Thursday, May 15, 2025
5/15/2025
COMMUNITY INFLUENCES IN RURAL ADOLESCENT ALCOHOL USE - DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Rural teens engage in alcohol use at similar or even higher rates than their urban peers, but vast differences in alcohol consumption often exist among rural communities similar in size. Regionality and community norms have been suggested as possible influences. By simultaneously examining individual and community level factors in relation to early adolescent alcohol consumption, rural communities can identify aspects within their specific communities linked to consumption, and design interventions addressing these particular issues. As drinking in early adolescence is associated with greater long-term risk, and rural youth often begin drinking at earlier ages, such an examination is especially critical. This study seeks to conduct an in-depth examination of 16 rural communities with differing levels of reported adolescent alcohol use. Communities will be selected from four rural states with patterns of high alcohol consumption among adolescents. Community leaders, parents and adolescents will be surveyed regarding attitudes regarding alcohol use, the extent to which alcohol is an important feature of community life, adolescent general mental health, as well as community economic health and investment in adolescent well-being. Data on economic and other community indicators will also be examined. Previously collected interviews from community leaders in two communities, and survey data from 5th and 6th graders were used to create instruments assessing community norms and practices hypothesized to affect adolescent alcohol use. Hierarchical linear modeling will be used to examine Larson and Abu-Laban's (1968) and Bales' (1946) theories of cultural norms and alcohol use, as well as understand which community factors (attitudes, activities, or economic health) best explain heterogeneity in rural adolescent alcohol use.
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