Wanna Drive? Driving anxiety and fear in a New Zealand community sample.(Report)

Driving anxiety can impact everyday functioning and is common following motor vehicle crashes. However, no research has investigated its general community prevalence, despite the consistent finding that driving anxiety is not always a function of a vehicle Crash. The present study explored the frequency and characteristics of driving anxiety and fear in a general community convenience sample of 100 participants who completed a questionnaire about driving anxiety, avoidance behaviour, and types of driving-related cognitions. Most of the sample described no anxiety, fear, or avoidance in relation to driving. However, 8% reported moderate to extreme anxiety about driving, and 7% described moderate to extreme driving fear. Women reported more driving anxiety, fear, and avoidance than men. These results indicate the need for more formal methods of establishing prevalence to clearly ascertain the extent of population-based driving anxiety and fear and its effects, so that research can begin to focus on developing effective treatment approaches for those whose anxiety has a psychological and functional impact.

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Road safety is an important concern in New Zealand. More than one person a day dies in a road accident and drivers constitute half of all fatalities (Land Transport New Zealand, 2007). In addition to physical injuries, it is well documented that a range of psychological problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and fear and anxiety reactions, can develop subsequent to a motor vehicle crash (MVCs; Blanchard & Hickling, 1997; Duckworth, Iezzi, & O'Donohue, in press; Taylor & Koch, 1995), even a minor MVC (Smith, Mackenzie-Ross, & Scragg, 2007). While most research has focused on driving fear which is subsequent to an MVC, the level of severity of driving fear in non-clinical community samples who have not experienced an MVC is similar to that of MVC survivors (Taylor & Deane, 2000; Taylor, Deane, & Podd, 2000). Furthermore, many of those who report driving fear do not attribute their fear to an MVC, despite being involved in at least one such accident (Taylor & Deane, 1999, 2000). Despite this, most research on driving fear has been done with MVC samples.

Driving anxiety and fear is reportedly common in MVC victims, although inconsistent definitions of what constitutes driving fear and phobia have affected reports of incidence rates (Taylor, in press). Studies of post-MVC driving phobia and phobic travel anxiety (using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for simple or specific phobia; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) have reported rates of 18-77%, although rates are higher in samples of referred patients (57-77%; Hickling & Blanchard, 1992; Home, 1993; Kuch, Swinson, & Kirby, 1985) than those recruited consecutively following hospital admission (18-22%; Mayou, 1997; Mayou, Bryant, & Duthie, 1993; Mayou, Bryant, & Ehlers, 2001). Driving phobia is also reported in nonclinical samples in overseas studies, although these studies have selected participants on the basis of driving fear and phobia and therefore cannot provide accurate incidence rates (e.g., Ehlers, Hofmann, Herda, & Roth, 1994; Mathew, Weinman, Semchuck, & Levin, 1982; Munjack, 1984). It is important to clearly establish the incidence and prevalence of driving anxiety and fear in this broader population than MVC survivors alone, given the similar severity of driving fear reported amongst non-clinical, community samples to date. Accurate information about the degree to which problems with driving anxiety extend to the general population is important in order to ascertain the broader treatment needs of those who experience psychological and functional effects related to driving anxiety. The central aim of the present study was to conduct a community survey of people's experiences of anxiety and fear related to driving in New Zealand.

Driving anxiety and fear does not easily fit into a diagnostic category (Antony, Brown, & Barlow, 1997; Ehlers et al., 1994; Herda, Ehlers, & Roth, 1993; Himle, Crystal, Curtis, & Fluent, 1991; for a review, see Taylor, Deane, & Podd, 2002). For example, people may not necessarily be fearful of driving itself, but instead of certain driving situations such as overpasses or tunnels, which could be accounted for by having a fear of heights or claustrophobia, respectively (Mathew et al., 1982). In addition, people who are anxious about driving have been found to differ in terms of the object of threat, even though the specific fear (i.e., driving) remains the same (Ehlers et al., 1994). The focus of driving fear can range from concerns about having an accident, causing injury to self or others, experiencing symptoms of panic anxiety, losing control over the car, or having no control over other people's driving (Ehlers et al., 1994; Taylor et al. 2000). In a New Zealand study, anxious drivers showed a mixture of cognitions that were characteristic of panic disorder (e.g., not being able to react fast enough), specific phobia (e.g., getting stuck in traffic), and social phobia (e.g., people thinking they are a bad driver), which reinforces the difficulty in diagnosing driving phobia using current classification systems (Taylor et al., 2000). As well as differences in the focus of fear, some drivers experience a less fearful reaction that would not be considered phobic. Rather than experiencing an overwhelming desire to avoid driving, such people experience discomfort at the thought of driving or when driving a vehicle. They are considered reluctant drivers who tolerate their anxiety while driving, despite the distress, in order to attend to necessary tasks, and avoid driving at all other times (Blanchard & Hickling, 1997; Blaszcynski, Gordon, Silove, Sloane, Hillman, & Panasetis, 1998).

As well as a lack of information about the prevalence of driving anxiety and fear in the general community, an additional gap in the literature relates to whether there are gender differences in driving anxiety. The majority of studies have focused on the nature and characteristics of driving anxiety and fear with samples predominantly comprised of women (Ehlers et al., 1994; Ehlers, Taylor, Ehring, Hofmann, Deane, Roth, et al., 2007; Taylor & Deane, 1999, 2000; Taylor, Deane, & Podd, 1999, 2000). While it is widely documented that women consistently exhibit higher rates of anxiety, worry, fear, and phobias than men (Armstrong & Khawaj a, 2002; Fredrikson, Annas, Fischer, & Wik, 1996; Robichaud, Dugas, & Conway, 2003; Turk, Heimberg, Orsillo, Holt, Gitow, Street et al., 1998), little is known about gender differences in driving anxiety in clinical and non-clinical samples. Current research on anxiety ...