At least one longitudinal study suggests that beliefs also may influence reckless driving behaviors. Gerard, Gibbons, Benthin, and Hessling (1996) obtained three annual waves of data from about 450 boys and girls from rural Iowa, half of whom were in the 8th grade and half of whom were in the 10th grade at study initiation. (The ethnic distribution of the study population was not detailed in the published report.) In this sample, beliefs about the prevalence of reckless driving predicted future reckless driving. Adolescents who believed that reckless driving was more common were more likely than their peers to report reckless driving behaviors one year later. Those who reported a stronger influence of overall health and safety concerns on their behavior were less likely to report driving recklessly one year later. Interestingly, increases in reckless driving were accompanied by increases in the perceived prevalence of reckless driving and declines in the influence of overall health and safety concerns, while decreases in reckless driving were accompanied by declines in the perceived prevalence and increases in the influence of health and safety concerns. Although the study design did not allow for a determination of which factor changed first (the behavior or the beliefs), the authors suggest that not only may beliefs influence behavior, but also adolescents may, in turn, adjust their beliefs in order to make them consistent with their changing behaviors.

Attitudes and beliefs also show associations with seatbelt use, at least in cross-sectional studies. One such study included 179 adolescent drivers from two suburban private schools, primarily white and of high socioeconomic status, and three urban public schools, two of which were inner city, low-income, and majority African American or Hispanic, and one of which was predominately white and middle class (Shin, Hong, & Waldron, 1999). In this sample, adolescents who reported greater perceived inconvenience associated with seatbelt use and those who reported greater fatalism (a belief that there is no point in wearing seatbelts since one has no control over one's future) were less likely to report seatbelt use. Conversely, those who ranked safety concerns as an important influence on their behavior were more likely to report wearing seatbelts. Notably, inner city students were less likely than were students in the private or middle-class schools to report wearing seat belts. These students also displayed a greater sense of inconvenience of seatbelt use, higher level of fatalism, and lesser value of safety concerns when compared with their peers attending private or middle-class schools. These correlates of seatbelt use should be assessed in future longitudinal studies.