Peer pressure and risky driving: Development of a new scale.

Introduction: Peer pressure is a main factor influencing risky driving behavior in young people. Most empirical studies have focused either on direct or indirect peer pressure, and comprehensive measures assessing both are currently lacking. The present study aimed at developing and validating a scale to examine the influence of different types of peer pressure on risky driving in young drivers: the Peer Pressure on Risky Driving Scale (PPRDS).

Method: Scale construction and assessment of its psychometric properties involved four phases: item development, assessment of content validity by expert reviewers, pre-testing of the scale and evaluation of psychometric properties of the final version in a sample of 773 young drivers aged 18-29.

Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure that reflected the multifaceted definition of peer pressure on risky driving in the immediate driving context: risk-encouraging direct peer pressure; risk-discouraging direct peer pressure, and indirect pressure. The three factor scales showed good internal consistency and construct reliability, and correlated as expected with self-reported risky driving. Younger drivers (18-24) reported more direct and indirect peer pressure to engage in risky driving. Males indicated more direct peer pressure towards risky driving. Finally, interaction effects between age and sex were observed. Young male drivers reported the greatest direct peer pressure and adult female drivers the lowest direct peer pressure.

Conclusions: The 23-item PPRDS scale has good psychometric properties and provides a useful tool for assessing different forms of peer pressure on risky driving.

Practical Applications: The PPRDS can be used for evaluating the impact of peer-based education and road safety programs. The scale also provides valuable information for the design of evidence-based intervention.