High cortisol response decreased crash events in adolescent drivers

Crash and near-crash rates among teenage drivers were lower if there was a higher response to stress as measured by cortisol levels, according to recent study findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Marie Claude Ouimet, PhD, of the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, and colleagues evaluated 40 newly licensed drivers aged 16 years between 2006 and 2008 to determine the relationship between cortisol and driving risk.

Overall, 233 crash or near-crash (CNC) events occurred during the study period. Researchers found that higher cortisol response levels resulted in lower CNC events (exponential of the regression coefficient=0.93; 95% CI, 0.88-0.98) and greater decreases over time in overall CNC rates (exponential of the regression coefficient=0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99).

“This study found that cortisol, a neurobiological marker, was associated with teenaged driving risk; teenagers with lower response to stress were at higher risk for CNCs,” the researchers wrote. “As in other problem-behavior fields, identification of an objective marker of a specific pathway to teenaged driving risk promises the development of more personalized intervention approaches.”

In an accompanying editorial, Dennis R. Dubin, MD, MSCE, and colleagues from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, wrote that the results do not help develop a useful biomarker-based diagnostic test or a pharmaceutical therapy to reduce teen-driver crashes.

“Finally, families and health care providers should recognize driving as a health behavior because motor vehicle crashes are currently the leading cause of death for adolescents,” the researchers wrote. “Health care providers need to be prepared to support families in the learning-to-drive process, highlighting the need for providers to have competency in this area and evidence-based resources available to them.”

For more information:

Durbin DR. JAMA Pediatr. 2014;doi:10.1001/jamapediatrcs.2013.5402.

Ouimet MC. JAMA Pediatr. 2014;doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.5387.

Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ouimet reports receipt of a career grant from the Quebec Health Research Fund.