The data are taken from the 2002 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Monitor, a representative telephone survey with a sample of 2421 adults aged 18 and older in Ontario.

The impact of driver education on self-reported collisions among young drivers with a graduated license.

In this study, we assess the impact of driver education on the risk of collisions in a Graduated Licensing System (GLS). Ontario's GLS requires all new drivers to successfully pass through two stages of graduated license (referred to as G1 and G2, respectively) before full licensure is granted. Surveys of driving behaviour and related factors were administered to Grades 11 and 12 students with a graduated license in seven Ontario schools in 1996 and 1998.

Is road rage increasing? Results of a repeated survey.

Problem: We report on trends in road rage victimization and perpetration based on population survey data.

Method: Based on repeated cross-sectional telephone surveys of Ontario adults between July 2001 and December 2003, logistic regression analyses examined differences between years in road rage victimization and perpetration in the previous year controlling for demographic characteristics.

Results: The prevalence of any road rage victimization in the previous year decreased significantly from 47.

The epidemiology of alcoholic liver disease.

This article describes the various forms of alcoholic liver disease (ALD), with particular emphasis on cirrhosis, the form of liver disease that often is most associated with alcohol abuse and about which the most information is available. Epidemiological research has evaluated the prevalence of ALD and the factors that often contribute to the disease. Although the most potent factor in ALD is the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, gender and ethnic differences also account for some important variations in rates of liver disease.

Alcohol consumption and problems among road rage victims and perpetrators.

Objective: Road rage has generated public concern; however, data on the causes of this behavior have not been available. We examine the alcohol consumption correlates of road rage victimization and perpetration based on a population survey of adults.

Method: Data are based on the 2001-2002 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor, a repeated cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults aged 18 and older (N = 2,610).

The "homogamy" of road rage: understanding the relationship between victimization and offending among aggressive and violent motorists.

The issue of "road rage" has received increasing media and scholarly attention in recent years. Using a representative sample of 2610 adults from Ontario, involvement with road rage was surveyed across demographic subgroups. Incidents of road rage were divided into two categories, verbal-gesturing road rage and physical-threats road rage.