Avoidance and personal and occupational quality of life in French people with driving anxiety

Driving anxiety and anxiolytics while driving: Their impacts on behaviour and cognition behind the wheel

“…Refs. [ 6 , 7 ], where a higher proportion of women took part. All ages were considered within the different studies, without making groups according to these factors, just two studies focused on only young people [ 28 , 33 ].…”

“…The most common driving behaviours that have been linked to driving anxiety are related to exaggerated caution, anxiety-related performance deficits, i.e., a higher number of lapses, errors or violations [ 28 , 30 , [24] , [27] , [32] ] or even aggressive/hostile behaviours [ 25 , 39 ] resulting sometimes in dangerous driving [ 8 ] and sometimes in safer driving [ 31 ], probably influenced by driver personality. Arguably, the most relevant impact on driver behaviour is the avoidance either total or partial avoidance of specific driving contexts or situations [ 6 , 7 , [26] , [35] , [36] , [40] ]. Avoidance seems higher for women [ 34 ].…”

“…Some people seem to have specific anxiety about driving, whereas for others the anxiety does not seem to be limited to the driving domain, but spreads to a wider scope [ 4 ]. Drivers with moderate or extreme driving anxiety have reported that it affects their mental health, their quality of life as well as their quality of work [ [5] , [6] , [7] ]. Driving-related anxiety has also been associated with high levels of shame, both for experiencing anxiety as well for the associated avoidance behaviour [ 6 ].…”

“…Drivers with moderate or extreme driving anxiety have reported that it affects their mental health, their quality of life as well as their quality of work [ [5] , [6] , [7] ]. Driving-related anxiety has also been associated with high levels of shame, both for experiencing anxiety as well for the associated avoidance behaviour [ 6 ]. Indeed, one of the major consequences of driving anxiety is the restriction of driving activity.…”