Modeling intra-individual variation in unsafe driving in a naturalistic commuting environment.

Author(s)
Calderwood, C. & Ackerman, P.L.
Year
Abstract

Commuting to work by car is a frequently occurring activity that poses a salient risk to worker safety. Although general stress perceptions have been linked to indicators of unsafe commuting in cross-sectional studies, little is known about whether and how day-to-day variability in stressor exposure and subjective and affective strain reactions covary with intraindividual variability in unsafe driving while commuting over time. A major contributor to this knowledge gap is the lack of a validated methodology to link subjective self-report variables to objective driving performance criteria in a naturalistic commuting environment. Data were collected from university staff employees ( N = 50) over a 2-week sample of daily experiences and objective recordings of unsafe driving behaviors. We applied a multilevel methodology to evaluate a model in which exposure to daily hindering and challenging components of work stress, end-of-workday psychological distress, and end-of-workday negative affect influence objectively monitored unsafe driving behaviors in a naturalistic commuting environment. Results indicated that employees were less likely to drive unsafely during their postwork commute on days in which they encountered more challenge stressors at work (odds ratio = .63). However, employees who experienced heightened negative affective spillover were more likely to drive unsafely during their postwork commute (odds ratio = 1.96). The authors discuss the theoretical, practical, and methodological implications of our findings for research on employee commuting safety. (Author/publisher)

Publication

Library number
20210186 ST [electronic version only]
Source

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 24 (2019), No. 4 (August), p. 423-437, ref.

Our collection

This publication is one of our other publications, and part of our extensive collection of road safety literature, that also includes the SWOV publications.