Reducing Drinking Among Underage Air Force Members in Five Communities

• NCJ Number: 232616
• Author(s): Christopher Spera; Keita Franklin; Kazuaki Uekawa; John F. Kunz; Ronald Z. Szoc; Randall K. Thomas; Milton H. Cambridge
• Date Published: August 2011
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): GS– 23F– 806– 2H, HHSN267200700003T
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

This bulletin presents the findings of an evaluation of the agency's Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) initiative implemented at five communities with local Air Force bases.

Abstract

Findings from the evaluation include: all five sites showed success with their implementation of the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) initiative; sites with the best results implemented their interventions early, had task forces on underage drinking at the program's onset, collaborated with local partners, and followed guidance from the Federal agencies sponsoring the evaluation; EUDL communities in urban areas had more success finding and developing alternative activities to drinking compared to EUDL communities located in rural areas; and the percentage of Air Force enlisted personnel at risk for a drinking problem decreased by 6.6 percent between 2006 and 2008. Data for the evaluation were obtained as part of the Air Force Community Assessment Survey, a biannual survey of active-duty personnel. This evaluation focused on the survey results from junior enlisted members within the five demonstration sites, the five comparison sites, and the Air Force overall. Participants were rated on their risk for a drinking problem using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) developed by the World Health Organization. The evaluation found that in the Air Force overall, the rate of individuals classified as problem drinkers dropped by 6.6 percent between 2006 and 2008. The evaluation also found that at each of the demonstration sites, the percentage of problem drinkers in 2006 was not significantly different from either the comparison site or the Air Force overall. As a result of the implementation of the EUDL initiative, however, the rate of problem drinkers at the five demonstration sites improved in relation to the comparison sites and the Air Force overall. The five demonstration sites were located in Montana, Hawaii, Arizona, and California. The findings from this evaluation indicate that implementation and enforcement of underage drinking laws has a significant impact on reducing the problem of underage drinkers. Tables, figures, and references