Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol Problems Research Opportunities (1990) / Chapter Skim
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4 Individual-Environment Interactions: Focus on the Environment
4 Individual-Environment Interactions: Focus on the Environment
Pages 75-108
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From page 75... ...
Environmental factors can affect many people at a time or only a few. This chapter considers those factors that affect broad populations (e.g., national legislation concerning minimum purchase age requirements, mass media influences)
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From page 76... ...
Room (1984, p.310) , in reviewing studies from the United States and other countries, concluded, "The evidence is thus by now compelling that alcohol controls can affect the rates of alcohol-related problems, and that they often particularly affect the consumption patterns of high-risk drinkers." Other researchers have looked into the influence of such factors as statewide alcohol policy changes or the pricing structure of alcoholic beverages as they relate to the level of alcohol consumption.
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From page 77... ...
Researchers differ in their estimates of the price sensitivity of alcoholic beverages. Furthermore, there are likely to be different sensitivity levels for alcoholic beverages by type of beverage and by age of the purchasers (Grossman, Coate, and Arluck, 1987; Saffer and Grossman, 1987a)
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From page 78... ...
The effect of changes in the minimum purchase age on youthful drinking and traffic accidents has been extensively researched. Overall, evidence suggests that a higher minimum purchase age results in lower per capita consumption (Maisto and Rachal, 1980~.
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From page 79... ...
A recent study conducted in Texas also showed that a one-year change in the minimum drinking age affected youthful crashes (Wagenaar and Maybee, 1986~. Taken as a group, such studies of individual states or clusters of states support the conclusion that a higher minimum purchase age requirement has the potential to reduce consumption by youth (particularly of beer, the beverage of choice of the young)
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From page 80... ...
analyzed traffic crash data for drivers up to age 23 in 13 states that had raised their minimum purchase age between 1975 and 1982. The study compared annual figures for drivers in areas affected by minimum age changes who were involved in fatal crashes with those drivers who were involved in fatal crashes in areas not affected by the law change.
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From page 81... ...
Recently, localities have become more involved in the regulation of alcohol availability, a role previously dominated by the state alcoholic beverage control authority. · As communities become more involved in preventing alcohol problems, new territory will be opened up for studies of the epidemiology of alcohol problems at the community level.
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From page 82... ...
From reviews of health campaign research compiled in the late 1970s and the 1980s, the most reasonable goals of mass media campaigns in the health area appear to be to increase -82
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From page 83... ...
Another goal of mass media campaigns is to provide information in the form of new knowledge, as well as knowledge to replace misinformation and correct myths. The goal is a better informed public, and research indicates that this is a reasonable expectation of a mass media campaign (although target groups are never as well informed as health agency administrators might wish)
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From page 84... ...
in smoking prevention research. The identification of effective inoculations against some media messages could help to prevent young people from forming unhealthful and dangerous patterns of alcohol use (see the discussion under Commercial Alcohol Advertising" below)
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From page 85... ...
Commercial Alcohol Advertising The majority of the information on alcohol use is presented by the alcoholic beverage industry. About $1 billion is spent annually on alcohol advertising, an amount that greatly exceeds the public education budgets both of federal and state governments and of nonprofit agencies.
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From page 86... ...
(For a recent review of the research on using alcohol-related advertising as an intentional change agent, see Atkin, 1988a; see also Alcalay, 1983; Hewitt and Blane, 1984; and Wallack, 1985.) The following are opportunities for research on the effects of commercial advertising on alcohol use: · Given the association between teenage drinking and driving, targeted examinations are needed to assess the impact of alcohol advertising on those young people currently approaching legal drinking ages, in terms of exposure to advertising and its impact on brand recognition, preference, interest in drinking, and expectations as to the social merits (and demerits, if any)
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From page 87... ...
All of the states now have legal drinking ages of 21. More than 40 states have now adopted laws making it illegal Per se" to drive with a blood alcohol level above 0.10 -- the equivalent of four to five drinks for a 150-pound person in an hour on an empty stomach.
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From page 88... ...
As noted earlier, studies of drinking age increases revealed that, although effects were variable from state to state, states that raised their drinking ages typically achieved 10 to 15 percent declines in night-time fatal crashes in targeted age groups relative to states that did not (Hingson et al., 1983; Williams et al., 1983; DuMouchel, Williams, and Zador, 1987; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1987~.
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From page 89... ...
Department of Transportation, 1988~. Compared with 1986, data from 1987 indicate slightly fewer single-vehicle, nighttime fatal crashes among all ages and among teenage drivers; nevertheless, the overall total is still 5 percent higher than in 1985, and the teenage total is still 9 percent higher than in 1985.
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From page 90... ...
We also need to assess whether recent increases in the number of fatal crashes will be temporary or whether other legal interventions, education, or enforcement efforts may be able to sustain long-term declines in the number of fatal crashes. · The effects of speed limit increases on drunk-driving deaths, new legislation to reduce the blood alcohol levels that are considered to constitute legal intoxication, and the states' adoption of administrative per se laws are all areas for fruitful research.
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From page 91... ...
The program itself involved extensive consultation with the club manager, which produced several changes in club policies and practices and an 18-hour training course for all staff. The policy changes included promoting nonalcoholic beverages and food, overtly delaying service of an alcoholic beverage if it would put the patron at or above the legal limit for intoxication, and the discontinuance of beer sales in pitchers.
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From page 92... ...
Furthermore, when the pseudopatron's BAC was measured after leaving the bar, those who had been served by trained servers had lower BAC:s than those who had been served by the untrained personnel. Another evaluation of server training is currently being prepared for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
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From page 93... ...
The assumption seems to be that because drinking behavior is an element of a person's entire social life and because work is a significant component of a person's existence, workplace factors are as important as nonworkplace factors in understanding patterns of drinking. Essentially, the problem with this research is one of failing to distinguish among the varying role domains through which people move in their day-to-day lives and thus failing to specify the linkages and overlaps between them.
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From page 94... ...
examination of the relationship between subjective perceptions of work structure, satisfaction, or stress and drinking behavior or problems. The results of these studies generally indicate that alcohol problems are unevenly distributed across occupations and industries and that the determinants of this distribution stem either from the self-selection of deviant drinkers into certain occupations or from workplace conditions that foster problematic drinking in susceptible individuals (Cosper, 1979, Fillmore and Caetano, 1982; Parker and Brody, 1982~.
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From page 95... ...
The point to be emphasized here is that the values suggested by attributions of Normative or "deviants labels to describe worker drinking unnecessarily distract attention from the real issue: individual heavy drinking may be considered a cultural artifact (the individual is following normative guidelines) , a group response to work conditions, or a consequence of individual proclivities to join drinking groups.
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From page 96... ...
· Research is needed to determine the level of alcohol availability in the workplace and the characteristics of workplace social networks or subcultures in relation to alcohol use. FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE RISK OR SEVERITY OF THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF DRINKING There is another area of prevention in the alcohol field that is not specifically targeted at reducing alcohol consumption per se but that aims to reduce the risk or severity of subsequent alcohol-related problems.
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From page 97... ...
D Effect of Raising the Legal Drinking Age on Driver Involvement in Fatal Crashes: The Experience in Thirteen States.
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From page 98... ...
Grossman. Effects of Alcoholic Beverage Prices and Legal Drinking Ages on Youth Alcohol Use.
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From page 99... ...
Alcohol-Related Casualties and Alcohol Beverage Market Response to Beverage Alcohol Availability Policies in Michigan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Highway Safety Research Institute, 1977.
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From page 100... ...
Price sensitivity of alcoholic beverages in the United States: Youth alcohol consumption.
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From page 101... ...
Availability of outlets and consumption of alcoholic beverages.
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From page 102... ...
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Evaluation of Minimum Drinking Age Laws Using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.
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From page 103... ...
Alcohol availability, alcoholic beverage sales, and alcohol-related problems.
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From page 104... ...
Grossman. Effects of Beer Prices and Legal Drinking Ages on Youth Motor Vehicle Fatalities.
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From page 105... ...
DOT HS 807 245. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1988.
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From page 106... ...
The effect of raising the legal minimum drinking age on involvement in fatal crashes.
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From page 107... ...
Local regulation of alcohol availability: Uses of planning and zoning ordinances to regulate alcohol outlets in California cities.
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