Effects of Alcoholic Beverage Control Policies and Contextual Factors on Alcohol Consumption and its Related Harms in France From 1960 to 2000

Important social changes such as urbanization, increases in female education and employment, and increased incomes have occurred in France from 1960 to 2000 along with a major decrease in alcoholic beverage consumption (from 25 L pure alcohol per inhabitant 15 years and old to 13 L); especially due to wine consumption decrease. These changes in drinking patterns are associated with significant decreases in alcohol consumption-related harms (liver disease mortality and transport accident mortality). Several alcoholic beverage consumption control policy measures were also created during this period. This study explores the impact of these policies measure on alcohol consumption and alcohol consumption-related harms, adjusted with selected social changes. France's control policy has been associated, partially, with regressive effects on alcohol consumption but not on alcohol consumption-related harms. Study limitations are noted.     

Changing Trends in European Alcoholic Beverage Drinking: Selected Social,Demographic, Economic Factors,Drinking's Related Harms,and Prevention Control Policies Between the 1960s and 2000s

This study confirms that during the decades following WW II there was a tendency towards closure of consumption of alcoholic beverages among the European countries. The Northern countries, which during the 1960s manifested the lowest rates of alcohol consumption, ended up with greater consumption rates than the Southern countries, manifested the opposite trend; greater amounts of consumptions in the 1960s and lower consumptions in the 2000s. During the same some period, social, demographic and economic indicators—urbanization, rate of elderly males, Income, female education, female employment and mother's age at their childbirths, tended to increase, while the alcoholic beverage control policy strategies showed differences according to the country. Liver disease-related mortality, decreased in most countries. Study limitations are noted     

Alcoholic Beverages,Gender and European Cultures

Societies vary on how they view alcoholic beverages and their use. These views affect use patterns. One indicator of a society's view on alcohol use may be the way it considers the relationship between women and alcoholic beverages, be it marked with moral stigma or with the relevance that women have in controlling the drinking behaviour of men. Europe has experienced substantial social changes in recent years including attitudinal and behavioural changes regarding alcohol use. This study discusses the use of alcohol in Northern and Southern Europe with an emphasis on women's alcohol use both historically and currently. Recent research on gender variations in alcohol use and its implications for treatment and prevention efforts in Europe is discussed.     

Do Alcohol Consumption Patterns of Adolescents Differ by Beverage Type?

ABSTRACT

The overall purpose of this study was to explore the alcohol consumption patterns of adolescents by beverage type. A total of 705 primarily 9th grade students were recruited to participate in this study in the spring of 2002. Alcoholic beverage use differed significantly across gender and ethnicity on a number of beverage-specific drinking measures, including initiation, quantity and frequency, binge drinking, chugging, and alcohol problems (p's<.05). Stepwise discriminant analyses indicated that drug use and social beliefs were notably important in discriminating adolescent drinkers from non-drinkers of specific alcoholic beverages. This study's results indicate the need for testing interventions tailored to alcohol consumption patterns including beverage type.     

Strains Toward Convergence in the Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages: The Canadian Case and Implications for Public Health

Sulkunen's observations that international trends in the consumption of alcoholic beverages involve quantitative as well as qualitative homogen ization of drinking practices are tested against the experience of Canada and its provinces from the mid 1960s to late 1970s. Per capita con sumption of spirits, beer, and wine, and the contribution of each of these types of alcoholic beverages to total consumption are examined for each province for the fiscal years 1966, 1972, and 1978. On the whole, the findings are consistent with worldwide trends. Per capita consumption is increasing generally and there is a trend toward greater similarity in per capita consumption across the provinces (quantitative homogenization). Consumption of different types of beverages is be coming more similar (qualitative homogenization) and increases in the beverage with the lowest share of the market (i.e., wine) appear to be additive to overall consumption. The observation that increases in con sumption of the traditional types of beverages have the most impact on overall consumption is not observed for beer, but is observed in the case of spirits. Implications for public health and social policy are discussed.     

Alcohol Consumption and its Related Harms in the Netherlands Since 1960: Relationships With Planned and Unplanned Factors

Aim: to establish which unplanned (social developments) and planned (alcohol policy measures) factors are related to per capita consumption and alcohol-related harms in the Netherlands. Methods: linear regression was used to establish which of the planned and unplanned factors were most strongly connected with alcohol consumption and harms. Artificial Neural Analysis (ANN) was used to inspect the interconnections between all variables. Results: mothers age at birth was most strongly associated with increase in consumption. The ban on selling alcoholic beverages at petrol station was associated with a decrease in consumption. The linear regression of harms did not show any relation between alcohol policy measures and harms. The ANN-analyses indicate a very high interconnectedness between all variables allowing no causal inferences. Exceptions are the relation between price of beer and wine and the consumption of these beverages and the relation between a decrease in transport mortality and the increased use of breathalyzers tests and a restriction of paracommercial selling. Conclusions: unplanned factors are most strongly associated with per capita consumption and harms. ANN-analysis indicates that price of alcoholic beverages, breath testing, and restriction of sales may have had some influence. The study's limitations are noted.     

Trends in Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages and Policy Interventions in Europe: An Uncertainty “Associated” Perspective

Having qualitatively investigated, both the temporal curves of alcoholic beverage consumption trends and the introduction of preventive alcohol policy measures in six European countries during the 1960s–2000s, drinking control policy measures often appeared to operate as co-factors of change, while during some periods of time they were not even present even if effective consumption changes were occurring. Study limitations are noted.     

Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy and Intended Alcohol Consumption During a Mass-Attended Youth Event

Background: Mass-attended youth events represent a substantial public health challenge due to high levels of alcohol consumption and corresponding high rates of alcohol-related harm. Although previous research has documented the protective effect of high drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE) on alcohol consumption in general, there is a lack of research examining the role of DRSE in reducing consumption during mass-attended youth events and the factors associated with DRSE in these contexts. Objectives: This study aimed to identify potentially modifiable factors that influence DRSE and drinking intentions to inform interventions designed to reduce alcohol-related harm during mass-attended events. Methods: Australian secondary school students (n = 586; 70% female) in their final two years of high school completed an online survey assessing their alcohol consumption intentions for Schoolies, their perceived degree of DRSE, and other individual and environmental factors. Path analysis was used to assess a mediational model examining factors associated with DRSE and alcohol consumption intentions. Results: DRSE was found to be significantly associated with intended alcohol consumption during Schoolies. Specifically, leavers who believed they would not be able to refuse others' offers of alcoholic drinks reported significantly greater alcohol consumption intentions. Results also revealed that DRSE was enhanced in those respondents who believed there would be a variety of non-drinking activities and non-alcoholic beverages available to them during Schoolies. Conclusion: Results suggest the need to increase leavers' confidence in their ability to refuse unwanted alcoholic beverages and highlight the importance of providing celebration options that do not involve alcohol consumption.     

Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption among Albanian Immigrants in Florence

The aim of the present study was to obtain information about both drinking and smoking, as well as about alcohol consumption-related problems, among Albanians who have immigrated to Florence, Italy, after the collapse of the Communist regime in 1990. Between October 2001 and January 2002, an opportunistic sample of 141 Albanians living in the city of Florence were interviewed about their alcohol and tobacco use, as well as about their drinking pattern and health problems

Interviewees were mainly (81%) males, of an average age of 28, who had been living in Italy for the last 4 years; 92.9% drank alcoholic beverages, the preferred beverages were wine and liquor, and the average daily consumption was 39.5 grams of pure alcohol—males consumed 48.1 grams per day, which was 3.5 times more than a comparable sample of Florentine males. Also Albanians overtook Florentines in terms of the rate of smokers (49.6% vs. 39.6%) and of contact with the emergency rooms (24.1% vs. 0.37%). Such high amounts of alcohol intake may contribute to the reported high rates of accidents and acts of violence involving Albanians in Florence.

Some hypotheses were discussed to explain such a high level of alcohol consumption, including the sociocultural change due to emigration. The study's limitations are noted.     

Alcoholic beverages, gender and European cultures

Societies vary on how they view alcoholic beverages and their use. These views affect use patterns. One indicator of a society's view on alcohol use may be the way it considers the relationship between women and alcoholic beverages, be it marked with moral stigma or with the relevance that women have in controlling the drinking behaviour of men. Europe has experienced substantial social changes in recent years including attitudinal and behavioural changes regarding alcohol use. This study discusses the use of alcohol in Northern and Southern Europe with an emphasis on women's alcohol use both historically and currently. Recent research on gender variations in alcohol use and its implications for treatment and prevention efforts in Europe is discussed.     

Drinkers’ Use of Physical Availability of Alcohol: Buying Habits and Consumption Level

On the aggregate level, physical availability of alcohol is related to per capita consumption, prompting the question whether high availability can increase consumption net of social norms which enhance drinking. This issue is investigated using individual-level data in a high-availability urban environment. Effortless, efficient purchase of alcoholic beverages explains a small but significant amount of the variance in consumption when normative factors are statistically controlled. Qualitative factors of availability are discussed, with particular emphasis on food stores, which account for more than half this sample's purchases.     

The Effects of Music Genre on Young People's Alcohol Consumption: An Experimental Observational Study

The aim of this study was to test whether exposure to specific music genres in a social drinking setting leads to differences in drinking levels. An observational experimental design was used in which we invited peer groups of young adults into a bar lab, a lab which is furnished like an ordinary, small pub. Between two tasks, people had a break of 50 minutes in which they could order nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages. During the break, participants were exposed to a specific music genre: popular, hard rock, rap, or classical music. Those groups who were exposed to classical music drank significantly more alcohol than those who were exposed to other music genres. This pattern is quite robust and does not depend on participants’ sex or age, drinking habits, own music preference, and relative importance of music in participant's lives. The study's limitations are mentioned.     

The Impact of Adult Roles on Drinking Among Women in the United States

This paper examines the impact of three adult roles—spouse, parent, and worker—on psychological distress and drinking among a national sample of 10,193 women in the United States, using the 1992 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). We found that the spouse and worker roles are negatively associated with the level of psychological distress, and the parent role is positively correlated with it. Controlling for level of psychological distress, those workers generally are more likely to be drinkers, but, among drinkers, they do not consume alcoholic beverages more than non-workers. The family roles do not affect a woman's likelihood of being a drinker. However, among the drinkers, being a spouse or a parent is negatively related with level of alcohol consumption. Separating three aspects of drinking behavior—whether a woman drinks at all and, if she drinks, her levels of alcohol consumption and problem drinking—our findings suggest that drinking is not a unidimensional construct. A woman's roles influence various dimensions of her drinking differently.     

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION PATTERN AMONG WOMEN IN A RURAL YORUBA COMMUNITY IN NIGERIA

Indigenous Nigerian societies discourage alcohol consumption among women, yet international trends show alcohol consumption increasing in populations of developing countries, especially among women. This research implemented in 1994, examined the pattern of alcohol consumption among women in the rural town of Igbo-Ora, located in the southwestern state of Oyo in Nigeria. A majority of the 300 respondents (64%) were found to have tasted alcoholic beverages, and over half of these reported current alcohol use. Current drinkers reported consuming an average of 1.3 bottles (60 cl per bottle) of alcoholic beverage in the week preceding the survey. Current drinking status was associated with religion. Only 9% of the respondents with indigenous beliefs reported using alcohol, compared to 40% of Christian and 30% of Moslem respondents. Those who never drank were, on average, 5 years older than current or previous drinkers. Single, separated, or divorced women were more likely to drink than married or widowed women. Special uses of alcohol for women were identified, including easing the pains of childbirth. Furthermore, the respondents identified problems associated with drinking alcohol that women confronted: accidents, fighting, illnesses, mental problems, children learning to drink, child neglect, rape, and tarnishing of one's image. With less than one-third of women reporting that they are current drinkers, and among those weekly consumption being low, one could say that there is little evidence of alcohol misuse among women in Igbo-Ora. At the same time, the fact that current drinkers are younger implies that consumption rates may increase in the future. This information about women's beliefs, practices, and preferences will be of value in designing health education programs to prevent future alcohol-associated problems. [Translations are provided in the International Abstracts Section of this issue.]     

Parental drinking and characteristics of family life as predictors of preschoolers' alcohol-related knowledge and norms

While risky drinking in adolescence has been found to be rooted in childhood, evidence is scarce regarding where early alcohol-related knowledge originates. This study investigates preschoolers' alcohol-related knowledge about beverage names, content and social norms (i.e. drinking to be common among men and at parties) depending on parental alcohol consumption patterns and characteristics of family life. In French-speaking Switzerland, 214 three to six year olds completed the electronic Appropriate Beverage Task (Kuntsche, Le Mével, & Zucker, 2016) while their parents (205 mothers, 154 fathers) were surveyed with a questionnaire. The results showed that when parents drank frequently, at higher quantity, or during meals, their children knew more about the names of alcoholic beverages and the social norms of consumption. No effect was found for parental binge drinking or living in a single-parent household. Frequent contact with adults outside the immediate family (visits from relatives and going to fairs and neighborhood parties) but not television viewing was associated with both knowing the name and the alcoholic content of alcoholic beverages. To conclude, this study indicates that the knowledge of children aged three to six about the content, name and consumption norms of alcoholic beverages does not only depend on the drinking frequency and quantity of their parents, but also on contact with adults outside the immediate family. When frequently surrounded by alcohol-consuming adults, children may get the impression that alcohol consumption is a common human behavior, which may put them at risk for early alcohol initiation and risky drinking later in life.     

Using taxes to curb drinking: a report card on the Australian government's alcopops tax

Introduction and Aims. In 2008, the Australian government introduced an ‘alcopops tax’ on spirit‐based ready‐to‐drink (RTD) beverages to reduce alcohol consumption and particularly binge drinking by young people. Design and Methods. Data regarding sales of alcoholic beverages in Australia from 2004 to 2009 were used to examine the possible effects of the alcopops tax. In addition, population data were used to calculate and examine per capita consumption. Results. Various measures of consumption of wine‐based RTDs, spirits, cider, wine and beer remained fairly stable or increased annually from 2004 to 2009. Consumption of spirit‐based RTDs increased annually from 2004 to 2007, but then decreased in 2008 and 2009. Per capita alcohol consumption in terms of pure alcohol increased annually from 11.52 litres in 2004 to a peak of 11.79 litres in 2007, but then dropped to 11.55 litres and 11.41 litres in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Discussion and Conclusions. Consumption of spirit‐based RTDs dropped and consumption of other alcoholic beverages increased following the introduction of the tax. The increased consumption of other alcoholic beverages could be interpreted as indicating that RTD drinkers switched to purchasing spirits or wine‐based RTDs or cider. However, those increases could also be interpreted as a continuation of long‐term trends rather than a ‘substitution effect’. It is impossible to know how much of the changes were due to the tax, to the ‘global financial crisis’, to adaptive marketing by the alcohol industry, to the Government's national binge drinking strategy, to mass media coverage of these issues or to other factors.[Doran CM, Digiusto E. Using taxes to curb drinking: A report card on the Australian government's alcopops tax. Drug Alcohol Rev 2011;30:677–680]     

Peer influence in a micro-perspective: Imitation of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages

Ample experimental research has found evidence for imitation of alcohol consumption in social encounters. However, these studies cannot reveal whether imitation is specifically related to alcohol and not to consumption in general. We investigated whether imitation is more evident when peers drink alcohol compared to other beverages. We observed sipping behavior during a 30-minute interaction between same-sex confederates and participants in an ad lib semi-naturalistic drinking context (bar lab). We expected a stronger imitation effect when both participant and confederate drank alcoholic beverages. A random occasion multilevel analysis was conducted to take repeated measurements into account. Findings showed that participants imitated the sips of the confederates, but that the likelihood of participants imitating a sip was lower when confederates were drinking alcoholic beverages and participants non-alcoholic beverages compared to when both were consuming alcohol.     

Contextual Factors and Alcohol Consumption Control Policy Measures: The AMPHORA Study Background

Drinking alcoholic beverages is deeply rooted in European cultural and economic history, and European consumption trends have varied over time during the decades following WW II. How and why such consumption patterns have changed, and what are the roles that societies’ transformations play in these changes are the AMPHORA project's focus. Preventive alcohol consumption control policies have been developed for a long time; during different eras, in different ways and in different countries. How have and do formal policies affect such changes? These questions stimulated a group of 40 researchers from 12 European countries and 14 institutions to investigate the interactions between selected socio-demographic and economic factors, alcohol control policy measures, alcohol consumption and alcohol consumption-related harm that occurred in 12 European countries between 1960 and 2008.     

The Association of Alcohol Consumption with Tobacco Use in Black and White College Students

This study explored the association of alcohol and tobacco use among college students. A survey was administered in 2004 to 2,189 Black and White students from the southeastern United States. The prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use, tobacco use characteristics according to level of alcohol consumed, and percentage of students using tobacco according to type of alcoholic beverages consumed were evaluated. The interaction of race and gender with alcohol and tobacco use was explored. Our findings extend prior investigations that have found alcohol use associated with smoking and suggest attention be paid to the relation of alcohol to other forms of tobacco. Racial and gender differences are highlighted. This study was funded by Mayo Clinic. The study's limitations were noted.     

Drinking-driving fatalities and consumption of beer, wine and spirits

Drinking-driving is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in Canada. The purpose of this paper was to examine factors that influenced drinking driver deaths in Ontario. We examined the impact of per capita consumption of total alcohol, and of beer, wine and spirits separately, on drinking-driving deaths in Ontario from 1962 to 1996, as well as the impact of the introduction of Canada's per se law and the founding of People to Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere - Mothers Against Drunk Driving (PRIDE - MADD) Canada. We utilised time-series analyses with autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modelling. As total alcohol consumption increased, drinking driving fatalities increased. The introduction of Canada's per se law, and of PRIDE-MADD Canada, acted to reduce drinking driving death rates. Among the specific beverage types, only consumption of beer had a significant impact on drinking driver deaths. Several factors were identified that acted to increase and decrease drinking driver death rates. Of particular interest was the observation of the impact of beer consumption on these death rates. In North America, beer is taxed at a lower rate than other alcoholic beverages. The role of taxation policies as determinants of drinking-driving deaths is discussed. [Mann RE, Zalcman RF, Asbridge M, Suurvali H, Giesbrecht N. Drinking-driving fatalities and consumption of beer, wine and spirits. Drug Alcohol Rev 2006;25:321 - 325]