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ABSTRACT: Objectives. We sought to examine the association between policies governing access to tobacco during adolescence and subsequent adult smoking. Methods. We analyzed adult smoking data from the 1998 through 2006-2007 administrations of the US Current Population Survey Tobacco Use Supplement by employing a quasi-experimental approach. Participants (n = 105 519) were adults, aged 18 to 34 years at the time of the survey. Smoking outcomes included having ever smoked 100 cigarettes, smoking at the time of the survey, and having smoked 10 or more cigarettes a day conditioned on being an ever smoker. These were predicted from exposure to state youth access policies at age 17 years. Results. Four of the 9 policies exhibited significant associations with reduced prevalence of 1 or more smoking outcomes, primarily among women. Lesser effects for other policies could not be ruled out. Conclusions. Restrictions on youth access to tobacco might lead to reduction in smoking prevalence later in adulthood. The effect might be limited to women; we estimate that having all policies in place could be associated with a 14% reduction in lifetime smoking prevalence for women, and an additional 29% reduction in heavy smoking among ever smokers. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 13, 2013: e1-e7. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.301123).
American Journal of Public Health 06/2013; · 3.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Prior to the establishment of the uniform drinking age of 21 in the United States, many states permitted legal purchase of alcohol at younger ages. Lower drinking ages were associated with several adverse outcomes, including elevated rates of suicide and homicide among youth. The objective of this study is to examine whether individuals who were legally permitted to drink prior to age 21 remained at elevated risk in adulthood.
Analysis of data from the U.S. Multiple Cause of Death files, 1990 to 2004, combined with data on the living population from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey. The assembled data contained records on over 200,000 suicides and 130,000 homicides for individuals born between 1949 and 1972, the years during which the drinking age was in flux. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate whether adults who were legally permitted to drink prior to age 21 were at elevated risk for death by these causes. A quasi-experimental analytical approach was employed, which incorporated state and birth-year fixed effects to account for unobserved covariates associated with policy exposure.
In the population as a whole, we found no association between minimum drinking age and homicide or suicide. However, significant policy-by-sex interactions were observed for both outcomes, such that women exposed to permissive drinking age laws were at higher risk for both suicide (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.18, p = 0.0003) and homicide (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.25, p = 0.0028). Effect sizes were stronger for the portion of the cohort born after 1960, whereas no significant effects were observed for women born prior to 1960.
Lower drinking ages may result in persistent elevated risk for suicide and homicide among women born after 1960. The national drinking age of 21 may be preventing about 600 suicides and 600 homicides annually.
Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research 11/2011; 36(2):377-84. · 3.34 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The prevalence of obesity has risen sharply in the United States in the past few decades. Etiologic links between obesity and substance use disorders have been hypothesized.
To determine whether familial risk of alcohol dependence predicts obesity and whether any such association became stronger between the early 1990s and early 2000s.
We conducted analyses of the repeated cross-sectional National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (1991-1992) and National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (2001-2002).
The noninstitutionalized US adult population in 1991-1992 and 2001-2002.
Individuals drawn from population-based, multistage, random samples (N = 39 312 and 39 625).
Obesity, defined as a body mass index (calculated from self-reported data as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 30 or higher and predicted from family history of alcoholism and/or problem drinking.
In 2001-2002, women with a family history of alcoholism (defined as having a biological parent or sibling with a history of alcoholism or alcohol problems) had 49% higher odds of obesity than those without a family history (odds ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.36-1.61; P < .001), a highly significant increase (P < .001) from the odds ratio of 1.06 (95% confidence interval, 0.97-1.16) estimated for 1991-1992. For men in 2001-2002, the association was significant (odds ratio, 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-1.38; P < .001) but not as strong as for women. The association and the secular trend for women were robust after adjustment for covariates, including sociodemographic variables, smoking status, alcohol use, alcohol or drug dependence, and major depression. Similar trends were observed for men but did not meet statistical significance criteria after adjustment for covariates.
These results provide epidemiologic support for a link between familial alcoholism risk and obesity in women and possibly in men. This link has emerged in recent years and may result from an interaction between a changing food environment and predisposition to alcoholism and related disorders.
Archives of general psychiatry 12/2010; 67(12):1301-8. · 12.26 Impact Factor
