The overall objective of this study was to evaluate how different educational programs affect young people’s attitude to drink driving. Will they be more influenced by an emotional message, one based on facts or is a combination of both emotion and facts needed? A further objective was to explore young people's attitudes to alcohol and traffic in general, and describe what predicts their intentions to drink and drive, travel with somebody who has been drinking alcohol and prevent somebody from drinking and driving. A questionnaire was developed and an evaluation was conducted in the form of a before and after study (response rate ? 75 %) comparing four different groups: three experimental groups who took part in the educational program and one control group. The final paired sample consisted of 1,178 students aged 15 to 20 years (mean age 16.5 years) from six different senior high schools. The results showed that one third of the students had seen someone driving under the influence of alcohol. Of these, nearly 40 per cent managed to prevent the person from driving, 17 per cent had tried but failed, while the rest had not tried. One out of ten students had been a passenger in a car with a drunk driver and there was also a small group who had been drinking and driving themselves. Half of the students were drunk once a month or more often. Two out of ten students know someone who has been involved in an alcohol-related traffic accident. The results showed that in general the students had a negative attitude towards drinking and driving, which was reflected by them asking for stricter penalties for drink driving and more police checks. Despite this, young people's knowledge of alcohol and traffic was before the experiment rather poor. The only exception was that they knew that a young person under the influence of alcohol was at greater risk of being involved in an accident than an older driver. However, they had very little knowledge of how much or little they can drink before they exceed the legal limit. This meant that they were well aware of the risks in traffic, but that they did not know where to set the limit for the amount they could drink. This was reflected in that some believed they could manage to safely drive a moped even if they had been drinking two beers. In the context of the experiment the students were divided into four groups. Three of these took part in various educational programs on alcohol and traffic. The first group who took part in the session listened to two lectures which included factual information about alcohol, drinking and driving, the second group watched two films about alcohol and driving and listened to two presentations which described personal experiences of fatal accidents as a consequence of drink driving. The latter session was strongly emotional. The third group received both factual information and the more emotional one. The fourth group was included as a control group. They did not take part in any of the sessions. A few months after the students had taken part in the educational program, they had to complete a second questionnaire. The response before and after the implementation from each student were compared. The mean values for the various groups were calculated and compared with each other. The aim was to see how the different thematic sessions influenced students' attitudes to alcohol and traffic. The results showed that despite the fact that their knowledge was poor before the educational program only some minor improvements were noticed. Instead it was their attitudes and norms which changed in a positive direction. The students had become less tolerant of drunken driving after the program. Throughout, it was their perception of their friends' norms that had changed most as a result of the program. After the experiment students were less likely to believe that their friends would accept drinking and driving. Taking into account the training program that gave the best results it can be concluded that the combination of factual and emotional messages had the biggest impact in the desired direction. In order to better understand what motivates young people to drink and drive the study also investigated what influences their intention to drink and drive, travel with a drunk driver and trying to prevent somebody from drinking and driving. The results showed that the intention was not only influenced by students' attitude to the act itself but also the degree to which they felt they could control the situation and of what others — especially their best friends — think about their actions. Hence, when trying to change young people’s behaviour in a positive direction it is important to discuss social norms and increase their own control over the behaviour, i.e. to make it easier for them to do the right thing. In light of the results of the study and previous research, one can draw the following conclusions. Young people need to be encouraged to discuss drunken driving. They also need help in understanding the consequences of drink driving. In addition to this they also need to be more aware of the positive consequences of refusing to travel with a driver who has been drinking alcohol. It is important to highlight the good examples, such as that there are friends who appreciate that they try to prevent somebody from committing the mistake of drink driving or riding with a drunk driver. It may also be appropriate to discuss peer pressure, which can be both positive and negative. (Author/publisher) This report may be accessed by Internet users at http://www.vti.se/EPiBrowser/Publikationer%20-%20English/R689Eng.pdf
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