142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

304755
Reducing intoxication among university students: A replication of the Safer California Universities Intervention

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Robert Saltz, PhD , Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation, Oakland, CA
Mallie Paschall, PhD , Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation, Oakland, CA
The Safer California Universities study involves 14 California public universities, using an intervention that comprised roadside DUI checks, underage decoy operations at retail outlets, and designated off-campus “party patrols,” coupled with the use of multiple communication channels to publicize these enforcement activities.  In previous analyses, 7 of the campuses randomly-assigned to the intervention condition were found to have reduced self-reported intoxication at targeted settings.  Here, we examined the effects of these strategies after they were adopted by the former control campuses to see if the original effects would be replicated.

Methods:  Annual survey data were collected each Fall from random samples of undergraduates on the campuses from 2003 through 2011.  The surveys included questions regarding six venues where students drank, and intoxication at each setting during the semester, and whether students drank to intoxication the last time they went to each setting.  The SAS GLIMMIX procedure was used, controlling for student and campus background characteristics.

Results:  Significant intervention effects were found in the expected directions for key outcomes of interest.  These results were consistent with what was found in the original reports of intervention effects in the first cohort, and were also observed in the second cohort in the second intervention phase.

Conclusions:  Environmental strategies of this sort appear to be effective in reducing the incidence and likelihood of intoxication among college students.  The impact appears to be replicated, but some decay in those effects is apparent among the first cohort to implement the intervention.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Identify environmental influences on college student drinking. Design environmental strategies to reduce intoxication among college students. Evaluate environmental interventions to reduce alcohol problems among college students.

Keyword(s): Prevention, Alcohol Use

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple federally funded grants focusing on the epidemiology and prevention of alcohol abuse and related harms. Among my scientific interests has been the development of strategies for preventing excessive alcohol consumption and harm related to alcohol consumption.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.