The Association of Frequency of Worry About Financial Debt With Substance Use Among Adults in Ontario, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Financial debt and associated stress might increase the risk of substance use problems or exacerbate existing ones. Little evidence is available about the degree of debt stress and its association with substance use. The objective of this study was to examine the associations of the frequency of worry about debt with heavy episodic drinking (HED), daily smoking, e-cigarette use, and cannabis use in the past 30 days. METHODS: Data were utilized from the 2020/2022 Monitor study, a repeated cross-sectional survey of adults 18 years and older in Ontario, Canada. The surveys employed a web-based panel survey of 6038 adults and collected data on debt-related stress, HED, tobacco smoking, e-cigarettes, and cannabis use in the past 30 days. Odds ratios (OR) were estimated from logistic regression models accounting for sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Overall, 18.4% of respondents reported that they were worried about their debt most or all of the time. Accounting for household income, educational status, employment status, and other factors, the results revealed that there was a dose-response relationship between the frequency of worry about debt and substance use including daily smoking, e-cigarette use, and cannabis use in the past 30 days compared to those who were not worried at all about their debt. Sex differences were also found in the association between worry about debt and e-cigarette use. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of worry about debt might have an important role in substance use, which suggests that financial well-being is vital in substance use prevention and harm reduction.

Retaliatory aggressive driving: A justice perspective.

Driving anger and roadway aggression have previously been conceptualized using attributional theory, the theory of planned behavior, and the general aggression model (GAM) framework. The current study builds on these findings, testing the applicability of the attribution-of-blame model of perceptions of injustice and expanding existing models of retaliatory driving aggression to include unjust world beliefs and sensitivity to injustice. A sample of 269 participants from a large urban Canadian university viewed five animated driving scenarios (i.e., a queuing violation, a dangerous turn in front of oncoming traffic, selfish parking behavior, misuse of a high occupancy vehicle lane, and a driver failing to stop at a red light). Prior to viewing each scenario, a brief written description of the scenario was provided to each participant and read aloud by the experimenter. After viewing each scenario, participants completed a questionnaire regarding their attributions, emotions, and anticipated behavior in response to the animated scenario. After viewing all animated videos, participants completed a second questionnaire that assessed individual differences and demographic variables. Consistent with the GAM, structural equation and mediation analyses identified a significant path from individual differences (i.e., belief in an unjust world and driving injustice sensitivity), through internal states (i.e., perceptions of injustice and anger), to retaliatory aggressive driving. Results of this study found consistent paths between factors which were significant across all five scenarios and may therefore be generalizable to other driving situations. Other pathways were found to influence only a selection of the five scenarios, suggesting that they may be situation specific. Results provide support for possible intervention strategies that can be employed by driver education programs to reduce aggressive driving.

Gender differences and demographic influences in perceived concern for driver safety and support for impaired driving countermeasures.

INTRODUCTION: Driving safety, impaired driving, and legislation to address these concerns remain important issues. It is imperative countermeasures be targeted toward the most appropriate groups. This paper explores the potential relationship between gender and driving attitudes toward safety issues and impaired-driving countermeasures. METHOD: The data are from the 2007 Impaired Driving Survey commissioned by Transport Canada and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada. The survey is a, stratified by region, telephone survey of 1,514 Canadian drivers 18years of age and older with a valid driver's license who had driven within the past 30days. RESULTS: The findings illustrate a consistent impact of gender on these issues. Other variables were also identified as relevant factors although less consistently. Current findings suggest that strategies for building support for interventions, or for changing risk perception/concern for risky driving behaviors should be tailored by gender to maximize the potential for behavior change. IMPACT: This information may assist program and policy developers through the identification of more or less receptive target groups. Future research directions are also presented.