Elsevier

Comprehensive Psychiatry

Volume 60, July 2015, Pages 156-160
Comprehensive Psychiatry

Psychometric evidence of the Brazilian version of Driving Cognitions Questionnaire (DCQ)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.08.044Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper examined the psychometric data obtained by the Brazilian version DCQ (Driving Cognitions Questionnaire) and its convergence with DBS (Driving Behavior Survey). The research included 187 participants of both genders, aged between 19 and 79 years (mean 34 years), with driving license in category ‘B’ (cars). The internal consistency obtained by research (Cronbach's alpha) was α = 0.96 for full DCQ; α = 0.89 for the subscale panic in the direction, α = 0.91 for the subscale of concern in causing accidents and α = 0.92 for the subscale of social concern. Psychometrically the results are positive and confirm the relevance of using the instrument. The survey also found positive convergence (although less pronounced) with the DBS, which is another instrument that comes to difficulties when driving or dealing with traffic or driving a car. Thus, this article demonstrates psychometric results that point to the profitable use of the Brazilian version of DCQ as an adjunct in the diagnosis of difficulty in driving.

Introduction

In recent years, several studies about fear and anxiety of driving emerged. Such forms of driving anxiety affect the quality of life [1]. The fear of driving can be a symptom of one or more anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, agoraphobia and social anxiety, for example [2]. According to the DSM-V [3], fear of driving is classified as a specific phobia. This problem affects approximately 7–8% of the general population. However, it is more common in women, representing 92% of total cases [2], [4], [5], [6].

Taylor et al. [2] suggest subgroups of fears of driving, according to the cognitions that people may have while driving or idealizing to perform this action. The first subgroup is about concerns of suffering an accident and/or causing injury to yourself or to others. The second refers to concerns about the symptoms of anxiety and it's effects during direction practice. The third refers to specific situations, such as weather conditions or maneuvers, for example. There are also subgroups that come from fear of negative evaluations, and other social issues, such as obstructing traffic. However, the authors stress the need for further studies that may – in fact – ratify the existence of these subgroups.

Based on these subgroups, the Driving Cognitions Questionnaire [7], is useful to measure the cognitions that can motivate people to avoid driving, or can be present in the fear of driving. Unlike other instruments that are focused on behavior, such as the Inquiry behavior [8] and the Driving and Riding Scale Prevention [9], the DCQ focuses on cognition and, with this, can provide relevant information about driving fears.

The Driving Cognitions Questionnaire (DCQ) is an instrument that measures cognitions about what motivate people to stop driving or that are present in driving fear [7]. The instrument has 20 items, in a Likert scale of five points (never, rarely, half the times, often and always).

The DCQ contains three subscales (factors) defined by the author in his original paper. Each subscale comprises affirmative phrases related to cognitions as: panic (3, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18); concern about causing accidents (1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 19); social concern (2, 5, 8, 15, 17 and 20).

All items are statements about stressful situations that can interfere negatively on behavior of evaluating while driving. The Cronbach's alpha of full scale ranges from 0.96 to 0.88. The aim of this study is to access the psychometric properties for internal consistency and validity to support the use of DCQ in Brazil.

Section snippets

Method

The study included 187 participants of both genders, with valid national driver's license. It is important to inform the non-Brazilian readers, the rules for licensing of Motorcyclists (category ‘A’) and Car drivers (category ‘B’) called ‘Carteira Nacional de Habilitação’ (literally translated as National Card for Habilitation). The National Traffic Council of Brazil (CONTRAN) dispatches a provisional license for newly licensed persons (these must be over 18 years old). The provisional license

Results

Table 1 shows the demographic data of the sample, as well as time and frequency of driving.

In Table 2, it can be seen that most of the data were obtained from participants who live in states with the two largest metropolitan areas (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, with 72.7% of participants). These two Brazilian states represent the highest concentration of vehicles in South America.

According to the method for pairwise control of missing data, the KMO index was considered excellent for the DCQ

Discussion

The present study presents the psychometric properties of DCQ, newly semantically adapted into Brazilian Portuguese. This study attempts to find evidence of validity and consistency as well as data about convergence of internal and external. Since there are few studies and no validated instrument in Brazilian Portuguese about the fear of driving, and attitudes toward driving, this study becomes very relevant.

The DCQ original was structured for three factors and from the point of view of

Conclusion

The instrument presented data eminently positive of validity, internal consistency and external convergence; both among their own subscales and overall results, as well – external – when examined along with another instrument on behaviors in the direction. Thus, the DCQ presents itself as a good choice of scale for assessment of this specific kind of anxiety in the target population. The possibility of using this instrument encourages further studies to better understand the manifestations of

References (13)

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Cited by (3)

  • The quiet passenger: Cognitions, avoidance, and onset among people with driving anxiety

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    Each sample was from a different country: either USA, New Zealand or UK. The DCQ has since been used on a sample of drivers in Romania who had been involved in a crash (Măirean, 2019, 2020) and had the reliability tested on a small sample (n = 187) of community drivers in Brazil (OliSan, Cantini, de Carvalho, & Cardoso, 2015). However, Taylor et al. (2021) found that they were unable to statistically confirm the three-factor configuration in their community sample of 441 drivers in New Zealand.

  • Psychometric properties of the Driving Cognitions Questionnaire, Driving Situations Questionnaire, and Driving Behavior Survey

    2021, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
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    In three separate samples from different countries, the scale demonstrated promising psychometric characteristics to support its use in research and clinical practice (Ehlers et al., 2007). Since then, a Brazilian version of the DCQ has been developed (de Carvalho, da Costa, Sardinha, de Melo-Neto, & Nardi, 2011), and its psychometric properties established with student samples (Gomes, Lopes, Rossini, & Lopes, 2015; OliSan, Cantini, de Carvalho, & Cardoso, 2015). However, research is needed to establish the robustness of these two measures within the general population, given that 16% of people report moderate to severe driving anxiety (Taylor, 2018), and measures are needed to further research and clinical practice with this wider group.

  • Psychometric properties of the Driving Behaviour Scale (DBS) among polish drivers

    2020, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
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    This three-factor model has been supported ((Clapp, Olsen, Beck, et al., 2011)). The DBS subscales are negatively correlated with perceived driving skill, and positively correlated with other measures of driving anxiety, including the DRAS and DCQ (Clapp et al., 2011; OliSan, Cantini, de Carvalho, & Cardoso, 2015), and with stress history ((Clapp, Olsen, Danoff-Burg, et al., 2011)) and MVC-related PTSD (Baker, Litwack, Clapp, Beck, & Sloan, 2014). Therefore, as a broader measure of anxious driving behaviour, the DBS warrants further study.

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