Abstract
Objectives
This qualitative investigation sought to identify the motivational factors that contribute
to drowsy driving in college students and to discover important messaging strategies
that may help prevent or reduce this behavior in this population.
Design
Four focus groups of college students.
Setting
A large university in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area during the Fall 2016 term.
Participants
Twenty-six undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 25 years.
Measurements
Notes and transcripts from the focus group sessions were analyzed to identify recurring
themes regarding attitudes, motivations, experiences, influences, and potential preventive
messaging strategies related to drowsy driving.
Results
Although most participants had heard of drowsy driving and were concerned about it,
they did not associate it with legal risks and were more concerned about alcohol-impaired
and distracted driving as crash risks. Participants viewed drowsy driving as a normal
and unavoidable part of their lives over which they had little control. For potential
anti–drowsy driving messaging strategies, participants preferred messages delivered
via audiovisual or social media that featured graphic and emotional portrayals of
crashes and their consequences. Participants also voiced strong support for preventive
messaging strategies equating various degrees of sleep deprivation to known impairing
levels of alcohol, as well as messages providing cues to action to actual drowsy drivers
on roadways.
Conclusions
Increased enforcement, education, and public messaging campaigns are needed to increase
knowledge and influence attitudes and opinions among young drivers about the dangers
and social unacceptability of drowsy driving.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 01, 2017
Accepted:
October 14,
2017
Received in revised form:
August 31,
2017
Received:
May 9,
2017
Footnotes
☆Some of the results reported in this article were presented at Public Health Research@Maryland 2017 at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, and at the 3rd Annual Johns Hopkins University Sleep & Circadian Research Day in Baltimore, MD.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
