Psychological Functioning, Defense Strategies and the Contribution of Perceived Family Collaboration in Adolescents Who Experienced Multiple Motor Vehicle Crashes: A Descriptive Study

Paola Di Vito, Luca Cerniglia and Silvia Cimino
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Paola Di Vito: Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome, Sapienza, 00186 Rome, Italy
Luca Cerniglia: Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, 00186 Rome, Italy
Silvia Cimino: Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome, Sapienza, 00186 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-11

Abstract: Adolescents frequently experience motor vehicle collisions (MVCs). Research has mostly underlined the psychological outcomes, rather than adolescents’ general emotional–behavioral functioning and the role played by family. This study aims to explore the emotional–behavioral functioning, measured with the Youth Self Report (YSR), difficulties to identify and describe emotions, measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the use of defense strategies, measured with the Response Evaluation Measure for Youth (REM-71), and perceived family collaboration, measured with the Perceived Collective Family scale, in adolescents that have experienced more than three MVCs in a year. N = 150 adolescents who visited an emergency department for MVCs were assessed through self-report questionnaires. Adolescents showed difficulties to identify and describe their emotions and a massive use of defense strategies. Moreover, lower perceived family collaboration predicted adolescents’ alexithymic traits and the massive use of maladaptive defense strategies. These results may be useful in assessing and creating prevention programs for risky driving behaviors in adolescence.

Keywords: adolescence; motor vehicle accidents; family functioning; emotional–behavioral functioning; alexithymia; defense strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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