Effects of alcohol and the environment on driving ability in high-risk drivers

描述(申请人提供)：酒后驾驶在美国是一个严重的问题。这项拟议的研究旨在通过在酒后驾车风险增加的人群(即患有ADHD的成年人)中测试酒精的急性影响，扩大我们对导致人们在受损时开车的因素的理解。该项目将检查这一群体的酒精反应，重点关注非典型酒精反应如何使这一群体面临酒后驾车的高风险。首先，这项拟议的研究将研究酒精如何与环境因素相互作用，以削弱驾驶能力 患有多动症的成年人。先前的研究表明，酒精的影响在某些环境条件下更加明显，例如存在视觉分心或动机冲突。这些发现很重要，因为这样的环境环境在实验室之外很常见，所以它们可以解释为什么一些司机即使在血液酒精浓度(BAC)低于法定醉酒限制(即80毫克/100毫升)时也会表现出明显的损害。这项拟议的研究将研究酒精中毒和环境因素在几种剂量的酒精下对一组高风险饮酒者(即患有ADHD的成年人)的相互作用。这将测试高风险的环境环境是否会导致患有ADHD的成年人在酒精环境下表现出高度的行为损害，即使在BAC中也低于法定的醉酒限制。其次，这项拟议的项目将研究ADHD成年人是否高估了自己饮酒后的驾车能力。先前的研究表明，对损伤的主观评估会影响人们在酒后驾车的决定。众所周知，ADHD患者的自我评估过程受损，因此他们可能低估了酒精损害其驾驶能力的程度(Knouse等人，2005年；Weafer等人，2008年)。此外，他们可能没有意识到在高风险情况下驾驶会加剧他们的行为障碍水平。这些具体目标将通过研究酒精和环境因素对患有和不患有ADHD的成年人的客观和感知驾驶能力的交互影响来实现。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alcohol-impaired driving is a significant problem in the United States. The proposed research seeks to expand our understanding of the factors leading people to drive while impaired by testing the acute effects of alcohol in a group characterized by increased risk for alcohol-intoxicated driving (i.e., adults with ADHD). The project will examine alcohol responses in this group with a focus on how atypical alcohol responses may place this group at heightened risk to drive after drinking. First, the proposed research will examine how alcohol interacts with environmental factors to impair driving ability in adults with ADHD. Previous research has shown that the effects of alcohol are more pronounced in certain environmental circumstances, such as the presence of visual distraction or motivational conflict. These findings are important because such environmental circumstances are quite common outside of the laboratory, so they may explain why some drivers show appreciable impairment even at blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) below the legal limit of intoxication (i.e., 80mg/100ml). The proposed research will examine the interaction of alcohol intoxication and environmental factors in a group of high-risk drinkers (i.e., adults wih ADHD) under several doses of alcohol. This will test whether high-risk environmental circumstances cause adults with ADHD to show heightened behavioral impairment under alcohol, even at BACs below the legal limit of intoxication. Second, the proposed project will examine whether adults with ADHD overestimate their ability to drive after consuming alcohol. Previous research has shown that subjective evaluation of impairment informs people's decisions to drive after drinking. It is also well known that individuals with ADHD show impaired self-evaluation processes, so they may underestimate the degree to which alcohol impairs their driving ability (Knouse et al., 2005; Weafer et al., 2008). Further, they may not perceive how driving in high-risk scenarios exacerbates their level of behavioral impairment. These specific aims will be achieved by examining the interactive effects of alcohol and environmental factors on objective and perceived driving ability in adults with and without ADHD.