Alcohol outlets and child physical abuse and neglect: applying routine activities theory to the study of child maltreatment.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not alcohol access in neighborhood areas is differentially related to substantiated reports of child physical abuse and neglect.


METHODS
This cross-sectional ecological study uses spatial regression procedures to examine the relationship between the number of bars, restaurants and off-premise outlets per population and rates of child physical abuse and neglect in 940 census tracts in California, while controlling for levels of social disorganization, population density and county of residence.


RESULTS
The number of off-premise outlets per population was positively associated with rates of child physical abuse (b = 3.34, SE = 1.14), and the number of bars per population was positively related to rates of child neglect (b = 1.89, SE = 0.59).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that alcohol access is differentially related to type of child maltreatment, with higher densities of bars being related to higher rates of child neglect, and higher rates of off-premise outlets related to higher rates of child physical abuse. The findings suggest there is a spatial dynamic of neighborhoods that can result in child maltreatment and underscore the importance of examining the alcohol environment when developing programs to prevent child maltreatment.
Freisthler
Bridget
B
Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1995 University Avenue, Suite 450, Berkeley, California 94704, USA. freisthler@sppsr.ucla.edu
Midanik
Lorraine T
LT
Gruenewald
Paul J
PJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000191:economics; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data