IS THERE CONGRUENCE IN THE PERSPECTIVES OF OLDER DRIVERS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS Amy Horowitz, DSW,

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IS THERE CONGRUENCE IN THE PERSPECTIVES OF OLDER
DRIVERS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS?Amy Horowitz,
DSW, Joann P. Reinhardt, PhD, Kathrin Boerner,
PhD Brent E. Gibson, PhDJewish Home Lifecare,
NY, NY (in collaboration with Lighthouse
International, NY, NY)
MEASURES 1.Driving Quality How would you rate
your (your __s) driving ability (1very poor
6excellent. 2.Driving difficulty due to vision
Do you (Does your __) have any difficulty with
driving because of your (his/her) eyesight? (1
no difficulty 4great deal of difficulty). 3.Driv
ing frequency How often do you (does your ___ )
drive on average? (11x a month or less
5daily). 4. Driving compared to 6 months ago.
(5much more 1much less) 5.Number of different
places driven to Sum of 10 items (e.g., grocery
store bank doctors). 6.Number of
self-regulatory behaviors Sum of 14 items (e.g.,
avoid driving at night, drive only close to home,
avoid during in bad weather, avoid driving in
traffic, etc.)
BACKGROUND

• Background
• Driving in later life associated with multiple
  psychological meanings, including a sense of
  autonomy, independence, and self-worth.
• Driving cessation is often associated with
  significant depressive symptomatology and general
  declines in psychological well-being
• Most prior research has examined demographic and
  medical factors associated with driving
  cessation. Little is known about the role of
  family and friends in the cessation process.
• Recent research has suggested that congruence
  between older adults and their significant others
  can have important implications for
  decision-making and the well-being of both dyad
  members.
• However, no prior research has empirically
  examined the extent of congruence between older
  drivers and their family/friends regarding
  driving abilities and driving behavior.
• Research Questions
• 1. Is there congruence in the perspectives of
  older drivers and their family members regarding
  the formers driving abilities and behaviors?
• 2. What factors are associated with more or less
  congruence?

RESULTS

• Congruence or Discrepancy?
• Drivers rated the quality of their driving
  significantly higher than did their
  family/friends.
• There were trends (plt.10) for drivers to report
  less difficulty driving, that they drove to more
  places, and engaged in less self-regulatory
  behaviors compared to contact report.
• No differences in current driving frequency or
  frequency compared to 6 months ago.
• What is associated with Congruence?
• Congruence driving quality higher when driver
  younger and family/friend report closer
  relationships
• Incongruence on number of places driven to is
  higher when contact is younger, lives with
  driver, sees and talks with driver more
  frequently, is a spouse vs. other relative or
  friend.
• While seemingly counterintuitive, further
  analyses indicated that these relationships exist
  primarily among spouses and we hypothesize that
  drivers report driving to a place even if they do
  so rarely whereas their spouse report the driver
  does not drive to a place if it only occurs
  occasionally.

Driving Transitions Mental Health Among
Disabled Elders
The current analyses are drawn from an ongoing,
prospective longitudinal study of older drivers
Driving Transitions Mental Health Among
Disabled Elders (NIA R01 AG20579). Major
Objectives of larger study 1.To identify the
extent of driving self-regulation and cessation
(SRC) over time and the impact on mental health
outcomes. 2.To examine the influence of personal,
social and contextual resources on driving SRC
over time 3.To identify the key personal, social,
and contextual factors that mediate the impact of
driving SRC on mental health outcomes 4.To
explore the extent to which participants and
family/friend informants are congruent in reports
of driving behavior and decision-making and
whether congruence influences mental health
outcomes. Target sample 380 older drivers and
their identified family/friend Data Collection
Drivers baseline, 6, 12, 18, 24 months
Family/Friends baseline, 12, 24 months
Table 1. Driver/Family Paired Sample Means
T-tests for Driving Ability and
Behaviors
Table 2. Zero-Order Correlations between
Driver/Family
Characteristics and Congruence Variables
METHODS

• Subjects Participants in the current study were
  drawn from the first 79 dyads recruited into the
  study.
• Older Drivers
• age range 55-89 years average age 74.1 years
• 44.3 female
• 54.45 married 29.1 live alone
• Family/Friend Contact
• age range 32-90 years average age 65.7 years
• 77.2 female
• 58.2 live with driver
• relationship to driver
• Spouse 49.4 Child 19.0 Other Relative 7.6
  Friend 24.0
• Procedures
• In-person interviews with drivers.
• At end of interview, drivers were asked to
  identify a family member or friend (the
  contact) they are most likely to talk to about
  driving.
• Contacts were interviewed over the telephone.
• All data are drawn from the baseline interviews
• Analyses

IMPLICATIONS

• Preliminary data suggest there are areas of
  significant discrepancy in the perceptions of
  older drivers and their family/friends.
• Incongruence in places driven to among spouse
  may be a function of each members differing
  definition of typical driving.
• Incongruence in self-regulation may result from
  driver actively not sharing information (to
  protect contact from worry or protect self from
  interference) or differing definitions of
  self-regulation (purposeful avoidance vs. no
  interest in that behavior any more e.g., driving
  in city).
• Future analyses will examine relationship
  between congruence and driving cessation and
  mental health outcomes. May be need for
  interventions that target communication skills
  between family members around driving issues.