Determining the focus of driving fears

Fear of driving has been recognized as a complex diagnostic entity. Studies on flying phobia have drawn similar conclusions, although increasing clari ty has been gained through research that indicates that there may be subtyp es of flying phobia based on the focus of fear. However. it is unclear if s imilar subtypes exist for fear of driving. The aim of the: present study wa s to conduct a preliminary investigation of driving fear subtypes and to cl arify further whether there were differences between driving-fearful respon dents who had been in a motor vehicle accident (MVA) and those who had not. Eighty-five driving-fearful, media-recruited respondents completed a quest ionnaire that assessed anxiety, avoidance, and concerns related to their dr iving fears. The sample had high expectations of negative events while driv ing. There were no significant differences between those who had experience d an MVA and those who had not on various measures of fear severity. Cluste r analysis revealed two main foci of fear, one characterized by danger expe ctancies and the other based on anxiety expectancies and unpleasant driving situations. This emphasizes the importance of assessing both internal and external foci of fear. Although this finding is consistent with the results obtained for flying phobia, more research is required to replicate and ext end these results and to develop and evaluate differential treatment progra ms. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.