This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Services Download to citation manager PubMed PubMed Citation

Ability Perceptions, Perceived Control, and Risk Avoidance Among Male and Female Older Drivers

Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Address correspondence to T. D. Windsor, Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. E-mail: Tim.Windsor{at}anu.edu.au

	Abstract

TOP Abstract Methods Results Discussion References

 
We used responses from telephone interviews conducted with a community sample of 304 older drivers to investigate associations between perceived control over driving, driving ability perception (an index of unrealistic optimism), and self-reported avoidance of high-risk driving situations. We also investigated associations between perceived control over driving, ability perception, and indices of well-being (life satisfaction and depressive symptoms). Our results indicated that perceived control and perceived ability were each associated with reduced risk avoidance and well-being, with these associations moderated by gender. We discuss the results in terms of potentially adaptive and maladaptive consequences of pervasive perceptual biases, gender differences in primary and secondary control strategies, and the importance of effective self-regulation for aging well.

Key Words: Control • Driving • Optimism bias

AS a result of the aging population coupled with Western society's reliance on personal transport for mobility (Marottoli et al., 2000), issues concerned with driving safety and driving cessation among older adults have become an increasingly important focus for gerontological research (e.g., Anstey, Wood, Lord, & Walker, 2005; Marottoli et al., 1997; Windsor, Anstey, Butterworth, Luszcz, & Andrews, 2006). A number of studies have examined predictors of change in driving behavior or driving status among older adults, typically focusing on the relevance of health, cognitive status, and functional status (Anstey, Windsor, Luszcz, & Andrews, 2006; Campbell, Bush, & Hale, 1993). However, relatively few studies have examined associations between psychological factors and aspects of driving behavior among older adults (cf. Owsley, McGwin, & McNeal, 2003).

In this article we describe our investigation of the associations of two conceptually related social-cognitive processes, that is, perceived control and optimistic social comparison, with self-reported avoidance of high-risk driving situations in a sample of male and female older drivers. We also investigated relationships between the social-cognitive factors and indices of well-being. By exploring associations across these different domains, we aimed to develop a better understanding of issues with implications for the study of older driver behavior, and theory related to self-regulation in older adulthood. In particular, we focused on the capacity for illusory beliefs to serve the adaptive purpose of promoting well-being in some life contexts while also being associated with the failure to effectively self-regulate in the driving context. An additional aim was to investigate gender differences in the associations between beliefs related to control over driving and driving ability, with self-reported driving behavior and well-being.

Perceived Control and Driving Behavior
Perceived control over the environment represents a core element of psychological functioning that is consistently and positively associated with physical and mental well-being over the life span (Skinner, 1996). For many adults, the capacity to drive is likely to represent a critical means for facilitating out-of-home activity that is linked to independence, goal-directed behavior, and ultimately control beliefs. The importance of driving status to the maintenance of perceived control is reflected in the results of a recent longitudinal study, which indicated that those individuals continuing to drive in late life were more likely to have both enhanced perceptions of control and lower levels of depressive symptoms relative to those who ceased driving over the same interval (Windsor et al., 2007).

In their life-span theory of control, Heckhausen and Schulz (1995) identified two related processes that contribute to the development of perceived control. Primary control describes control-reinforcing behaviors directed at the external world of the type already described here. Secondary control describes cognitive reappraisals of the self and social context that promote control beliefs in response to challenges to primary control. In the present study, we focus on the associations of older drivers' self-reported avoidance of high-risk driving situations with both perceived control related to driving and optimistic social comparisons—self-assessments of ability that have been investigated in previous studies of driver behavior that can also be regarded as a secondary control strategy.

Adaptive and Maladaptive Consequences of Optimistic Social Comparisons
Optimistic social comparisons refer to the pervasive tendency to view one's own abilities and attributes as superior to those of others. Optimistic comparisons are related to broader predispositions toward unrealistically optimistic judgments regarding personal risks and expected outcomes that tend to characterize human belief systems (Taylor & Brown, 1988). These tendencies, along with other so-called illusory perceptions, such as exaggerated control beliefs, can promote mental health through the enhancement of mood, motivation, the capacity for creative and productive work, and positive interactions with others (Taylor & Brown). Expectation biases of this type have also been explicitly identified as secondary control strategies (Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995).

Although illusory perceptions have been positively linked with well-being, their influence on behavior also has the potential to be maladaptive. Several studies have indicated that unrealistic optimism can undermine self-protective behavior (McKenna, 1993). The potentially maladaptive nature of unrealistic optimism is perhaps best illustrated in studies of driver behavior. Research indicates that drivers who perceive themselves as more skillful relative to their peers are also more likely to exceed the speed limit (Horswill, Waylen, & Tofield, 2004). A recent study of drivers aged 65 years and older who had been referred for driving evaluation found that 65% of participants expected to perform better on a driving test than others their own age. Significantly, drivers who considered themselves at least "a little better" than their age peers were four times more likely to be judged as unsafe by an independent rater, relative to those who rated their ability as comparable with or worse than that of other drivers their age (Freund, Colgrove, Burke, & McLeod, 2005). Given that the older drivers in the study by Freund and colleagues were referred for driving evaluation, it is possible that the correspondence between poor driving performance and perceptual biases displayed by participants in part reflected an underlying decline in cognitive status. One of our primary aims in the present study was to investigate associations between perceptual biases and self-reported driving behaviors in a sample more representative of the typical older driver.

How might the adaptive benefits to mental health and the maladaptive failure to adequately take account of risks associated with optimistic perceptual biases be reconciled in the context of aging well? Under optimal conditions, cognitive processes of self-regulation should not inhibit illusory beliefs that promote well-being, but they should guard against such beliefs resulting in a failure to appropriately adapt behavior in response to limited ability or external constraints (Bandura, 2001). There is currently a paucity of research that directly considers how well potentially vulnerable groups such as older drivers effectively self-regulate while simultaneously maintaining the illusory beliefs that are important for the preservation of well-being.

The Present Study
Our main purpose in this study was to explore the potentially maladaptive consequences of optimistic social comparisons for male and female older drivers. We aimed to develop, and provide an initial test of, a hypothesized model (shown in Figure 1) for the associations between physical health, perceived driving ability, perceived control over driving, and avoidance of driving-related risk (referred to hereafter as risk avoidance).

View larger version (8K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Conceptual model of the associations among health status, primary and secondary control strategies (including ability perception), perceived control over driving, and avoidance of driving-related risks. The dashed line represents the hypothesized moderating effect of health status on the association between ability perception and risk avoidance, which is believed to reflect effective self-regulation

It is important to emphasize that the negative relationship between ability perception and risk avoidance represented in the hypothesized model would not, in and of itself, indicate maladaptive behavior. It is reasonable to expect that many adults in good health could correctly be regarded as having above-average driving ability relative to their peers. Indeed, maintaining lifelong driving habits for as long as it is possible and safe to do so could be both reinforced by accurate self-perceptions of high ability and regarded as an adaptive component of aging well.

Consequently, the extent to which any association between ability perception and risk avoidance is maladaptive will depend on actual capacity to drive safely, which is in turn likely to be closely linked to physical health. For individuals with high functional capacity, self-evaluation of ability may be justifiably high, and changes to driving behavior unnecessary. In contrast, among those in poorer health, risk avoidance is likely to be an important adaptive response to functional limitations (Anstey et al., 2005). The dashed line in Figure 1 represents a hypothesized moderating effect of self-rated health on the association between ability perception and risk avoidance. A weaker negative association between ability perception and risk avoidance among those individuals in poor health would suggest the effective operation of cognitive self-regulatory processes (Bandura, 2001) that promote an effective balance between illusory beliefs and adaptive behavior. We examined the possible moderating effect of self-rated health by testing the interaction between ability perception and self-rated health.

The specific elements of the hypothesized model that we examined in this study were reflected in the following hypotheses. First, self-rated health, perceived control over driving, and perceived driving ability would be negatively associated with self-reported driving risk avoidance. Second, older drivers reporting poor health would exhibit a weaker negative association between perceived ability and risk avoidance relative to those reporting good health.

As we already mentioned, although expectation biases may have maladaptive consequences for self-protective behavior, the same sorts of biases appear to be important for the maintenance of well-being (Taylor & Brown, 1988). Therefore, we also had an additional aim of investigating associations between perceived control over driving, ability perception related to driving, and two indices of well-being—life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. We tested these associations while we statistically controlled for covariates potentially associated with both ability perception and well-being, including age, self-rated health, education, and marital status.

We also examined possible gender differences in the associations between control, ability perception, and well-being. In a recent longitudinal study, Chipperfield and Perry (2006) found that the use of primary control strategies had more beneficial effects on health for hospitalized men, whereas secondary control strategies, including optimistic social comparisons, had a more beneficial effect on health for hospitalized women. Relative to men, women tend to be more functionally limited and to have poorer health and fewer socioeconomic resources in late life (Crimmins, Hayward, & Saito, 1996; Prus & Gee, 2003). As a consequence, women may become more adept in, and reliant upon, the use of secondary control strategies in promoting positive health outcomes (Chipperfield & Perry).

Gender differences in the effects of control-related beliefs and control-reinforcing behaviors could also apply in the driving context. Previous research indicates that, in comparison with women, men are more likely to report the use of a private car as a necessity (Hakamies-Blomqvist & Wahlstrom, 1998) and are more likely to retain their licenses for a longer time (Chipman, Payne, & McDonough, 1998). The greater social importance placed on driving by men suggests that perceptions of control over driving could have a greater significance for men in promoting well-being. In contrast, the secondary control strategy of driving-ability perception assessed in the current study could be of greater importance to older female drivers. Therefore, in addition to our first and second hypotheses, we made the following hypotheses: third, perceived control over driving and perceived driving ability would be associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of life satisfaction; fourth, perceived control over driving would be a stronger predictor of well-being for men, and perceived driving ability would be a stronger predictor of well-being for women.

	METHODS

TOP Abstract Methods Results Discussion References

 
Participants and Procedure
Participants consisted of 323 drivers (204 men and 119 women) aged 65 and older whom we recruited from Canberra and surrounding regional areas. We initially mailed invitations to participate to 2,154 individuals whom we randomly selected from the Australian Electoral Roll and whom we identified as being in the appropriate age range. We recruited 241 participants in this manner (a response rate of 11.19%). We recruited an additional 82 older drivers through newspaper advertisements and networks of seniors' groups. We identified 8 participants as being out of the scope of our study because they did not hold a full driver's license, and we excluded an additional 11 participants as a result of missing data. The results of this study are based on the responses provided by the remaining 304 participants.

The relatively low response to the initial mailout is likely to have introduced some selection bias, resulting in the situation in which the participants in our study are predominantly healthy, cognitively intact older drivers. Our comparison of self-rated health scores from participants in the current study with similarly aged older drivers in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ALSA; Anstey et al., 2006) revealed that 15% of the older drivers in our study reported their health as poor or fair, relative to 24% of older drivers in the ALSA. As a result of the likely sample bias, the size of associations between perceptual biases and risk avoidance evident in the current sample may represent underestimations of the equivalent associations that exist in the general older driver population.

After they provided written consent, we interviewed participants by telephone using a structured interview protocol. In the paragraphs that follow, we describe only those measures pertaining to the present study. The study was approved by the Australian National University Human Research Ethics Committee.

Measures
Sociodemographic characteristics
We obtained background sociodemographic information, including age, gender (0 = male, 1 = female), and marital status (0 = partnered, 1 = not partnered). We assessed education by asking participants their age when they left school. We recoded the responses into dummy variables for regression analysis, with those individuals who left school prior to age 15 and those who left school at 15 contrasted with those who left school at 16 or older (the reference category).

Physical health
Participants rated their general health on a 5-point scale ranging through poor (1), fair (2), good (3), very good (4), and excellent (5). This is a common method of measuring self-rated health in community studies, with responses to such items being shown to predict mortality independently of various sociodemographic and health-related covariates (Idler & Benyamini, 1997).

Psychological well-being
We measured life satisfaction by using the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; Pavot & Diener, 1993). The scale consists of five items (e.g., "The conditions of my life are excellent") that participants respond to by using a 7-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. We summed the responses to produce a total score, with higher values indicating higher satisfaction with life ( = 0.85 in the current sample). We assessed depressive symptomatology by using the Goldberg Depression Scale (Goldberg, Bridges, Duncan-Jones, & Grayson, 1988). This measure consists of a count of nine depressive symptoms and has been used in a number of population-based studies of mental health (e.g., Christensen et al., 1999; Jorm et al., 2006; = 0.63 in the current sample).

Avoidance of higher-risk driving situations
We combined several of the questions used in the study to form an overall index reflecting driving risk avoidance. We asked participants to rate on a scale of 1 (none of the time) to 5 (all of the time) how often driving-related worries or concerns resulted in their avoiding (a) driving at night; (b) driving in wet conditions; (c) turning right at an intersection (drivers drive on the left-hand side of the road in Australia); and (d) driving on unfamiliar roads. Participants also indicated whether they ever drove distances of over 100 km (1 = no, 0 = yes). We standardized and summed the responses to the items to form an index of risk avoidance, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of risk avoidance ( = 0.65).

Potential barriers to risk avoidance
We asked participants to indicate whether they were the only driver in the house (0 = no, 1 = yes). We also asked them to estimate distances from their residence to local shops, public transport, and health care. The three indices of distance to services were highly correlated (rs =.56–.76), and we combined scores to form a composite representing the average distance to services ( = 0.79).

Driving-related control
We used the following single-item, domain-specific measure to assess perceived control over driving-related outcomes: "In general, rate the extent to which you have control over your own driving safety on a scale of 0 to 10, where a score of 0 represents no control, and a score of 10 represents complete control." This method is consistent with approaches used in other studies to measure domain-specific control (Kos & Clarke, 2001; Lachman, Andreoletti, & Pearman, 2006; Weinstein, 1980).

Driving ability perception
Participants rated their driving ability on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 = very poor, 5 = average, and 10 = excellent, relative to an average driver of their age and sex with an ability score of 5. This approach is consistent with direct methods of assessing social comparative judgments typically used in studies of unrealistic optimism (cf. Klein & Helweg-Larsen, 2002).

Statistical Analysis
We made our initial descriptive comparisons by using chi-squared analysis and independent-samples t tests. We used ordinary least squares regression with robust standard errors for coefficients that we calculated on the basis of Huber–White sandwich estimators for the main analyses. These models were concerned with testing relationships between self-rated health, perceived control over driving, ability perception, risk avoidance, and markers of psychological well-being, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and barriers to risk avoidance where appropriate. We tested interactions by using cross-product terms. We progressively excluded nonsignificant higher order terms from regression models for the sake of parsimony, and we centered self-rated health at 3 ("good" health) in order to reduce possible problems of multicollinearity (Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003). We reported squared semipartial correlation coefficients as indices of unique variance explained. We conducted our analyses by using SPSS version 14.0 and STATA version 9.

	RESULTS

TOP Abstract Methods Results Discussion References

 
Descriptive Statistics
Characteristics of the sample are displayed by self-rated health and gender in Table 1. Participants had a mean age of 77 years, with almost two thirds of respondents being male, and a similar proportion reporting that they were in a married or partnered relationship. A higher proportion of men than women were in a partnered relationship. Over half of the participants (59.5%) reported having left school at the age of 16 or older.

With mean self-rated ability scores approaching 7 (relative to an "average" of 5; see the Methods section), the anticipated optimistic bias in ability perceptions was evident at the sample level. Drivers who rated their health as poor or fair did not rate their driving ability as significantly lower than those who rated their health as good, very good, or excellent. However, a bivariate correlation did reveal a weak but significant negative association between self-rated health and ability perception (r = –.18, p =.002). Differences according to self-rated health were evident for each of the key outcome variables, with participants who rated their health as poor or fair reporting lower life satisfaction, increased depressive symptoms, and a greater degree of risk avoidance relative to those who rated their health as good or better. Relative to women, men gave higher perceived ability ratings and reported a lower degree of risk avoidance.

Perceived Driving Ability, Perceived Control Over Driving, and Risk Avoidance (Hypotheses 1 and 2)
We conducted regression analyses in order to test Hypotheses 1 and 2, which were concerned with relationships between ability perception, perceived control over driving, self-rated health, and risk avoidance. We controlled for age, gender, partner status, education, and possible barriers to risk avoidance (distance to services and being the only driver in the house). After progressive exclusion of nonsignificant higher order terms, only significant interactions of gender with ability perception and perceived control remained in the model in addition to the main effects. For ease of interpretation, results of the analyses are presented for the whole sample and are stratified by gender in Table 2.

The results generally provided support for Hypothesis 1, that is, that self-rated health, perceived control, and ability perception would be negatively associated with risk avoidance. Better self-rated health was associated with lower risk avoidance, as was ability perception, with a stronger association between ability perception and risk avoidance evident for women relative to men. The interaction between gender and perceived control over driving was reflected in a significant negative association between perceived control and risk avoidance for men, indicating that higher perceived control over driving safety was associated with reduced levels of self-reported risk avoidance. The equivalent association among women was not significant.

The cross-product term that tested the interaction between ability perception and self-rated health was not significant, indicating that the hypothesized moderating effect of self-rated health on the association between ability perception and risk avoidance (Hypothesis 2) was not evident.

Perceived Driving Ability, Perceived Control Over Driving, and Well-Being (Hypotheses 3 and 4)
We conducted regression analyses to test Hypotheses 3 and 4, which were concerned with relationships between perceived ability, perceived control, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms, and the possible moderating effect of gender on these associations. We controlled for self-rated health, age, partner status, and education when we examined the relationships. Results are shown in Table 3. Our initial analyses revealed an interaction between gender and perceived control over driving in the prediction of depressive symptoms (β =.603, p =.034). Consequently, we present results separately for men and women. Self-rated health was significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptoms for both men and women, accounting for 24% and 13% of the variance respectively. None of the sociodemographic covariates were significantly associated with depressive symptoms for either gender. The results provided partial support for Hypothesis 3; however, the associations between perceived control, ability perception, and depressive symptoms were more directly representative of the gender differences predicted in Hypothesis 4. In keeping with Hypothesis 4, a significant negative association between control beliefs and depressive symptoms emerged for men only, whereas ability perception was significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptoms for women only.

	DISCUSSION

TOP Abstract Methods Results Discussion References

 
In this article we describe the development and initial testing of a hypothesized model concerned with associations among health, self-assessed driving ability, perceptions of control over driving, and avoidance of high-risk driving situations among older adult drivers. The results provided some support of our hypothesis that self-rated health, perceived control over driving, and perceived driving ability would be negatively associated with self-reported driving risk avoidance. However, our results did not provide support for the hypothesized moderating effect of self-rated health on the relationship between ability perception and risk avoidance. Although drivers with poorer self-rated health were more inclined to report engaging in risk avoidance, the association between ability perception and risk avoidance did not vary as a function of health status.

One possible interpretation of our findings is that the older drivers who reported poorer health and showed a tendency toward high perceived driving ability and a corresponding tendency not to report risk avoidance may not have possessed optimal capacity for effective self-regulation. Hess (1994) notes the capacity for older adults to exercise expertise in some social contexts, while also acknowledging that age-related changes in processing mechanisms could have a limiting effect on social judgments in other contexts. It may be that declining cognitive resources combined with a defensive reluctance to acknowledge personal limitations (cf. Miller & Ross, 1975) results in a situation in which some older drivers in poor health fail to make adaptive changes to their driving habits when such changes could be warranted.

The lack of evidence for the association between ability perception and risk avoidance being moderated by health could also be an artifact of our relatively healthy sample (see The Participants and Procedure section). There may simply have been too few drivers in poor health in the current study to produce evidence for the interaction predicted in Hypothesis 2. Future research is required to develop a more complete picture of the role of expectation biases and effective self-regulation in influencing older driver behavior. The hypothesized model provided in the present study remains a useful conceptual starting point for such endeavors. Future studies would be well served by including more representative samples of older drivers, measures of actual, rather than self-reported driving behavior, and preferably longitudinal designs that would allow for a better understanding of the temporal relationships between health, social cognitive factors, and driving behaviors.

The results also revealed gender as a significant moderator in our analysis of self-reported risk avoidance. Although men and women did not differ in their perceptions of control over driving safety, perceived control was a significant predictor of risk avoidance for men only. Men reported higher levels of ability perception relative to women; however, ability perception only emerged as a significant predictor of self-reported risk avoidance among women. The associations were negative, indicating that higher levels of perceived control and perceived ability were associated with lower risk avoidance for men and women respectively.

The results underscore the importance of male–female differences in beliefs and expectation biases that could influence driving behavior, and they highlight an apparent importance of secondary control strategy use among women. Previous studies have also identified a greater reliance on secondary control strategies, and a stronger association between secondary control and health outcomes, for women relative to men in both younger (Hall, Chipperfield, Perry, Ruthig, & Goetz, 2006) and older (Chipperfield & Perry, 2006) samples.

Chipperfield and Perry (2006) suggest that a greater reliance on secondary control strategy use among older women could be a result of their tendency to have greater functional limitations and consequently reduced opportunities for goal attainment through the exercising of primary control. However, the greater importance of secondary control for health outcomes that has been observed in younger women (Hall et al., 2006) points toward gender differences in control strategies also arising from socialization processes.

It is significant that previous research has indicated that women who remain regular drivers into late life are similar to men in terms of the psychological importance that they attach to driving (Hakamies-Blomqvist & Siren, 2003). If reliable gender differences exist in the use and importance of secondary control strategies, older female drivers with "male-like" driving histories could be particularly susceptible to engaging in maladaptive driving behaviors as a consequence of inflated ability perceptions. Future studies conducted across different domains may shed additional light on the role of gender in moderating the effects of control beliefs and perceptual biases on adaptive and maladaptive behaviors in late life.

An additional aim of the study was concerned with investigating associations among perceived control related to driving, ability perception, and indices of well-being, and the moderating effects of gender on these associations. Perceived control and perceived ability were positively associated with life satisfaction. Analyses concerned with the relationships between perceived control, ability perception, and depressive symptoms confirmed the hypothesized moderating role of gender, with a significant negative association between perceived control and depressive symptoms emerging for men and a significant negative association between ability perception and depressive symptoms emerging for women. These results broadly support the importance of expectation biases for the maintenance of mental health in older adulthood. When considered in the context of the results pertaining to risk avoidance, they also highlight the importance of effective self-regulation for concurrently maintaining healthy levels of self-belief, and accurate perceptions of functional capacity.

Several limitations of the research should be acknowledged. The cross-sectional study design means that causal directionality of relationships between control-related cognition, measures of well-being, and driving modification cannot be assumed. Furthermore, the study did not include a cognitive screening test, and consequently it is possible that a small proportion of participants suffered from a degree of cognitive impairment that led to inaccurate self-assessments of driving ability or risk avoidance. It was also the case that the measures used in the study were brief and were based on self-reports of beliefs and behaviors as opposed to objective assessments of actual driving behavior.

Despite these limitations, the study represents an important initial examination of psychological factors that could be important for both maintaining well-being and adversely influencing driving behavior among older adults. The findings also have possible implications for interventions with older drivers. In a recent review, Windsor and Anstey (2006) advocated the development of approaches grounded in social-cognitive theory (e.g., Bandura, 2005) that encourage the maintenance of control beliefs by facilitating older drivers' active planning for driving cessation. Educational resources that provide information on alternative transport options and techniques for modifying behavior in response to functional decline to promote safe driving could provide useful means for facilitating adaptive behavior change, as well as promoting perceptions of control by means of having the individual manage his or her own transition from driver to nondriver.

Ours is the first study that we are aware of to examine both adaptive and maladaptive correlates of pervasive perceptual biases in an applied domain with particular relevance to late life. The results highlight the importance of control beliefs for well-being. They also suggest that possessing a strong sense of control over driving outcomes for men and a strong belief in driving ability relative to peers for women could be associated with reduced tendencies to avoid driving-related risks, irrespective of self-perceived physical health.

	Acknowledgments

 
Funding for the study was provided by a grant from the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust. Tim Windsor and Janine Walker are supported by Capacity Building Grant in Population Health Research 418020 from the National Health and Medical Research Council. Kaarin Anstey is supported by National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellowship 366756.

We thank Ms. Haley Caldwell for her contribution to the research and Dr. Donald Martin for providing comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

	Footnotes

 
Decision Editor: Karen Hooker, PhD

Received for publication February 20, 2007. Accepted for publication September 9, 2007.

	References

TOP Abstract Methods Results Discussion References

 

• Anstey, K. J., Windsor, T. D., Luszcz, M. A., Andrews, G. R. (2006). Predicting driving cessation over 5 years in very old adults: Psychological well-being and cognitive competence are stronger predictors than physical health. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 54,121-126.[Medline]
• Anstey, K. J., Wood, J., Lord, S., Walker, J. G. (2005). Cognitive, sensory and physical factors enabling driving safety in older adults. Clinical Psychology Review, 25,45-65.[Medline]
• Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52,1-26.[Medline]
• Bandura, A. (2005). The primacy of self-regulation in health promotion. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54,245-254.
• Campbell, M. K., Bush, T. L., Hale, W. E. (1993). Medical conditions associated with driving cessation in community-dwelling, ambulatory elders. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 48,S230-S234.
• Chipman, M. L., Payne, J., McDonough, P. (1998). To drive or not to drive: The influence of social factors on the decisions of elderly drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 30,299-304.[Medline]
• Chipperfield, J. G., Perry, R. P. (2006). Primary- and secondary-control strategies in later life: Predicting hospital outcomes in men and women. Health Psychology, 25,226-236.[Medline]
• Christensen, H., Jorm, A. F., Mackinnon, A. J., Korten, A. E., Jacomb, P. A., Henderson, A. S., et al. (1999). Age differences in depression and anxiety symptoms: A structural equation modelling analysis of data from a general population sample. Psychological Medicine, 29,325-339.[Medline]
• Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Crimmins, E. M., Hayward, M. D., Saito, Y. (1996). Differentials in active life expectancy in the older population of the United States. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 51B,S111-S120.[Abstract]
• Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49,71-75.[Medline]
• Freund, B., Colgrove, L. A., Burke, B. L., McLeod, R. (2005). Self-rated driving performance among elderly drivers referred for driving evaluation. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 37,613-618.[Medline]
• Goldberg, D., Bridges, K., Duncan-Jones, P., Grayson, D. (1988). Detecting anxiety and depression in general medical settings. British Medical Journal, 297,897-899.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Hakamies-Blomqvist, L., Siren, A. (2003). Deconstructing a gender difference: Driving cessation and personal driving history of older women. Journal of Safety Research, 34,383-388.[Medline]
• Hakamies-Blomqvist, L., Wahlstrom, B. (1998). Why do older drivers give up driving? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 30,305-312.[Medline]
• Hall, N. C., Chipperfield, J. G., Perry, R. P., Ruthig, J. C., Goetz, T. (2006). Primary and secondary control in academic development: Gender specific implications for stress and health in college students. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 19,189-210.
• Heckhausen, J., Schulz, R. (1995). A life-span theory of control. Psychological Review, 102,284-304.[Medline]
• Hess, T. M. (1994). Social cognition in adulthood: Aging-related changes in knowledge and processing mechanisms. Developmental Review, 14,373-412.
• Hoeymans, N., Feskens, E. J. M., Kromhout, D., van den Bos, G. A. M. (1997). Ageing and the relationship between functional status and self-rated health in elderly men. Social Science and Medicine, 45,1527-1536.[Medline]
• Hoeymans, N., Feskens, E. J. M., Kronhout, D., van den Bos, G. A. M. (1999). The contribution of chronic conditions and disabilities to poor self-rated health in elderly man. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 54A,M501-M506.[Abstract]
• Horswill, M. S., Waylen, A. E., Tofield, M. I. (2004). Drivers' ratings of different components of their own driving skill: A greater illusion of superiority for skills that relate to accident involvement? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34,177-195.
• Idler, E. L., Benyamini, Y. (1997). Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38,21-37.[Medline]
• Jorm, A. F., Korten, A. E., Christensen, H., Jacomb, P. A., Rodgers, B., Parslow, R. A. (2003). Association of obesity with anxiety, depression and emotional well-being: A community survey. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 27,434-440.[Medline]
• Klein, C. T. F., Helweg-Larsen, M. (2002). Perceived control and the optimistic bias: A meta-analytic review. Psychology and Health, 17,437-446.
• Kos, J. M., Clarke, V. A. (2001). Is optimistic bias influenced by control or delay? Health Education Research, 16,533-540.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Lachman, M. E., Andreoletti, C., Pearman, A. (2006). Memory control beliefs: How are they related to age, strategy use and memory improvement? Social Cognition, 24,359-385.
• Marottoli, R. A., Mendes de Leon, C. F., Glass, T. A., Williams, C. S., Cooney, L. M., Jr., Berkman, L. F. (2000). Consequences of driving cessation: Decreased out-of-home activity levels. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 55B,S334-S340.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Marottoli, R. A., Mendes de Leon, C. F., Glass, T. A., Williams, C. S., Cooney, L. M., Jr., Berkman, L. F., et al. (1997). Driving cessation and increased depressive symptoms: Prospective evidence from the New Haven EPESE. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 45,202-206.[Medline]
• McKenna, F. P. (1993). It won't happen to me: Unrealistic optimism or illusion of control? British Journal of Psychology, 84,39-50.
• Miller, D. T., Ross, M. (1975). Self-serving biases in the attribution of causality: Fact or fiction? Psychological Bulletin, 82,213-225.
• Owsley, C., McGwin, G., Jr., McNeal, S. F. (2003). Impact of impulsiveness, venturesomeness, and empathy on driving by older adults. Journal of Safety Research, 34,353-359.[Medline]
• Pavot, W., Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5,164-172.
• Prus, S. G., Gee, E. (2003). Gender differences in the influence of economic, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors on later-life health. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 94,306-309.[Medline]
• Skinner, E. A. (1996). A guide to constructs of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71,549-570.[Medline]
• Taylor, S. E., Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103,193-210.[Medline]
• Weinstein, N. D. (1980). Unrealistic optimism about future life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39,806-820.
• Windsor, T. D., Anstey, K. J. (2006). Interventions to reduce the adverse psychosocial impact of driving cessation in older adults. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 1,205-211.[Medline]
• Windsor, T. D., Anstey, K. J., Butterworth, P., Luszcz, M. A., Andrews, G. A. (2007). The role of perceived control in explaining depressive symptoms associated with driving cessation in a longitudinal study. The Gerontologist, 47,215-223.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Services Download to citation manager PubMed PubMed Citation