National Evaluation of the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Randomized Community Trial (Final Report)

• NCJ Number: 236176
• Author(s): Mark Wolfson, Ph.D.; Eun-Young Song, Ph.D.; Barbara Alvarez Martin, M.P.H.; Kimberly Wagoner, Dr.P.H., M.P.H.; Debbie Pleasants, M.Ed.; Rebecca Nieberg, M.S.; Beth Reboussin, Ph.D.; John Preisser, Ph.D.; Sheryl Hulme
• Date Published: February 2011
• Length: 196 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-AH-FX-K011
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This is the final report of the National Evaluation of the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program Randomized Community Trial (CT), which covers the entire project period (2003-2009).

Abstract

The goal of the evaluation was to determine the effects of a local, coalition-based approach to implementing "best" or "most promising" strategies for increasing enforcement of laws on underage drinking and reducing underage drinking. Despite increases in enforcement levels, there was limited evidence of the efficacy of the EUDL CT regarding outcomes among youth. In the "main effects" analysis, across the cohort and repeated cross-sectional samples, the only evidence of change in actual drinking behaviors favored the comparison communities (past 30-day drunkenness). There was some evidence of changes that favored the intervention communities in perceptions and norms. There was some evidence that sites with higher levels of implementation of the EUDL intervention also had better outcomes; however, this evidence is limited to normative outcomes, including expectations about parental and police sanctions and about the community's level of concern about underage drinking. The evidence does not extend to behavioral outcomes, such as actual drinking practices and experiencing negative consequences from underage drinking. Crash data show that intervention communities experienced a 35-percent greater decrease in the crash incidence ratio from pre-intervention to post-intervention compared to the control communities. This difference was statistically significant. The crash analysis showed that the EUDL CT had a significant impact on alcohol-related crashes that involved underage drivers. The report recommends having a strong program definition in future applications of the EUDL discretionary grant program; the convening of a group of experts to provide input on the design of future use of the grant program; continued support for a rigorous evaluation of the EUDL discretionary grant program; and the support of research and practice related to improving the maintenance of local EUDL interventions. Extensive tables and figures