New Publication Alert

Summary: Trauma-related stress induction after acute alcohol consumption (.06% BAC) increased willingness to drive, while lessening perceived likelihood of getting in an accident and being pulled over by police. Double whammy! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460321000216#b0210

Background: 300,000+ people drive under the influence of alcohol each day, resulting in 10,000+ deaths annually. Extant work indicates PTSD may play a substantive role (27% women/12% men arrested for DUI report PTSD; increase willingness to drive; increase DUI recidivism)

Background: Research indicates that acute stress during alcohol intoxication may cause a lowered 'misperception' of the pharmacological effects of alcohol (i.e., the 'sobering' effect), leading to increased willingness to drive

Background: Ironically, higher levels of intoxication also tend to lead to altered perceptions of negative consequences... in that the more intoxicated you become (up to a point), the less likely you are to believe bad things will happen to you!

Background: Stress also leads to a bias towards short-term gains (e.g., immediate avoidance of stressor) and a tendency to hastily make decisions before alternative options have been considered (e.g., alternative transportation)

Background: Further, regarding trauma-related stress specifically, an extensive literature has linked trauma exposure and PTSD to avoidance coping and behaviors, which are often characterized by disengagement from the source of distress (e.g., leaving that location)

Background summary: Extant research purports several reasons (i.e., misperception of intoxication [sobering effect], behavioral disengagement, hasty decision making) that persons exposed to trauma-related stimuli may be more likely to drive, despite their level of intoxication

Methods: So, we did that... experimentally. Got everyone intoxicated (.06% BAC), then exposed half to a neutral cue and the other half to a trauma-related cue (via script-driven imagery), then assessed willingness to drive and their perceived likelihood of negative consequences

Methods: Of course, we evaluated and statistically controlled for relevant sociodemographic and empirically-related covariates, such as alcohol tolerance, self-report 'dangerousness of intoxicated driving,' and facets of impulsivity

Results: As hypothesized, trauma-related stress after alcohol consumption increased willingness to drive, with a large (massive) effect.

On a 0-100 scale, trauma cue + alcohol reported 51.36 willingness, whereas neutral cue + alcohol reported only 14.88 willingness to drive!

Results: Further, as expected, trauma-related stress LESSENED perceived likelihood of being pulled over by police (large effect) and getting in an accident (medium-to-large effect).

*hold for applause*

Discussion: So, why? Could be the 'sobering effect' (i.e., misperception of intoxication), could be due to maladaptive means of avoidance coping, could be spontaneous risk taking from 'prototype' that MANY drunk drive but few have negative consequences.

Discussion: Ultimately, more research is needed. However, current findings may help with education and prevention efforts, and provide support for future ecologically-oriented, just-in-time (JIT) inventions for individuals with comorbid PTSD and problematic alcohol use (A LOT)

Takeaway message: Findings highlight trauma-related stress as a mechanistic trigger for more spontaneous driving-related decision-making, and provide meaningful targets for education and intervention efforts aimed at reducing injury and death related to alcohol-related DUI