PUBLIC POLICY, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

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DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): The empirical work outlined in this proposal will examine the interaction between substance abuse related public policies, substance abuse outcomes and mental health problems including psychiatric disorders. The significance of research on substance abuse is highlighted by the mortality, illness, employment costs, and other costs associated with their consumption. The significance of research involving mental health problems and psychiatric disorders is emphasized by their prevalence and costs. Recent research has shown that psychiatric disorders affect 28% of the noninstitutionalized US population in any given year. There has also been an increasing interest in the use of policy for the control of substance problems. For example, there are an increasing number of localities, which are seeking to ban outdoor alcohol and cigarette advertising and an increased recognition that taxes can be used to control alcohol and cigarette consumption. Although the link between substance abuse and psychiatric disorders is well established, no study of the effects of public policy on substance abuse explicitly accounts for the role of psychiatric disorders. The primary issue, which will be studied, is whether individuals who are diagnosed with various psychiatric disorders or who have reported symptoms associated with mental health problems are equally responsive to the current and proposed menu of policy options as those without these disorders and problems. The substances, which will be examined, include alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco. The research will employ the National Comorbidity Study (NCS) which is the only survey to administer a structured psychiatric interview to a representative national sample of over 8000 people in the United States. The NCS will be augmented with an extensive series of substance abuse policy variables. These policy variables will be appended to the individual records at the county level or the state level.