COVID-19 and the Acceleration of Behavioral Parent Training Telehealth: Current Status and Future Directions

The SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated social distancing guidelines have accelerated the telehealth transition in mental health. For those providing Behavioral Parent Training (BPT), this transition has called for moving sessions that are traditionally clinic-based, active, and directive to engaging, supporting, and treating families of children with behavior disorders remotely in their homes. Whereas many difficulties accompany this transition, the lessons learned during the current public health crisis have the potential to transform BPT service delivery on a large scale in ways that address many of its long-standing limitations. We describe both challenges and opportunities and consider the possibilities inherent in a large scale BPT service delivery model capable of increasing the reach and impact of evidence-based treatment for all families.     

Comparing computer‐based training and lecture formats to teach visual analysis of baseline‐treatment graphs

Accurate analysis of data is vital to the validation of interventions. As such, there has been a recent increase in studies evaluating visual analysis training procedures. However, past investigations have not evaluated direct and indirect visual analysis training methods with matched instructional content that was systematically designed. Furthermore, training has rarely included assessment of generalization and maintenance of visual analysis skills. The purpose of the current dissertation study was to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of (a) computer‐based training, (b) lecture formats with and (c) without the opportunity to pause, and (d) a no‐training group to teach visual analysis of AB graphs to university students. To make these formats directly comparable, the instructional content was equated by ensuring information and examples were identical across the three training procedures. Eighty‐three students were randomly assigned to one of the four groups. Results showed that all three training formats produced increases in accurate responding compared to the no‐training group. Visual analysis skills generalized to novel graphs and maintained approximately 2 weeks following all trainings. These results suggest that structured approaches that are carefully designed to train visual analysis are effective and lead to gains that generalize and maintain in the absence of training.     

Effectiveness of the compensatory strategy adopted by older drivers: Difference between professional and non-professional drivers

It has been a controversial issue for the effect of ageing population on driving safety. Apparently, drivers’ physiological and cognitive performances deteriorate with age. However, older drivers may compensate for the elevated risk by adjusting their behaviors, known as compensatory strategy. Despite the extensive research on this topic, the compensatory strategy of older professional drivers is not well understood since many studies focused on the differences in compensatory behavior between older and young drivers. Professional drivers tend to be more skillful and able to cope with the unfavorable driving environments, thus presenting a higher capability to mitigate the risk. This study attempts to examine the compensatory behavior and its safety effect amongst older professional drivers, as compared to those of older non-professional drivers, using the driving simulator approach. In the driving simulator experiment, participants were asked to follow a leading vehicle for one hour, and two sudden brake events were presented. 41 (mid-aged and older) drivers completed the driving tests. Each participant was required to complete a car-following test, either under high or low traffic flow conditions. Performance indicators include driving capability (i.e. lateral control, longitudinal control, and brake reaction time) and compensatory behavior (i.e. average speed, and time headway). Additionally, two modified traffic conflict measures: time exposed time-to-collision (TET) and time integrated time-to-collision (TIT) are applied to indicate the traffic conflict risk. The random parameter Tobit models were estimated to measure the association between conflict risk and driver attributes, and random intercept models were used to assess other driving performance indicators. Results show that despite the impaired lateral control performance and longer brake reaction time of older drivers, the likelihood of severe traffic conflict of older drivers is lower than that of mid-aged drivers. Furthermore, though both older professional and older non-professional drivers adopted longer time headway, the reduction in the risk of severe traffic conflict is more profound among the older professional drivers. Such findings suggest that older professional drivers are more capable of mitigating the possible collision risk by adopting the compensatory strategy, as compared to older non-professional drivers. This justifies the existence of compound effect by the compensatory strategy of older driver and better driving skills of professional driver. This research provides useful insights into driver training and management strategies for employers, as older drivers would become a major cohort in the transportation industry.     

Influence of following vehicle’s tailway and classification on subject driver’s response to the circular yellow indication

Traffic crashes at signalized intersections are frequently linked to driver behavior at the onset of the circular yellow (CY) indication. To better understand behavioral factors that influence a driver’s decision to stop or go at an intersection, this study analyzed the behavior of the driver of a subject vehicle at the onset of the CY indication. Driver performance data from 53 participants were collected in the Oregon State University Driving Simulator, simulating scenarios of driving through high-speed intersections under various conditions. Data included interactions where the driver stopped at the stop line (n = 644) or proceeded through the intersection (n = 628) in response to a CY indication. Data were analyzed as panel data while considering 12 indicator variables related to the driver’s stop/go decision. These indicator variables included time to stop line (TTSL), tailway time, following vehicle type, vehicle speed at the onset of the CY indication, and demographics (age, gender, driving experience, level of education, personal vehicle type, number of times driving per week, number of miles driving last year, participation in previous simulation studies. A random-parameter binary logit model was used to determine contributing factors for driver decision making at the onset of CY indication while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. Four indicator variables were significantly related to the driver’s stop/go decision, but three factors varied across observations. Findings showed that a driver’s stop/go decision in response to a CY indication was associated with the time to the stop line (TTSL), tailway time to the following vehicle, subject vehicle speed at the onset of the CY indication, and driver’s age (20–36 years), but was not significantly associated with classification of the following vehicle. Also, the findings indicated that a shorter tailway increased a subject driver’s red-light running frequency. These findings provide insights into variables that affect driver decisions in a vehicle-following situation at the onset of the CY indication. This information can help make better decisions in smart traffic control systems such as to extend/decrease the green interval slightly to avoid decisions that are more difficult.     

Effects of forward collision warning technology in different pre-crash scenarios

The forward collision warning (FCW) system is expected to reduce rear-end crashes; however, its effects on driving behavior and safety have not been thoroughly investigated, specifically the effect variations between different pre-crash scenarios. To identify these variations, this study conducted a driving simulator experiment and compared the FCW’s effects between three pre-crash scenarios: the freeway scenario, the arterial scenario and the intersection dilemma zone scenario. Thirty-nine participants were involved in the experiment. The results showed that the adaptation of driver behavior in impending rear-end collision events resulted from both the FCW and the scenario. The intersection dilemma zone scenario has indications of slowing down, which encouraged drivers to take a more aggressive response strategy under the FCW; the arterial scenario might be regarded as an “easy-to-handle” situation in which a significant portion of drivers adopted moderate level of response strategy under the FCW; both the intersection dilemma zone scenario and freeway scenario have burdened driving tasks, and this might deteriorate a driver’s ability to adapt to the FCW. In addition, different types of drivers experienced varied benefits from the FCW in each scenario. The FCW would be particularly recommended for non-experienced drivers in the freeway scenario and for female drivers in the arterial scenario; moreover, in the scenario of the intersection dilemma zone, the FCW would be particularly recommended for drivers who have a crash/citation before. The results also support specific FCW designs which are able to highlight the collision risk. This study demonstrated that it would be better to indicate the effects of the FCW under the restriction of specific scenario features and develop the FCW based on that.     

Effects of speed feedback signs and law enforcement on driver speed

This study analyzes the effects of implementing three speed management strategies, namely speed feedback signs, periodic law enforcement, and speed feedback sign supported with periodic law enforcement on driver speed behavior and compliance. To analyze the effectiveness of each strategy, nine locations in Pima County, Arizona, were studied in a cross-sectional framework. For each study site, the driver’s speed, date, time, and vehicle’s length were collected at a location prior to the speed management zone as the baseline, at the speed management zone, and downstream of the speed management zone. The general effect showed that all the strategies were effective in reducing average speed and the proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit. In addition, the results of the robust heteroscedastic ANOVA test showed that among all the strategies, the speed feedback sign supported with periodic law enforcement was the most effective one. Moreover, it was shown that by supporting the speed feedback sign with periodic law enforcement, the reduction in average speed and proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit would last, even after passing the speed management strategy. In other words, the existence of periodic law enforcement could potentially modify drivers’ behaviors and increase the spatial effectiveness of speed feedback signs. Comparing the behavior of truck and passenger car drivers also revealed similar results. That is, both truck and passenger car drivers tend to slow down after observing the speed management strategy. The experimental evidence indicates positive benefits for reducing excessive speeding behaviors at the sites.     

Selfish power and unselfish status in Chinese work situations

The present research explored the selfishness of power and status as well as the mechanism in Chinese work situations. By using experimental and survey methods, two studies were designed to investigate the relationships among power, status, and self‐interested behaviour (SIB) as well as the mediating effect of perspective‐taking (PT). Results of the two studies consistently indicated that power increases whereas status reduces SIB. These opposing behavioural effects are partially attributed to the fact that power reduces whereas status increases PT. In addition, our results showed an interaction between power and status on SIB in Study 1 (interaction as a mental function), and a positive correlation between perceived power and status in Study 2 (correlation as a mental perception). Through the discussion from the perspective of the self/other‐orientation trait, as well as the stable effects of power and status on SIB in the two studies, we conclude that power is selfish and status is unselfish in Chinese work situations.     

The role of drivers’ social interactions in their driving behavior: Empirical evidence and implications for car-following and traffic flow

Models for describing the microscopic driving behavior rarely consider the “social effects” on drivers’ driving decisions. However, social effect can be generated due to interactions with surrounding vehicles and affect drivers’ driving behavior, e.g., the interactions result in imitating the behavior of peer drivers. Therefore, social environment and peer influence can impact the drivers’ instantaneous behavior and shift the individuals’ driving state. This study aims to explore empirical evidence for existence of a social effect, i.e., when a fast-moving vehicle passes a subject vehicle, does the driver mimic the behavior of passing vehicle? High-resolution Basic Safety Message data set (N = 151,380,578) from the Safety Pilot Model Deployment program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is used to explore the issue. The data relates to positions, speeds, and accelerations of 63 host vehicles traveling in connected vehicles with detailed information on surrounding environment at a frequency of 10 Hz. Rigorous random parameter logit models are estimated to capture the heterogeneity among the observations and to explore if the correlates of social effect can vary both positively and negatively. Results show that subject drivers do mimic the behavior of passing vehicles –in 16 percent of passing events (N = 18,099 total passings occurred in freeways), subject vehicle drivers are observed to follow the passing vehicles accelerating. We found that only 1.2 percent of drivers normally sped up (10 km/hr in 10 s) during their trips, when they were not passed by other vehicles. However, if passed by a high speed vehicle the percentage of drivers who sped up is 16.0 percent. The speed change of at least 10 km/hr within 10 s duration is considered as accelerating threshold. Furthermore, the acceleration of subject vehicle is more likely if the speed of subject driver is higher and more surrounding vehicles are present. Interestingly, if the difference with passing vehicle speed is high, the likelihood of subject driver’s acceleration is lower, consistent with expectation that if such differences are too high, the subject driver may be minimally affected. The study provides new evidence that drivers’ social interactions can change traffic flow and implications of the study results are discussed.     

Correlations of multiple rider behaviors with self-reported attitudes,perspectives on traffic rule strictness and social desirability

Powered Two-Wheeler (PTW) riders constitute a very vulnerable group of road users, while riding a PTW is considerably more dangerous than using any other motor vehicle. Behavioral issues have been identified major moderating factors to PTW crashes, as riders display great variability in their attitudes towards road safety. Τhe aim of this paper is to present a thorough, overarching structure of relationships correlating various unsafe stated PTW rider behaviors (riding after alcohol consumption, speeding, helmet use and texting) with several self-reported attitude parameters and factors regarding rider perspectives on traffic rule strictness and social desirability. A structural equation model (SEM) was developed using data from the ESRA2 survey, which provided a broad sample encompassing 5,958 respondent riders from 32 countries. Numerous statistical relationships were discovered and quantified correlating the four examined unsafe rider behaviors with eight latent unobserved variables. All covariances between unsafe behaviors were found to be positive and statistically significant, indicating that a rider who will engage more frequently in every single one of the four examined unsafe riding behaviors is more likely to also engage in all the others as well.     

The motivations for using bike sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from Lisbon

Urban mobility has been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with public transport (PT) particularly affected due to infection risks and fears. The promotion of alternative modes of transport such as bike sharing systems (BSS) has gained a new drive as a possible way of providing an alternative to PT and limit a potential surge in private car use.In this study, we provide insights on the motivations for using bike sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic through a survey to the BSS users of Lisbon (entitled GIRA). Before the coronavirus pandemic, the most influential motivations were those connected to the BSS’ Service Coverage & Quality (such as the convenient location of BSS stations near the users’ destinations or the availability of shared e-bikes) as well as to the Personal Interests & Well-being of BSS users (namely the pleasure of cycling as well as the perceived environmental and health benefits). With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, although the motivations of Service Coverage & Quality continue to be the most valued by respondents, the motivations associated with using BSS to avoid PT and to maintain a social distance during the trip are now as important as the motivations linked to Personal Interests & Well-being. Furthermore, new users who have joined bike sharing during COVID-19 give more importance to the Social Influence (such as seeing other people using the system or the influence of their social circle) comparatively to those who were already users before the pandemic and continue to use BSS.This research provides evidence on the importance of bike sharing to the resilience of urban transport systems, particularly during disruptive public health crises. It supports that BSS should continue to operate during the coronavirus pandemic as such systems offer a transport alternative to PT that is perceived to be capable of preserving a physical distance.