Background• Driving is an important factor in maintaining health

and quality of life in older adults.

• Self-regulation (SR) is being promoted as a safe

method of maintaining independent mobility in older

drivers.

• SR often thought of as driving avoidance (e.g. not

driving in the dark) BUT it also incorporates planning

(e.g. route mapping).

• Could an intervention be designed to promote SR

planning behaviours in drivers across the lifespan?

Aim

To design and use a theoretically based

intervention to positively influence self-

regulation planning intentions and

behaviours.

Theoretical Basis

• Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991).

• Established health psychology model used to predict intention and behaviour.

Research Questions

• To determine the effects of the intervention on:

–Direct measures of TPB constructs

– Indirect measures of TPB constructs

– Self-reported planning behaviours

–Goal achievement

Methods

• Randomised controlled trial.

• Drivers stratified by age into three groups –young (17-25 years), middle-years (26-64 years) and old (65 years +).

• Participants randomly allocated to group intervention or control condition.

Participants

• N = 81, 53 women & 28 men.

• Aged : 18 to 83 years.

Mean = 46.40 years, S.D. = 20.58 years.

• Experience : 3 months to 66 years.

Mean = 26.26 years, S.D. = 19.03 years.

Materials

• Pre and post-intervention questionnaire packet – demographics, SRI, TPB.

• ‘DriveSafe’ handypack.

• Intervention worksheet

• Additional set of questions relating to goal achievement for intervention group.

Intervention Components

Persuasive messages Goal setting

Action planning

Coping planning

Behavioural Contract

Results• Direct Constructs

– Explained 34% of variance in intention.

– Increase in affective attitude.

• Indirect Constructs – Explained 11% of variance in intention.

– Reduction in normative beliefs.

• Self-reported Planning Behaviour– Increased.

• Goal achievement – Over 90% achieved first and second goals

Conclusions• Extended TPB intervention successful in

facilitating change in self-reported, SR behaviour

– offers promise as a tool to assist drivers in

achieving their mobility goals.

• Intervention positively affects affective attitude.

Care should be taken to ensure that changing

affective attitude does not increase risk potential.

Limitations

• Attrition.

• Gender balance (Higher female take up rate).

• Self-report measures.

• Cannot attribute results to either TPB or goal setting tasks.

• Short timescale.

References

• Abraham and Michie (2008) A taxonomy of behavior change techniques used in interventions. Health Psychology, 27, 379-387.

• Ajzen, I (1991) The theory of planned behaviour. Orgainizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50(2), 179-211.

• Ajzen (2002a)Constructing a TPB questionnaire: conceptual and methodological considerations. Retrieved 15 May, 2012, from http://socgeo.ruhosting.nl/html/files/spatbeh/tpb.measurement.pdf

• Gollwitzer (1993) Goal achievement: The role of intentions. European Review of Social Psychology, 4, 141-185.

• Gollwitzer and Sheeran (2006) Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Effects and Processes. In P. Z. Mark (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. Volume 38, pp. 69-119): Academic Press.

• Sniehotta, Schwarzer, Scholz and Schulz (2005) Action planning and coping planning for long-term lifestyle change: Theory and assessment. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35(4), 565-576.

• Sniehotta (2009) Towards a theory of intentional behaviour change: Plans, planning, and self-regulation. British Journal of Health Psychology, 14, 261-273.

Acknowledgements

• This study was funded by DriveSafe-Stay

Safe, a Birmingham based road safety

charity and the Economic and Social

Research Council, award number

ES/G003777/1.

• We are grateful to the drivers who

participated in this study.