Alcohol Policies and Child Maltreatment

描述(由申请者提供)：本项目的目的是对与酒精有关的公共政策影响虐待和忽视儿童比率的倾向进行实证评估。令人感兴趣的酒精法规包括啤酒、葡萄酒和酒类的税收和价格、酒后驾车法律和酒类销售许可证。父母酗酒与虐待儿童之间的密切联系表明，酒精控制政策可以用来改善受虐待儿童的生活。该项目的第一个目标是评估酒精管制政策在减少被证实或怀疑报告虐待儿童的家庭数量和儿童数量方面的效果。第二个目的是评估酒精管制政策在减少以下具体类型虐待儿童的报告方面的效果：a)身体虐待；b)忽视或剥夺生活必需品；c)医疗忽视；d)性虐待；e)心理或情感虐待或忽视。第三个目标是调查酒精管制政策在减少因虐待或疏忽而死亡的儿童数量方面的效果。第四个目标是探讨酒精管制政策在减少进入寄养机构的儿童总数以及由于父母酗酒或自己酗酒而进入寄养机构的儿童数量方面的效果。最终目的是评估酒精控制政策在减少寄养时间方面的效果。该项目使用来自两个联邦数据收集和其他来源的次要数据来估计一个简化形式的方程，该方程将酒类价格和政策与虐待儿童的措施联系起来。虐待儿童将表现为州一级对儿童虐待和忽视以及儿童进入寄养机构的指控。将使用计数模型作为主要估计技术，尽管持续时间分析也将用于估计更严格的酒精控制政策在减少儿童寄养时间方面可能产生的影响。所有模型还将控制其他州级因素，这些因素可能会混淆酒精控制政策和虐待儿童之间的关系。对公众健康：该项目的公共健康和政策相关性源于父母酗酒问题对儿童健康和福祉的有害影响。与普通人群中的儿童相比，吸毒者的儿童遭受身体、精神和性虐待的风险要大得多，并遭受更多的身体和精神健康问题。该项目分析了酒精管制政策的倾向，以减少虐待和忽视儿童的比率，并改善儿童的生活。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this project is to empirically estimate the propensity for alcohol-related public policies to influence rates of child abuse and neglect. The alcohol regulations of interest include beer, wine, and liquor taxes and prices, drunken driving laws, and licenses to sell liquor. The close association of parental alcohol abuse and the maltreatment of children suggests that alcohol control policies can be used to improve the lives of abused children. The first aim of the project is to estimate the effects of alcohol control policies in reducing the number of families and the number of children with confirmed or suspected reports of child maltreatment. The second aim is to estimate the effects of alcohol control policies in reducing the number of children with confirmed or suspected reports of the following specific types of child maltreatment: a) physical abuse; b) neglect or deprivation of necessities; c) medical neglect; d) sexual abuse; and e) psychological or emotional abuse or neglect. The third aim is to investigate the effects of alcohol control policies in reducing the number of children who die as a result of abuse or neglect. The fourth aim is to explore the effects of alcohol control policies in reducing the total number of children entering foster care and the number of children who enter foster care because of an alcohol-abusing parent or because of their own alcohol abuse. The final aim is to estimate the effects of alcohol control policies in reducing the length of time spent in foster care. This project uses secondary data from two federal data collections and other sources to estimate a reduced form equation which relates alcohol prices and policies to measures of child maltreatment. Child maltreatment will be represented by state-level counts of child abuse and neglect and children entering foster care. Count models will be used as the primary estimation technique, although duration analyses will also be used to estimate the effects that stricter alcohol control policies may have in reducing the length of time children spend in foster care. All models will also control for other state level factors which may confound the relationships between alcohol control policies and child maltreatment. to public health: The public health and policy relevance of the project derive from the detrimental effects of parental alcohol abuse problems on the health and well being of children. Children of substance abusers are at a much greater risk of physical, mental and sexual abuse, and suffer more physical and mental health problems than children in the general population. This project analyzes the propensity for alcohol control policies to reduce rates of child abuse and neglect and improve the lives of children.