TYPES OF DRUNK-DRIVING INTERVENTION - PREVALENCE, SUCCESS AND GENDER

Objective: Survey research suggests that there are few, if any, gender differences in the types and frequency of informal drunk-driving inte rvention. This contrasts sharply with laboratory studies of helping be havior which report that men are more likely to help than are women. T he present study examined the frequency and success rate of several di fferent types of informal drunk-driving intervention for women and men . The influence of the gender of the intervenor and the intoxicated in dividual and the intervenor's familiarity with the individual on the u se and success of the different interventions were also examined. Meth od: Students (N = 388) at a major West Coast university completed a dr inking and driving questionnaire. Of these subjects 303 (78%) reported having been in a DUI situation within the last year, and 68% of these students (n = 206) who reported having intervened at least once in th e past year were used in the present study. Results: Women were just a s likely as men to intervene. There were few gender differences in the frequency and success rates of the different types of intervention ex amined. Familiarity with the intoxicated individual increased the freq uency and success of intervention. However, intervention with stranger s occurred under certain circumstances. Conclusions: These data indica te that there are few gender differences in the use and success rate o f different types of informal drunk-driving intervention. However, sin ce the interventions examined in this study were determined a priori, gender differences may still be operative. There is some research evid ence that suggests that men and women approach potential drunk drivers differently. Furthermore, the role of familiarity in drunk-driving in tervention needs to be further examined.