Driving and autonomy during adolescence: An examination of driving, grades, and time use

PWP-CCPR-2010-029

Abstract

Previous research on driving during adolescence has tended to focus on risky driving behaviors. However, as a normative experience during adolescence, driving may also reflect autonomy development. This study examines whether driving behaviors, including whether or not an adolescent has a license and how much freedom an adolescent has in his/her driving, are associated with grades and time use among an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents. Ethnic differences in rates of driving were found, consistent with other reports of ethnic differences in autonomy. Also consistent with autonomy research, adolescents with a license but restrictions on their driving received the highest grades in school and spent moderate amounts of time with their friends, compared to those without a license or more freedom in their driving. Consistent with the perspective that driving makes it easier to be away from home, increasing driving freedoms were associated with less time with family. Differences in time use according to driving tended to be more pronounced on weekends than on weekdays.