title: Associations between proximity and density of local alcohol outlets and alcohol use among Scottish adolescents.
abstract: Associations between different alcohol outcomes and outlet density measures vary between studies and may not be generalisable to adolescents. In a cross-sectional study of 979 15-year old Glaswegians, we investigated the association between alcohol outlet availability (outlet density and proximity), outlet type (on-premise vs. off-premise) and frequent (weekly) alcohol consumption. We adjusted for social background (gender, social class, family structure). Proximity and density of on-premise outlets were not associated with weekly drinking. However, adolescents living close (within 200 m) to an off-sales outlet were more likely to drink frequently (OR 1.97, p=0.004), as were adolescents living in areas with many nearby off-premises outlets (OR 1.60, p=0.016). Our findings suggest that certain alcohol behaviours (e.g. binge drinking) may be linked to the characteristics of alcohol outlets in the vicinity.
authors.affiliation: MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, Scotland, UK. robert@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Macdonald
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ellaway
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012606:Scotland; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012923:Social Class