AIMS: To examine the geographic density of alcohol outlets and associations with drinking levels and related problems among university students. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study using geospatial data, with campus-level and individual-level analyses. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2550 students (mean age 20.2, 60% women) at six university campuses in New Zealand (63% response). MEASUREMENTS: Counts of alcohol outlets within 3 km of each campus were tested for their non-parametric correlation with aggregated campus drinking levels and related problems. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the relation between outlet counts within 1 km and 3 km of student residences and individual drinking levels/problems, with control for gender, age, ethnicity and high school binge drinking frequency, and adjustment for campus-level clustering. FINDINGS: Correlations for campus-level data were 0.77 (P = 0.07) for drinking and personal problems, and 0.31 (P = 0.54) for second-hand effects. There were consistent significant associations of both on- and off-licence outlet densities with all outcomes in student-level adjusted models. Effects were largest for 1 km densities and off-licence outlets. CONCLUSIONS: There are positive associations between alcohol outlet density and individual drinking and related problems. Associations remain after controlling for demographic variables and pre-university drinking, i.e. the associations are unlikely to be due to self-selection effects. Increasing alcohol outlet density, and particularly off-licences, may increase alcohol-related harm among university students.
AIMS: To examine the geographic density of alcohol outlets and associations with drinking levels and related problems among university students. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study using geospatial data, with campus-level and individual-level analyses. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2550 students (mean age 20.2, 60% women) at six university campuses in New Zealand (63% response). MEASUREMENTS: Counts of alcohol outlets within 3 km of each campus were tested for their non-parametric correlation with aggregated campus drinking levels and related problems. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the relation between outlet counts within 1 km and 3 km of student residences and individual drinking levels/problems, with control for gender, age, ethnicity and high school binge drinking frequency, and adjustment for campus-level clustering. FINDINGS: Correlations for campus-level data were 0.77 (P = 0.07) for drinking and personal problems, and 0.31 (P = 0.54) for second-hand effects. There were consistent significant associations of both on- and off-licence outlet densities with all outcomes in student-level adjusted models. Effects were largest for 1 km densities and off-licence outlets. CONCLUSIONS: There are positive associations between alcohol outlet density and individual drinking and related problems. Associations remain after controlling for demographic variables and pre-university drinking, i.e. the associations are unlikely to be due to self-selection effects. Increasing alcohol outlet density, and particularly off-licences, may increase alcohol-related harm among university students.
Authors: Christopher N Morrison; Hilary F Byrnes; Brenda A Miller; Sarah E Wiehe; William R Ponicki; Douglas J Wiebe Journal: Drug Alcohol Depend Date: 2019-10-17 Impact factor: 4.492
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