Assessment of aggressive driving behaviors: A French adaptation and validation of the Aggressive Driving Behavior Scale (ADBS)

Objectives. - For over twenty years, a particular interest has been shown to drivers' behaviors. Research in this domain has studied different behaviors that might influence dangerous driving and motor vehicle accidents. In particular, aggressive driving has been frequently studied. For instance, nowadays road users perceive aggressive driving as one of the most significant problems encountered on the road. Moreover, aggressive driving is a major cause of traffic accidents and injuries. Houston et al. (2003) have developed the Aggressive Driving Behavior Scale (ADBS) for assessing aggressive driving. This 11-item self-reported questionnaire, allowing to measure aggressive driving behaviors as Speeding and Conflict Behavior. To our knowledge, there is no French self-report instrument to assess this phenomenon. Many studies have investigated the relationship between aggressive driving and specific variables as psychological processes (cognitive and emotional) or personal determinants (personality, driving behavior). Driving anger and driving transgression have been reported to be significantly and positively correlated with aggressive driving. The aim of this study was (a) to validate the French version of the ADBS and (b) to investigate the relationship between Aggressive Driving, Driving Anger and Driving Transgression. Methods. - A sample of 431 drivers, ages ranging from 18 to 81 years (M = 34.53; SD = 12.25), completed the ADBS, the Driving Anger Scale (DAS) and the Driving Behavior Scale Transgression (DBQT). Results. - Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the proposed 2-factor structure of the ADBS. As the first model did not fit the original one, others model were tested. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that a three-factor solution, excluding the item 7, best described the item structure: (1) Aggressive Driving, (2) Transgression/Aggressive Driving involving others and (3) Individual Transgressive Driving. On the other hand, ADBS correlated positively with all the dimensions of the DBQT and the DAS except for the factor "Illegal Driving" with which ADBS correlated negatively. The internal consistency of the ADBS was acceptable (alpha = 0.77). Conclusions. - The initial model developed by Houston, Harris and Norman did not fit the data from the French population. French version of Aggressive Driving Behavior Scale can be an interesting assessment of aggressive driving by making a distinction between aggressive behaviors, transgressive behaviors perceived as aggressive behavior by other road users and individual transgressive behaviors. Our findings highlight that aggressive driving are associated with driving anger. This could suggest that it can be useful to include in driver rehabilitation programs for example strategies to manage anger. These programs, based on cognitive behavioral interventions, would focus on social problem-solving that helps people become aware of the long-term negative consequences of their anger and identifies new response. (C) 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.