Research Examining Impacts of Attempts to Change Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Related Behaviors

Abstract

An issue of considerable concern in American society has been that of problems resulting from alcohol consumption. Our research during the past few years has focused on attempting to understand this phenomenon and how it relates to other behavior patterns. Specifically, we have been involved in research evaluating consequences of laws and programs designed to impact drinking behaviors. In addition to these practical policy concerns, we have also focused on testing implications of neutralization and deterrence theories as sociological explanations for the domain of alcohol use and abuse. Methodologically we have focused on self-administered questionnaire formats in longitudinal designs in order to be able to examine subjects and variables over time. We have also been interested in examining response differences among student-nonstudent populations, variations in drinking patterns among racial and ethnic groups, and response differences that might occur as a result of changes in item wording on questionnaires. During the early 1970s a trend developed in the U.S. to lower the minimum drinking age. In subsequent years, increases in accident rates among young drivers were reported, and some states then began to raise the minimum drinking age. Research seeking to understand the relationship between the drinking age and alcohol related behaviors, including accident rates, however, has produced inconsistent results (cf. Hanson, Engs, and Katter 1984; Rooney and Schwartz 1977; Williams, Rich, Zador, and Robertson 1975; Naor and Nashold, 1975). In September of 1983, the Oklahoma legislature joined those states changing the drinking age by passing a bill to raise the minimum drinking age for 3.2 beer from 18 to 21 (the minimum age for wine and distilled spirits was already 21). A three-year grant was obtained from The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to examine alcohol consumption and related behavior patterns among Oklahoma State University students, both before and after implementation of the new law. The research focused on changes in drinking patterns that occurred both over time and in relation to baseline data collected in 1981. Questionnaires were completed by students in randomly selected Introductory Sociology classes at Oklahoma State University just prior to implementation of the legislation (September 1983); and the same methodology was repeated each semester through the spring of 1987. A total