The aim of this study was an examination of the role of adolescent lifestyle factors as predictors of crashes or injury in early adulthood. A wide range of measures obtained at ages 15 and 18 were used as potential predictors of traffic injury crash or serious injury between 18-21 years. For males, the strongest injury crash predictors were: low family involvement, motorcycle driver's licence, previous crash at age 18, and low constraint. For the females they were: high substance dependence, court conviction, motorcycle driver's licence and high physical activity. Being a poor reader and low coping were protective factors. The only significant predictor of serious injury was a high score for conduct disorder (males only). Overall, few lifestyle factors were important predictors of crashes or injury. This suggests that focusing injury prevention efforts on changing the lifestyles, per se, of young adults may do little to reduce the traffic crash or serious injury problem. Greater gains may be made by targeting specific issues (for example, substance dependence, or motorcycle use) and developing and implementing initiatives for these behaviours. (A)
Abstract