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European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 8/2009

01-12-2009 | Original Paper

Neuropsychological assessment of driving ability and self-evaluation: a comparison between driving offenders and a control group

Authors: Christina Zingg, Dietrich Puelschen, Michael Soyka

Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience | Issue 8/2009

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Abstract

The relationship between performance in neuropsychological tests and actual driving performance is unclear and results of studies on this topic differ. This makes it difficult to use neuropsychological tests to assess driving ability. The ability to compensate cognitive deficits plays a crucial role in this context. We compared neuropsychological test results and self-evaluation ratings between three groups: driving offenders with a psychiatric diagnosis relevant for driving ability (mainly alcohol dependence), driving offenders without such a diagnosis and a control group of non-offending drivers. Subjects were divided into two age categories (19–39 and 40–66 years). It was assumed that drivers with a psychiatric diagnosis relevant for driving ability and younger driving offenders without a psychiatric diagnosis would be less able to adequately assess their own capabilities than the control group. The driving offenders with a psychiatric diagnosis showed poorer concentration, reactivity, cognitive flexibility and problem solving, and tended to overassess their abilities in intelligence and attentional functions, compared to the other two groups. Conversely, younger drivers rather underassessed their performance.
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Metadata
Title
Neuropsychological assessment of driving ability and self-evaluation: a comparison between driving offenders and a control group
Authors
Christina Zingg
Dietrich Puelschen
Michael Soyka
Publication date
01-12-2009
Publisher
D. Steinkopff-Verlag
Published in
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience / Issue 8/2009
Print ISSN: 0940-1334
Electronic ISSN: 1433-8491
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-009-0019-z

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