ARG Study Finds Childhood Trauma and History of Family Alcohol Problems Increase Likelihood of High Intensity Drinking, Particularly among Indigenous American Drinkers Press Release Emeryville, CA (September 20, 2021) – In new research that compares drinking rates across racial/ethnic groups, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) current drinkers report more instances of high intensity drinking (eight or more drinks in any one day) than Whites and other groups combined. However, when … [Read more...]
New Findings
A major component of ARG’s activities is centered on epidemiology of drinking patterns, which we study in depth, and how these and many other factors, both individual, especially gender, racial/ethnic, sexual minority, and socioeconomic disparities, and environmental, such as neighborhood disadvantage and state and local policies, affect alcohol-related problems. These problems include alcohol use disorders and associated social and health harms such as, for example, injuries, drinking driving, work, legal, health and family or relationship difficulties, various co-morbidities such as mental health and other drug use, and alcohol-related mortality. In addition we strive always to improve measurement, data collection and analytic methodologies.
Victims of Female-Perpetrated Sexual Violence More Likely Assaulted by Someone They Know
In a new study looking at the characteristics of victims and perpetrators of female-perpetuated sexual assault (FPSA), found that, for assaults that happened in childhood, victims were most likely perpetrated by people with whom they had a relationship such as friends, classmates, family members, and babysitters. Victimization by authority figures, including teachers and coaches, was less common. Only 1.8% were victims of strangers. On average, victimization occurred between 11 and 12 years of … [Read more...]
Connected Neighbors Experience far Fewer Harms from Someone Else’s Drinking
Neighbors Who Feel Connected to One Another Experience far Fewer Harms from Someone Else’s Alcohol Use Press Release People living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social cohesion experience fewer harms from a stranger's drinking, according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute. Published today in Alcohol and Alcoholism, the study examined the ways a neighborhood's social environment—alcohol availability, places where people drink, … [Read more...]
Cannabis Causes Fewer Harms to Others than Alcohol
Cannabis Can Hurt More than Just the User but Poses Less Risk to Others than Alcohol Press Release Findings from the first-ever study of marijuana’s secondhand harms show that fewer harms were attributed to someone else’s cannabis use than from secondhand drinking. The new research from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, and RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, was conducted using 2014 to 2016 data from Washington State where recreational … [Read more...]
Injury-related Hospitalizations Rise After Liquor Sales Go Private
New research shows an increased rate of hospitalizations for accidental injuries in urban areas after Washington State privatized their liquor sales. The study found an additional 17,498 hospitalizations in metropolitan-urban counties in the 2.5 years after Initiative 1183 was passed compared to neighboring Oregon. Non-metropolitan-urban and rural counties did not see their hospitalization rates change. Initiative 1183 called for closing state-run liquor stores and allowing state licensing of … [Read more...]
White Moderate Drinkers are at a High Risk of Alcohol-Related Injuries
New study finds significant differences in alcohol-related harms among racial/ethnic groups Emeryville, CA (June 10, 2020) – Moderate drinkers are not immune from being injured, a new study from senior scientist Cheryl Cherpitel and colleagues found. Results showed that injury risk increased at low levels of exposure, measured by number of hours of having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or higher, and that this risk was greatest for white drinkers compared to black and Hispanic … [Read more...]
Washington State Residents Would Change Their Vote on Privatizing Liquor Sales
A new study looks at the shifts in voters’ opinions since privatization in Washington State A new study shows that voters in Washington State would likely reject privatization of liquor sales if the vote was held today. The study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, found that Washington residents who voted in favor of ending state controls on liquor sales in 2011 were 2.59 times more likely to want to change their vote than residents who voted against it. … [Read more...]
US Drinking Norms Updated
As a practitioner, one way to assess your clients' drinking habits is to have them compare their current consumption level to how much the rest of the nation is drinking. ARG senior scientist, Thomas K. Greenfield and biostatistician Yu Ye took data from the 2015 National Alcohol Survey (NAS) consisting of individuals residing in 50 states and Washington DC, and looked at the number of drinks both women and men said they consumed per week on average in the previous 12 months. Ask your … [Read more...]
New treatment program helps women significantly reduce how much they drink even after treatment ends
A new clinical trial shows that intensive motivational interviewing (IMI), an intervention that was first used to treat methamphetamine dependence, is highly effective in curbing how much women with alcohol problems drank two months after the program ended with consumption levels sustained at the six-month follow-up. Women who were heavy drinkers experienced the greatest effect. Heavy drinking was defined as drinking 14 or more days to the point of intoxication over the past 30 days. The study … [Read more...]
Alcohol causes significant harm to those other than the drinker
Each year, one in five U.S. adults -- an estimated 53 million people -- experience harm because of someone else’s drinking, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Similar to how policymakers have addressed the effects of secondhand smoke over the last two decades, society needs to combat the secondhand effects of drinking, the authors state, calling alcohol’s harm to others “a significant public health issue.” According to the study -- an analysis of U.S. … [Read more...]
