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Prevalence and Perception of Depressive Symptomatology Among Spanish Drivers and Its Relation to Driving Safety

Received: 27 October 2016    Accepted: 5 November 2016    Published: 12 December 2016
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Abstract

Depression is currently the most frequent mental disorder and one of the main causes of losing years of healthy life. This disorder entails a cognitive and motor deterioration that is seriously detrimental to driving. From the analysis of the interviewed drivers’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviors, the objective of this paper was the following one: detect the impact of depressive symptoms on a driver’s sample and its relationship with several variables related to driving and road safety. A sample of 1.200 Spanish drivers ranging from 18 to 64 years was used, 666 men and 534 women were asked to answer a questionnaire composed by a set of items structured in different sections. The only selection criteria were to be in possession of any type of driving license for vehicles other than motorcycles and drive frequently. 21.9% of the drivers showed signs or symptoms linked with a depressive disorder. There were found significant contingences between the presence of depressive symptoms and a lower risk-taking while driving. It is necessary to propose establishing systems that fulfil two essential requirements: on the one hand, to inform, train and make the drivers aware of detecting and managing the symptoms linked to depression; on the other hand, to detect the drivers that show cognitive and motor deterioration linked to depressive symptoms, and to promote their self-regulation, taking into account the negative implications of driving under depressive symptomatology for performance and road safety in general.

Published in International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences (Volume 1, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13
Page(s) 54-61
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Depression, Drivers, Epidemiology, Public Health, Driving Safety, Road Safety

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Francisco Alonso, Cristina Esteban, Sergio A. Useche, Mireia Faus. (2016). Prevalence and Perception of Depressive Symptomatology Among Spanish Drivers and Its Relation to Driving Safety. International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 1(3), 54-61. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13

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    ACS Style

    Francisco Alonso; Cristina Esteban; Sergio A. Useche; Mireia Faus. Prevalence and Perception of Depressive Symptomatology Among Spanish Drivers and Its Relation to Driving Safety. Int. J. Psychol. Brain Sci. 2016, 1(3), 54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13

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    AMA Style

    Francisco Alonso, Cristina Esteban, Sergio A. Useche, Mireia Faus. Prevalence and Perception of Depressive Symptomatology Among Spanish Drivers and Its Relation to Driving Safety. Int J Psychol Brain Sci. 2016;1(3):54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13,
      author = {Francisco Alonso and Cristina Esteban and Sergio A. Useche and Mireia Faus},
      title = {Prevalence and Perception of Depressive Symptomatology Among Spanish Drivers and Its Relation to Driving Safety},
      journal = {International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences},
      volume = {1},
      number = {3},
      pages = {54-61},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijpbs.20160103.13},
      abstract = {Depression is currently the most frequent mental disorder and one of the main causes of losing years of healthy life. This disorder entails a cognitive and motor deterioration that is seriously detrimental to driving. From the analysis of the interviewed drivers’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviors, the objective of this paper was the following one: detect the impact of depressive symptoms on a driver’s sample and its relationship with several variables related to driving and road safety. A sample of 1.200 Spanish drivers ranging from 18 to 64 years was used, 666 men and 534 women were asked to answer a questionnaire composed by a set of items structured in different sections. The only selection criteria were to be in possession of any type of driving license for vehicles other than motorcycles and drive frequently. 21.9% of the drivers showed signs or symptoms linked with a depressive disorder. There were found significant contingences between the presence of depressive symptoms and a lower risk-taking while driving. It is necessary to propose establishing systems that fulfil two essential requirements: on the one hand, to inform, train and make the drivers aware of detecting and managing the symptoms linked to depression; on the other hand, to detect the drivers that show cognitive and motor deterioration linked to depressive symptoms, and to promote their self-regulation, taking into account the negative implications of driving under depressive symptomatology for performance and road safety in general.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Prevalence and Perception of Depressive Symptomatology Among Spanish Drivers and Its Relation to Driving Safety
    AU  - Francisco Alonso
    AU  - Cristina Esteban
    AU  - Sergio A. Useche
    AU  - Mireia Faus
    Y1  - 2016/12/12
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13
    T2  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
    SP  - 54
    EP  - 61
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1573
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20160103.13
    AB  - Depression is currently the most frequent mental disorder and one of the main causes of losing years of healthy life. This disorder entails a cognitive and motor deterioration that is seriously detrimental to driving. From the analysis of the interviewed drivers’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviors, the objective of this paper was the following one: detect the impact of depressive symptoms on a driver’s sample and its relationship with several variables related to driving and road safety. A sample of 1.200 Spanish drivers ranging from 18 to 64 years was used, 666 men and 534 women were asked to answer a questionnaire composed by a set of items structured in different sections. The only selection criteria were to be in possession of any type of driving license for vehicles other than motorcycles and drive frequently. 21.9% of the drivers showed signs or symptoms linked with a depressive disorder. There were found significant contingences between the presence of depressive symptoms and a lower risk-taking while driving. It is necessary to propose establishing systems that fulfil two essential requirements: on the one hand, to inform, train and make the drivers aware of detecting and managing the symptoms linked to depression; on the other hand, to detect the drivers that show cognitive and motor deterioration linked to depressive symptoms, and to promote their self-regulation, taking into account the negative implications of driving under depressive symptomatology for performance and road safety in general.
    VL  - 1
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • DATS (Development and Advising in Traffic Safety) Research Group - INTRAS (University Research Institute on Traffic and Road Safety), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

  • DATS (Development and Advising in Traffic Safety) Research Group - INTRAS (University Research Institute on Traffic and Road Safety), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

  • DATS (Development and Advising in Traffic Safety) Research Group - INTRAS (University Research Institute on Traffic and Road Safety), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

  • DATS (Development and Advising in Traffic Safety) Research Group - INTRAS (University Research Institute on Traffic and Road Safety), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

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