Effective alcohol policies and lifetime abstinence: an analysis of the International Alcohol Control policy index

Leung, J. et al. (2023) Effective alcohol policies and lifetime abstinence: an analysis of the International Alcohol Control policy index. Drug and Alcohol Review, 42(3), pp. 704-713. (doi: 10.1111/dar.13582) (PMID:36423899)

Abstract

Introduction: Alcohol abstinence remains common among adults globally, although low and middle-income countries are experiencing declines in abstention. The effect of alcohol policies on lifetime abstinence is poorly understood. The International Alcohol Control (IAC) policy index was developed to benchmark and monitor the uptake of effective alcohol policies and has shown strong associations with alcohol per capita consumption and drinking patterns. Uniquely, the index incorporates both policy ‘stringency’ and ‘impact’, reflecting policy implementation and enforcement, across effective policies. Here we assessed the association of the IAC policy index with lifetime abstinence in a diverse sample of jurisdictions. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the relationship between the IAC policy index score, and its components, and lifetime abstinence among adults (15+ years) in 13 high and middle-income jurisdictions. We examined the correlations for each component of the index and stringency and impact separately. Results: Overall, the total IAC policy index scores were positively correlated with lifetime abstinence (r = 0.76), as were both the stringency (r = 0.62) and impact (r = 0.82) scores. Marketing restrictions showed higher correlations with lifetime abstinence than other policy domains (r = 0.80), including restrictions on physical availability, pricing policies and drink-driving prevention. Discussion and Conclusion: Our findings suggest that restricting alcohol marketing could be an important policy for the protection of alcohol abstention. The IAC policy index may be a useful tool to benchmark the performance of alcohol policy in supporting alcohol abstention in high and middle-income countries.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Abstention, abstinence, alcohol, alcohol policy, policy index.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Meier, Professor Petra
• Authors: Leung, J., Casswell, S., Parker, K., Huckle, T., Romeo, J., Graydon‐Guy, T., Byron, K., Callinan, S., Chaiyasong, S., Gordon, R., Harker, N., MacKintosh, A. M., Meier, P., Paraje, G., Parry, C. D., Pham, C., Williams, P. P., Randerson, S., Schelleman‐Offermans, K., Sengee, G., Torun, P., and van Dalen, W.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Drug and Alcohol Review
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0959-5236
• ISSN (Online): 1465-3362
• Published Online: 24 November 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Drug and Alcohol Review 42(3): 704-713
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License