- Title
- Alcohol outlet density and university student drinking: a national study
- Creator
- Kypri, Kypros; Bell, Melanie L.; Hay, Geoff C.; Baxter, Joanne
- Relation
- Addiction Vol. 103, Issue 7, p. 1131-1138
- Relation
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02239.x/abstract
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2008
- Description
- 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.
- Subject
- alcohol; alcohol-related harm; college; drinking; environment; outlet density; problems; students; university
- Identifier
- uon:2674
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/30391
- Identifier
- ISSN:0965-2140
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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