 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Young-Hee Yoon, PhD1, Chiung M. Chen, MA1, Sherrie Aitken, PhD1, and Mary C. Dufour, MD, MPH2. (1) Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System, CSR Incorporated, 2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1000, Arlington, VA 22201, 703-312-5220 (ext. 230), yhyoon@csrincorporated.com, (2) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Willco Building, Suite 514, 6000 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892-7003
State alcohol policies, such as keg registration, server training, and beer excise tax have been suggested in the literature as affecting youths’ accessibility to alcohol. Under a multilevel model framework, this study explores whether these policies, as contextual factors at the state level, have independent and/or synergistic effects on youths’ drinking behavior.
Data for high school students from the 1999 and 2001 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) were merged with state policy indicators. The individual level data include demographic characteristics (sex, race/ethnicity, grade, metropolitan status, and age at drinking onset) and two outcome measures, current drinking and episodic heavy drinking. The state level data include indicators of keg registration, mandatory server training, and beer tax. Drinking behaviors of adults aged 21-29 were included as control variables representing state drinking norms. Among the 34 states covered by the data, youths living in 32 states that had implemented dram shop liability laws were selected for the analysis. Two-level hierarchical nonlinear modeling was performed to predict drinking behaviors by individual and state variables simultaneously.
Both keg registration and mandatory server training were found to be associated with lower likelihood of current drinking among youths. However, only mandatory server training significantly reduced the likelihood of episodic heavy drinking. No significant effect was found for three states that had both server training and keg registration, which may be due to the small sample size from these states. Beer tax above the third quartile was associated with reduced risk for episodic heavy drinking among youths.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alcohol Use, Policy/Policy Development
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Handout (.pdf format, 644.1 kb)