Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-ksm4s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T22:53:54.743Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Validity and Reliability of the Attitudes toward Traffic Safety Scale in Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2019

Mario Trógolo Open the ORCID record for Mario Trógolo [Opens in a new window] ,
Rubén Daniel Ledesma  and
Leonardo Adrián Medrano
Mario Trógolo*
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina)
Rubén Daniel Ledesma
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata/ IPSIBAT (Argentina)
Leonardo Adrián Medrano
Affiliation:
Universidad Siglo 21 (Argentina)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mario Trógolo. Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC). Córdoba (Argentina). E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to investigate the psychometric properties of a Spanish-language version of the Attitudes toward Traffic Safety Scale (ATTS) for the assessment of risky driving attitudes among Spanish-speaking populations. Five hundred and fifty-eight drivers from Argentina participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the ATTS three-factor structure: Attitude towards violations and speeding, attitude towards the careless driving of others and attitude towards drinking and driving, χ2(87) = 205.91, p < .001; χ2/df = 2.36; GFI = .94; CFI = .93; TLI = .91; RMSEA = .05; 90% CI [.04, .06]. A model with one higher-order factor (overall attitude toward risky driving) also fits the data. Reliability estimates were acceptable for the total scale (α = .81) and for all subscales (with α values ranging from .74 to .84), and concurrent validity was supported by theoretically expected correlations with self-reported risky driving behavior (r ranging from .27 to .45, ps < .01). Subsequent comparison between zero-order correlation and partial correlation (controlling for Driver Impression Management) between ATTS subscales and self-reported risky driving behavior revealed minor or no effects of social desirability bias. Implications for road safety intervention are discussed.

Keywords

assessmentattitudesrisky drivingtraffic safety
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 22 , 2019 , E51
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

How to cite this article:

Trógolo, M., Ledesma, R. D., & Medrano, L. A. (2019). Validity and reliability of the Attitudes toward Traffic Safety Scale in Argentina. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 22. e51. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2019.54

References

af Wåhlberg, A. E. (2010). Social desirability effects in driver behavior inventories. Journal of Safety Research, 41, 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2010.02.005CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
af Wåhlberg, A. E., Dorn, L., & Kline, T. (2010). The effect of social desirability on self- reported and recorded road traffic accidents. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 13, 106–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2009.11.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antonopoulos, C. N., Germeni, E., Bacopoulou, F., Kalampoki, V., Maltezos, S., Skalkidis, I., … Petridou, E. (2011). Assessing the impact of risk-taking behavior on road crash involvement among University students residing in two Mediterranean countries. Safety Science, 49, 933–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.03.013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Assum, T. (1997). Attitudes and road accident risk. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 29, 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-4575(96)00071-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bachoo, S., Bhagwanjee, A., & Govender, K. (2013). The influence of anger, impulsivity, sensation seeking and driver attitudes on risky driving behavior among post-graduate university students in Durban, South Africa. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 55 , 67–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.02.021CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhalla, K., Diez-Roux, E., Taddia, A., De La Peña Mendoza, S., & Pereyra, A. (2013). The cost of road injuries in Latin America 2013 (Inter-American Development Bank Technical Notes. N. IDB–TN–597). Retrieved from the Inter-American Development Bank website: https://publications.iadb.org/bitstream/handle/11319/6011/The%20Cost%20Of%20Road%20Injuries%20in%20LAC%202013.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=yGoogle Scholar
Boufous, S., Ivers, R., Senserrick, T., Stevenson, M., Norton, R., & Williamson, A. (2010). Accuracy of self-report of on-road crashes and traffic offences in a cohort of young drivers: The DRIVE study. Injury Prevention, 16, 275–277. https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2009.024877CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, C.-F. (2009). Personality, safety attitudes and risky driving behaviors - Evidence from young Taiwanese motorcyclists. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 41, 963–968. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2009.05.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corbett, C. (2001). Explanations for “understating” in self-reported speeding behavior. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 4, 133– 150. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-8478(01)00019-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Winter, J. C. F., & Dodou, D. (2010). The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire as a predictor of accidents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Safety Research, 41, 463–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2010.10.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Domínguez-Lara, S. A., Merino-Soto, C., & Navarro-Loli, J. S. (2016). Estimación de la confiabilidad en mediciones de dos ítems: El coeficiente Angoff-Feldt [Reliability estimation in measurements of two items: The Angoff-Feldt’s coefficient]. Revista Digital de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria, 10, 34–40. https://doi.org/10.19083/ridu.10.463CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drolet, A. L., & Morrison, D. G. (2001). Do we really need multiple-item measures in service research? Journal of Service Research, 3, 196–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/109467050133001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Javanovich.Google Scholar
Feldt, L. S. (1975). Estimation of reliability of a test divided into two parts of unequal length. Psychometrika, 40, 557–561. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02291556CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (2010). Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach. New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Furr, M. (2011). Scale construction and psychometrics for social and personality. London, UK: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gawronski, B., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (2006). Associative and propositional processes in evaluation: An integrative review of implicit and explicit attitude change. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 692–731. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.5.692CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gjerde, H., Normann, P. T., Christophersen, A. S., Samuelsen, S. O., & Mørland, J. (2011). Alcohol, psychoactive drugs and fatal road traffic accidents in Norway: A case–control study. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43, 1197–1203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2010.12.034CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hatfield, J., Fernandes, R., Faunce, G., & Job, R. F. S. (2008). An implicit non-self-report measure of attitudes to speeding: Development and validation. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40, 616–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2007.08.020CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoffmann, M. H. (2005). Comportamento do condutor e fenômenos psicológicos [Driver behavior and psychological factors]. Psicologia: Pesquisa & Trânsito, 1, 17–24.Google Scholar
Hu, L.-t., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iversen, H. (2004). Risk-taking attitudes and risky driving behavior. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 7, 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2003.11.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iversen, H., & Rundmo, T. (2004). Attitudes towards traffic safety, driving behavior and accident involvement among the Norwegian public. Ergonomics, 47, 555–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140130410001658709CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jiménez-Mejías, E., Medina-García, M. A., Martínez-Ruiz, V., Pulido-Manzanero, J., Fernández-Villa, T., & Grupo uniHcos (2015). Consumo de drogas e implicación en estilos de conducción de riesgo en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios. Proyecto uniHcos [Drug use and involvement in risky driving styles in a sample of university students. The uniHcos Project]. Gaceta Sanitaria, 29, 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2015.04.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kline, R. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd Ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Laapotti, S., Keskinen, E., & Rajalin, S. (2003). Comparison of young male and female drivers’ attitude and self-reported traffic behavior in Finland in 1978 and 2001. Journal of Safety Research, 34, 579–587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2003.05.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ledesma, R., Peltzer, R., & Poó, F. (2008). Análisis de la producción en Psicología del Tránsito mediante PsycINFO (2000–2006) [Traffic Psychology research through the PsycInfo data base (2000–2006)]. PSIC - Revista de Psicologia da Vetor Editora, 9, 11–24.Google Scholar
Ledesma, R. D., Tosi, J., Poó, F. M., Montes, S. A., & López, S. S. (2015). Implicit attitudes and road safety behaviors. The helmet-use case. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 79, 190–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2015.03.030CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, C.-H. (2016). Confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data: Comparing robust maximum likelihood and diagonally weighted least squares. Behavior Research Methods, 48, 936–949. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0619-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lucidi, F., Giannini, A. M., Sgalla, R., Mallia, L., Devoto, A., & Reichmann, S. (2010). Young novice driver subtypes: Relationship to driving violations, errors and lapses. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42, 1689–1696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2010.04.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lund, I. O., & Rundmo, T. (2009). Cross-cultural comparisons of traffic safety, risk perception, attitudes and behavior. Safety Science, 47, 547–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.07.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, M., Yan, X., Huang, H., & Abdel-Aty, M. (2010). Safety of public transportation occupational drivers: Risk perception, attitudes, and driving behavior. Transportation Research Record, 2145, 72–79. https://doi.org/10.3141/2145-09CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallia, L., Lazuras, L., Violani, C., & Lucidi, F. (2015). Crash risk and aberrant driving behaviors among bus drivers: The role of personality and attitudes towards traffic safety. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 79, 145–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2015.03.034CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masuri, M. G., Isa, K. A. Md., & Tahir, M. P. M. (2017). Children, youth and road environment: Road traffic accident. Asian Journal of Environment-Behaviour Studies, 2, 13–20. https://doi.org/10.21834/aje-bs.v2i4.206CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohamed, M., & Bromfield, N. F. (2017). Attitudes, driving behavior, and accident involvement among young male drivers in Saudi Arabia. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 47, 59–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2017.04.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nabi, H., Salmi, L. R., Lafont, S., Chiron, M., Zins, M., & Lagarde, E. (2007). Attitudes associated with behavioral predictors of serious road traffic crashes: Results from the GAZEL cohort. Injury Prevention, 13, 26–31. https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2006.013342CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nederhof, A. J. (1985). Methods of coping with social desirability bias: A review. European Journal of Social Psychology, 15, 263–280. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420150303CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordfjærn, T., Jørgensen, S., & Rundmo, T. (2011). A cross-cultural comparison of road traffic risk perceptions, attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behavior. Journal of Risk Research, 14, 657–684. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2010.547259CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panamerican Health Organization (PHO) (2016). Road safety in the Americas. 2016. Retrieved from World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2015/Road_Safety_PAHO_Englishv2.pdfGoogle Scholar
Petridou, E., & Moustaki, M. (2000). Human factors in the causation of road traffic crashes. European Journal of Epidemiology, 16, 819–826. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007649804201CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poó, F. M., Ledesma, R. D., & Montes, S. A. (2010). Propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Deseabilidad Social del Conductor (Versión en Español) [Psychometric properties of the Driver Social Desirability Scale (Spanish version)]. Avaliação Psicológica, 9, 299–310.Google Scholar
Poó, F. M., Taubman-Ben-Ari, O., Ledesma, R. D., & Díaz-Lázaro, C. M. (2013). Reliability and validity of a Spanish-language version of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 17, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2012.10.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reason, J., Manstead, A., Stradling, S., Baxter, J., & Campbell, K. (1990). Errors and violations on the roads: A real distinction? Ergonomics, 33, 1315−1332. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139008925335CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roefs, A., & Jansen, A. (2002). Implicit and explicit attitudes toward high-fat foods in obesity. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 517–521. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-843X.111.3.517CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rydell, R. J., McConnell, A. R., Mackie, D. M., & Strain, L. M. (2006). Of two minds: Forming and changing valence-inconsistent implicit and explicit attitudes. Psychological Science, 17, 954–958. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01811.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sabin, J. A., Riskind, R. G., & Nosek, B. A. (2015). Health care providers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men. American Journal of Public Health, 105, 1831–1841. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302631CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sarma, K. M., Carey, R. N., Kervick, A. A., & Bimpeh, Y. (2013). Psychological factors associated with indices of risky, reckless and cautious driving in a national sample of drivers in the Republic of Ireland. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 50, 1226–1235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2012.09.020CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sass, D. A., Schmitt, T. A., & Marsh, H. W. (2014). Evaluating model fit with ordered categorical data within a measurement invariance framework: A comparison of estimators. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 21, 167–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.882658CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherman, S. J., Rose, J. S., Koch, K., Presson, C. C., & Chassin, L. (2003). Implicit and explicit attitudes toward cigarette smoking: The effects of context and motivation. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 22, 13–39. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.22.1.13.22766CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shyhalla, K. (2014). Alcohol involvement and other risky driver behaviors: Effects on crash initiation and crash severity. Traffic Injury Prevention, 15, 325–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2013.822491CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Şimşekoğlu, Ö., Nordfjærn, T., & Rundmo, T. (2012). Traffic risk perception, road safety attitudes, and behaviors among road users: A comparison of Turkey and Norway. Journal of Risk Research, 15, 787–800. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2012.657221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, A. N., Bishop, C. A., Liu, S., & Fitzharris, M. (2017). Alcohol consumption patterns and attitudes toward drink-drive behaviors and road safety enforcement strategies. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 98, 241–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2016.10.011CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sullman, M. J. M., & Taylor, J. E. (2010). Social desirability and self-reported driving behaviors: Should we be worried? Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 13, 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2010.04.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundström, A. (2011). The validity of self-reported driver competence: Relations between measures of perceived driver competence and actual driving skill. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 14, 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2010.11.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taubman-Ben-Ari, O., Eherenfreund-Hager, A., & Prato, C. G. (2016). The value of self-report measures as indicators of driving behaviors among young drivers. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 39, 33–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2016.03.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vázquez, R. (2004). Causas de los accidentes de tránsito desde una visión de la medicina social. El binomio alcohol-tránsito. [Causes of traffic accident from a social medicine approach. The alcohol-behavior relationship]. Revista Médica del Uruguay, 20, 178–186.Google Scholar
Warrens, M. J. (2015). Some relationships between Cronbach’s alpha and the Spearman-Brown formula. Journal of Classification, 32, 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00357-015-9168-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weijters, B., & Baumgartner, H. (2012). Misresponse to reversed and negated items in surveys: A review. Journal of Marketing Research, 49, 737–747. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.11.0368CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (WHO) (2018). Global status report on road safety 2018 . Geneva, Switzerland: Author.Google Scholar
Woratanarat, P., Ingsathit, A., Suriyawongpaisal, P., Rattanasiri, S., Chatchaipun, P., Wattayakorn, K., & Anukarahanonta, T. (2009). Alcohol, illicit and non-illicit psychoactive drug use and road traffic injury in Thailand: A case-control study. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 41, 651–657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2009.03.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yilmaz, V., & Celik, H. (2004). A model for risky driving attitudes in Turkey. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 32, 791–796. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2004.32.8.791CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yunesian, M., Mesdaghinia, A., Moradi, A., & Vash, J. (2008). Drivers’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior: A cross-sectional study. Psychological Reports, 102, 411–417. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.102.2.411-417CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed