Predicting Pedestrian Behavior by Sleep Quality and Emotional Self-Regulation

• Published in: Transportation research record 2023-05, Vol.2677 (5), p.1077-1084
• Main Authors: Dabirinejad, Shahab, Minasian, Erik, Kashani, Ali Tavakoli, Rundmo, Torbjorn, Afshar, Ali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0361-1981; 2169-4052
• DOI: 10.1177/03611981231155901

The behavior of pedestrians may make them more vulnerable to accidents. However, emotional self-regulation is a capability that helps individuals mitigate generally negative emotions that could affect their behavior, perception, and attention unfavorably. Therefore, emotional self-regulation is expected to play an important role in the safety of transportation network users. However, no previous studies have investigated its association with pedestrian behavior. Sleep quality is another factor affecting transportation network users’ behavior and safety. In spite of this, studies investigating the relationships between sleep quality and pedestrian safety are limited to a very narrow range of pedestrian behavior. Interestingly, sleep quality is also associated with emotional self-regulation, and the literature is relatively ambiguous, supporting both a causal (mediation) and a bidirectional relationship. In this study, a four-part questionnaire was used to collect data on 740 pedestrians’ demographics, emotional self-regulation, sleep quality, and behavior. Confirmatory factor analysis was run to determine the structure of the instrument, and structural equation models were constructed to investigate the associations between variables. The results indicated an increase in risky and aggressive behaviors, and a decrease in positive behaviors because of difficulties with emotional self-regulation and poorer sleep quality. In this study, emotional self-regulation was rejected as a mediator between sleep quality and pedestrian behavior, whereas its bidirectional relationship with sleep quality was substantiated. The findings of this study shed light on some relationships that may lead to a reduction in the likelihood of people with a diminished ability to regulate their emotions, or sleep problems being involved in traffic accidents.