Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and covariates among emerging adults of riding with an impaired peer or older adult driver (RWI) because of marijuana (MJ), alcohol (ALC), or illicit drugs (ID).
Method: Data were from Waves 4 (W4, N = 2,085) and 5 (W5, N = 2,116) of the NEXT Generation Health Study, collected in 2013-2014, 1 and 2 years after high school. W5 RWI was specified for substance-specific impaired peer and older adult (peer/older adult) drivers. Multinomial logistic regressions estimated W5 association of substance-specific RWI with W4 RWI, and W5 heavy episodic drinking, MJ use, and school/residence/work status.
Results: At W5, 33% of the participants reported RWI in the past year, including riding with ALC- (21%), MJ- (17%), and ID- (5%) impaired peer drivers and ALC- (2%), MJ- (4%), and ID- (0.7%) impaired older adult drivers. W4 RWI was associated with W5 RWI with impaired peer/older adult drivers for ALC- (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.28, 2.69) and MJ-RWI (AOR = 2.34, 3.56). W5 heavy episodic drinking was positively associated with W5 peer ALC-related RWI (AOR = 2.16) and peer/older adult MJ-related RWI (AOR = 2.38, 5.45). W5 MJ use was positively associated with W5 peer ALC-related RWI (AOR = 2.23), peer/older adult MJ-related (AOR = 10.89, 2.98), and peer/older adult ID-related (AOR = 9.34, 4.26) RWI. ID-related RWI was higher among those not attending 4-year college (AOR = 3.38), attending technology school (AOR = 16.23), living on their own (AOR = 6.85), or living on campus (AOR = 11.50).
Conclusions: The high prevalence of RWI among emerging adults occurred mostly with ALC- or MJ-impaired peer drivers. The findings support the need for precisely tailored programs to prevent impaired driving according to substance use and age.