Journal article
The Impact of Motor Vehicle Accidents on the Psychological Well-being of At-fault Drivers and Related Passengers
Journal of Health Psychology, Vol.5(1), pp.33-51
2000
Abstract
This study assessed the effects of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) on drivers' and passengers' responsibility attribution, and levels of psychological distress and well-being. Atotal of 321 MVAvictims from the state of Queensland, Australia, participated in this study by responding to a questionnaire designed to measure the study's critical variables. Of the sample, 221 were drivers (99 males, 122 females) and 100 were passengers (31 males, 69 females). Of the passengers, 47 percent reported that they were related to the driver, while 53 percent reported that they were not related to the driver. The drivers were categorized by their attribution of responsibility for their accidents, with a resultant 20 percent perceiving themselves to be at fault, and 80 percent perceiving themselves not to be at fault. Results obtained from MANOVAsshowed that there was a significant decrease in reported well-being for both passenger-and driver-victims following their accidents. For drivers, the decrease was significantly greater for those who did not accept responsibility for their accidents than those who did. Path analysis showed that blaming others for the accident was associated with higher levels of psychological distress and a lower level of psychological well-being (PWB) for both passengers and drivers. For drivers, accepting responsibility for the accident was associated with lower levels of psychological distress and a higher level of PWB. Implications for the development of coping strategies for MVAvictims are discussed.
Details
- Title
- The Impact of Motor Vehicle Accidents on the Psychological Well-being of At-fault Drivers and Related Passengers
- Authors
- R Ho (Author) - Central Queensland UniversityGraham Davidson (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and Social SciencesM Van Dyke (Author) - Central Queensland UniversityM Agar-Wilson (Author) - Central Queensland University
- Publication details
- Journal of Health Psychology, Vol.5(1), pp.33-51
- Publisher
- Sage Publications Ltd.
- Date published
- 2000
- DOI
- 10.1177/135910530000500108
- ISSN
- 1359-1053
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449299202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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