A study of driving cessation and its association with satisfaction with life

Abstract

Older drivers are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian driving population and, as a consequence, the numbers who face the experience of stopping driving will continue to rise. A review of the literature reveals that visual, cognitive, psychomotor, medical, demographic, and social factors are associated with driving cessation and the consequences are largely negative. A recent cross-sectional study enabled the identification of several predictors of driving cessation, an assessment sensitive to the effect of driving cessation on well-being, and factors that can moderate the impact of driving cessation on subjective well-being (Kafka, 2008). The purpose of this study was to conduct a follow-up to Kafka’s (2008) study and further explore psychological variables in relation to driving cessation. We examined life purpose, life control, openness to experience, locus of control, and coping mode in participants who are still driving and those who have stopped to determine if psychological variables differ between these groups. We also examined life outcomes in relation to driving status, and the independent contribution of driving status to life outcomes. Compared to drivers, former drivers had a more external locus of control. Attrition through death, loss of contact, and refusal to participate resulted in a small sample of former drivers which may have obscured relationships in this study. Future research is required to replicate and expand on Kafka’s (2008) results.