Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 28:10.1037/adb0001093.
doi: 10.1037/adb0001093. Online ahead of print.

Unplanned drinking predicts alcohol-impaired driving cognitions and behavior in daily life

Charles A Darmour  1 , Alison M Haney  2 , Denis M McCarthy  1
Affiliations

Unplanned drinking predicts alcohol-impaired driving cognitions and behavior in daily life

Charles A Darmour et al. Psychol Addict Behav. .

Abstract

Objective: This study used ecological momentary assessment to investigate the association between unplanned drinking and alcohol-impaired driving (AID) cognitions and behavior among adults.

Method: Adults (N = 125) completed 6 weeks of morning and evening ecological momentary assessment surveys assessing plans to drink later that night, driving behavior, and AID cognitions. Mixed-effects models with moments (Level 1) nested within days (Level 2) within person (Level 3) were used to test the effect of planned (vs. unplanned) drinking intentions on perceived danger of AID and willingness to engage in AID. A separate two-level model (days nested within person) tested planned (vs. unplanned) drinking on AID behavior. A novel breath alcohol concentration biosensor accounted for alcohol consumption in all models.

Results: Unplanned drinking episodes were associated with lower perceived danger of AID, increased willingness to engage in AID, and higher odds of engaging in AID, compared to planned drinking episodes. Findings were held after controlling for alcohol consumption measured by breath alcohol concentration biosensors.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that unplanned drinking intentions confer risk for AID-a behavior requiring significant preparation and planning to avoid. Findings highlight the need for future research investigating unplanned drinking's effect on other negative consequences requiring preparation and planning. Additionally, findings highlight the need for targeted interventions and policies to reduce unplanned drinking to prevent AID and improve public health outcomes among adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

A portion of these findings were presented as a poster at the Research Society on Alcoholism in 2022. The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Ainiwaer A, Zhang S, Ainiwaer X, & Ma F (2021). Effects of Message Framing on Cancer Prevention and Detection Behaviors, Intentions, and Attitudes: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(9), e27634. 10.2196/27634 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ajzen I (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T - DOI
    1. Amlung MT, Morris DH, & McCarthy DM (2014). Effects of acute alcohol tolerance on perceptions of danger and willingness to drive after drinking. Psychopharmacology, 231(22), 4271–4279. 10.1007/s00213-014-3579-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Armitage CJ, & Conner M (2001). Efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analytic review. British Journal of Social Psychology, 40(Pt 4), 471–499. 10.1348/014466601164939 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bates D, Mächler M, Bolker B, & Walker S (2015). Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1 – 48. 10.18637/jss.v067.i01 - DOI