A Comprehensive Analysis of State Alcohol Policy Environment and Its Effects

项目摘要 饮酒与一系列公共健康问题有关。理论和研究表明 制定酒精政策可以减少酒精使用和相关问题。之前的大多数研究都有 重点是评估个人酒精政策的影响；然而，一些研究已经开始评估 通过简单的指数来衡量国家酒精政策“计数”的效果。这种方法推进了 然而，研究文献是有限的，因为简单地计算或汇总是否存在政策 没有向各州提供关于酒精政策的最佳组合可以有效减少 酒精使用及相关问题。总结政策也没有考虑到不同的强度 各州的具体酒精政策。此外，以前的大多数研究都局限于纳入 控制变量和/或关键的中间变量，如执行做法。研究小组将 在以前研究的基础上，进行一项研究，以实现四个具体目标：(1)制定 衡量各州具体酒精控制政策的力度；(2)衡量全州酒精含量 使用潜在变量分析的政策环境；(3)评估酒精政策在以下方面的执行水平 每个州；以及(4)评估酒精政策环境与相关 后果(包括饮酒水平、交通事故和受伤死亡率)，以及 评估执法水平如何影响这些关系。我们将在四年内实施这一项目。在……里面 第一年，我们将收集执法数据，并制定酒精政策的措施，其中包括 各州政策的力度。在第二年，我们将开发酒精政策的衡量模型 环境和执法水平，并收集结果变量数据。在第三年，我们将进行分析 为了评估州酒精政策环境和我们的各种结果指标之间的关系， 以及强制执行如何影响这些关系。在第四年，我们将进行分项分析，以评估 州酒精政策环境对我们结果的影响因年龄或种族/民族而异。该项目将 扩大该领域对酒精政策组合或模式对酒精影响的理解 消费及相关问题。该提案涉及几个国家一级的建议 机构，为未来的研究提供工具，并将为各州关于如何改变的决定提供信息 他们的酒精政策环境，以解决各种公共卫生问题。

Project Summary Alcohol use is associated with a wide array of public health problems. Theory and research suggest that enactment of alcohol policies can reduce alcohol use and related problems. Most previous research has focused on evaluating effects of individual alcohol policies; however, a few studies have started assessing effects of "counts" of state alcohol policies measured through simple indices. This approach has advanced the research literature however it is limited because simply counting or summing whether policies are present does not provide information to states about what optimal combination of alcohol policies may effectively reduce alcohol use and related problems. Summing policies also does not take into account the varying strength of specific alcohol policies across states. Furthermore, most previous studies are limited in terms of inclusion of control variables and/or critical intervening variables such as enforcement practices. The research team will build upon previous studies by conducting a study which will address four specific aims: (1) Develop a measure of the strength of specific alcohol control policies across states; (2) Measure the overall state alcohol policy environment using latent variable analyses; (3) Assess levels of enforcement of alcohol policies within each state; and (4) Assess the relationships between the alcohol policy environment and related consequences (including alcohol consumption levels and rates of traffic crashes and injury mortality), and assess how enforcement levels influence these relationships. We will conduct the project across four years. In Year 1 we will collect enforcement data, and develop measures of alcohol policies that include differences in the strength of policies across states. In Year 2 we will develop measurement models for the alcohol policy environment and levels of enforcement, and collect outcome variable data. In Year 3 we will conduct analyses to assess the relationships between the state alcohol policy environment and our various outcome measures, and how enforcement affects these relationships. In Year 4 we will conduct sub-analyses to assess whether effects of state alcohol policy environment on our outcomes vary by age or race/ethnicity. The project will expand the field's understanding of the effects of combinations or patterns of alcohol policies on alcohol consumption and related problems. The proposal addresses recommendations from several national-level institutions, provides a tool for future research studies, and will inform states' decisions about how to change their alcohol policy environments to address a variety of public health issues.