Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Physical, Social, and Perceived Availabilities of Alcohol and Last Month Alcohol Use in Rural and Small Urban Communities

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study seeks to provide a greater understanding of the factors that determine the perceived availability of alcohol and its role in predicting adolescents’ alcohol use. Participants were 151,703 7th–12th grade students (50% female) from a sample of 219 rural communities across the United States, with oversampling for predominantly Mexican-American and African-American communities. Multilevel analysis was used to estimate the perceived availability of alcohol as a function of physical and social availability measures and individual and community-level control variables. Physical availability was measured as the number of alcohol outlets in the community and whether beer and wine were sold in non-liquor stores. Social availability measured the availability of alcohol from social or family groups. Last month alcohol use was then estimated as a function of physical, social and perceived availabilities and control variables. Physical availability had little relationship to perceived availability or recent alcohol use while social availability was a strong predictor of both. Perceived availabilities at the individual and community levels were significant in predicting last month alcohol use. The findings suggest that altering both perceived and actual availability of alcohol can potentially have strong effects on the levels of adolescent alcohol use.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbey, A., Scott, R. O., Oliansky, D. M., Quin, B., & Andreski, P. M. (1990). Subjective, social, and physical availability. I. Their interrelationships. The International Journal of the Addictions, 25(8), 889–910.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Abbey, A., Scott, R. O., & Smith, M. J. (1993). Physical, subjective, and social availability: Their relationship to alcohol consumption in rural and urban areas. Addiction, 88, 489–499.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delva, J., Wallace, J. M., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., Johnston, L. D., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2005). The epidemiology of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use among Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban American, and other Latin American eighth-grade students in the United States: 1991–2002. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 696–702.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dent, C. W., Grube, J. W., & Biglan, A. B. (2005). Community level alcohol availability and enforcement of possession laws as predictors of youth drinking. Preventive Medicine, 40, 355–362.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, R. W., Stanley, L. R., Plested, B. A., Marquart, B. S., Chen, J., & Jumper Thurman, P. (2007). Disparities in young adolescent inhalant use by rurality, gender and ethnicity. Substance Use and Misuse, 42(4), 643–670.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gruenewald, P. J., Millar, A. B., Treno, A. J., Yang, Z., Ponicki, W. R., & Roeper, P. (1996). Geography of availability and driving after drinking. Addiction, 91, 967–983.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gruenewald, P. J., Ponicki, W. R., & Holder, H. D. (1993). The relationship of outlet densities to alcohol consumption: A time series cross-sectional analysis. Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research, 17, 38–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruenewald, P. J., & Remer, L. (2006). Changes in outlet densities affect violence rates. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 30(7), 1184–1193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harker, R., & Tymms, P. (2004). The effects of student composition on school outcomes. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 15(2), 177–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, P. A., Fulkerson, J. A., & Park, E. (2000). The relative importance of social versus commercial sources in youth access to tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Preventive Medicine, 31(1), 39–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, R. (1970). Context and consex: A cautionary tale. American Journal of Sociology, 75(1), 645–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, K., Slater, M., & Oetting, E. R. (2005). Alcohol use in early adolescence: The effect of changes in risk taking, perceived harm and peer alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 275–283.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug and Violence Prevention. (2007). Environmental management: A comprehensive strategy for reducing alcohol and other drug use on college campuses (http://www.higheredcenter.org/framework/). Retrieved April 8, 2007.

  • Komro, K. A., Maldonado-Molina, M. M., Tobler, A. L., Bonds, J. R., & Muller, K. E. (2007). Effects of home access and availability of alcohol on young adolescents’ alcohol use. Addiction, 102, 1597–1608.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsche, E., Kuendig, H., & Gmel, G. (2008). Alcohol outlet density, perceived availability and adolescent alcohol use: A multilevel structural equation model. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62, 811–816.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marshal, M. P., & Chassin, L. (2000). Peer influence on adolescent alcohol use: The moderating role of parental support and discipline. Applied Developmental Science. Special Issue: Familial and Peer Influences on Adolescent Substance Use, 4(2), 80–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, R. S., Ames, G. M. & Cunradi, C. B. (2007). Physical and social availability of alcohol for young enlisted naval personnel in and around home port. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 2. http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/2/1/17, Retrieved last May 5, 2010.

  • National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. (2000). No place to hide: Rural 8th graders using drugs, smoking, drinking at higher rates than urban 8th graders. Retrieved April 7, 2004, from http://www.casacolumbia.org/absolutenm/templates/PressReleases.asp?articleid=134&zoneid=49.

  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2004/2005). Alcohol and development in youth: A multidisciplinary overview. Alcohol Research and Health, 28(3), 1–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2005). NIDA Research Report Series: Marijuana abuse (No. NIH Publication No. 05-3859). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, E. C., Lindrooth, R. C., & Ennett, S. T. (1998). Controlling for the endogeneity of peer substance use on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use. Health Economics, 7(5), 439–453.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oetting, E. R., Edwards, R., & Beauvais, F. (1985). Reliability and discriminant validity of the Children’s Drug-Use Survey. Psychological Reports, 56(3), 751–756.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preston, D. P., & Mansfield, P. K. (Eds.). (1990). Assessing the health status of rural people: An analysis of American studies 1980–1985. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocky Mountain Behavior Science Institute, Inc. (n.d.). American drug and alcohol survey. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://www.rmbsi.com/A12.pdf.

  • Royston, P. (2004). Multiple imputation of missing values. Stata Journal, 4(3), 227–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royston, P. (2005). Multiple imputation of missing values: Update. Stata Journal, 5(2), 188–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royston, P. (2007). Multiple imputation of missing values: Further update of ICE, with an emphasis on interval censoring. Stata Journal, 7(4), 445–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. New York: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • SAMHSA. (2007). SAMHSA’s Measures and Instruments Resource. Retrieved February 13, 2007, from http://preventionplatform.samhsa.gov/macro/csap/mir_search_create/redesign/search_results.cfm?Category=&Row=&CategoryID=&CFID=655964&CFTOKEN=44451760&searchmode=allinstruments.

  • Scribner, R. A., Cohen, D. A., & Fisher, W. (2000). Evidence of a structural effect for alcohol outlet density: A multilevel analysis. Alcoholism-Clinical and Experimental Research, 24(2), 188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scribner, R. A., MacKinnon, D. P., & Dwyer, J. H. (1994). Alcohol outlet density and motor vehicle crashes in Los Angeles County cities. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 55, 447–453.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scribner, R., Mason, K., Theall, K., Simonsen, N., Schneider, S. K., Towvim, L. G., et al. (2008). The contextual role of alcohol outlet density in college drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69, 112–120.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shafer, J., & Graham, L. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smart, R. A. (1980). Availability and the prevention of alcohol-related problems. In T. C. Harford, L. Parker-Langley & L. Light (Eds.), Normative approaches to the prevention of alcohol abuse and alcoholism (Vol. NIAAA Research Monograph No. 3, pp. 123–146). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.

  • Stanley, L. R., Comello, M. L. G., Edwards, R. W., & Marquart, B. S. (2008). School adjustment in rural and urban communities: Do students from “Timbuktu” differ from their “City Slicker” peers? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(2), 225–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swaim, R. C., & Stanley, L. R. (in press). Rurality, region, ethnic community make-up and alcohol use among rural youth. Journal of Rural Health.

  • Treno, A. J., Grube, J. W., & Martin, S. E. (2003). Alcohol availability as a predictor of youth drinking and driving: A hierarchical analysis of survey and archival data. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 27(5), 835–840.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Treno, A. J., Gruenewald, P. J., & Johnson, F. W. (2001). Alcohol availability and injury: The role of local outlet densities. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 25, 1467–1471.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Truong, K. D., & Sturm, R. (2009). Alcohol environments and disparities in exposure associated with adolescent drinking in California. American Journal of Public Health, 99(2), 264–270.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagenaar, A. C., Toomey, T. L., & Lenk, K. M. (2004/2005). Environmental influences on young adult drinking. Alcohol Research & Health, 28(4), 230–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. M., Jr., Bachman, J. G., O’Malley, P. M., Schulenberg, J. E., Cooper, S. M., & Johnston, L. D. (2003). Gender and ethnic differences in smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use among American 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students: 1976–2000. Addiction, 98, 225–234.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Windle, M. (2000). Parental, sibling, and peer influences on adolescent substance use and alcohol problems. Applied Developmental Science, 4, 98–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Support for this research has been provided by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (R21 AA017267, Linda R. Stanley & Randall C. Swaim PI’s).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1879, USA

    Linda R. Stanley & Randall C. Swaim

  2. Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1876, USA

    Kimberly L. Henry

Authors
  1. Linda R. Stanley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kimberly L. Henry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Randall C. Swaim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linda R. Stanley.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stanley, L.R., Henry, K.L. & Swaim, R.C. Physical, Social, and Perceived Availabilities of Alcohol and Last Month Alcohol Use in Rural and Small Urban Communities. J Youth Adolescence 40, 1203–1214 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9556-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9556-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation