@article{ref1,
title="State alcohol policy environments of U.S. colleges: predictors of sexual assault and alcohol-related arrest and disciplinary action",
journal="American journal of preventive medicine",
year="2024",
author="Kasimanickam, Maadhanki R. and Kerr, David C. R. and Killion, Rebecca E. and Naimi, Timothy S. and Lira, Marlene C. and Bae, Harold",
volume="66",
number="1",
pages="1-9",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: Binge drinking and sexual assault are serious inter-related public health problems faced by college students. State-level alcohol policy restrictiveness has been found to decrease binge drinking among college students and, therefore, may also reduce occurrences of alcohol-related criminal offenses. It was hypothesized that more restrictive state alcohol policy environments would be associated with fewer liquor law violations and sexual assault offenses on U.S. college campuses. <br><br>METHODS: Data were aggregated across 3 academic years (2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019) and represented n=1,290 institutions. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression modeling was performed in 2022-2023 to evaluate associations of state-level young adult binge drinking and the Alcohol Policy Scale (APS) with the numbers of campus-level alcohol-related arrests, alcohol-related disciplinary actions, rape offenses, and fondling offenses reported in national Campus Safety and Security data. <br><br>RESULTS: Higher APS scores had direct associations with fewer alcohol-related arrests (1.79% decrease per one-unit increase in APS, p=0.05), alcohol-related disciplinary actions (2.27% decrease per one-unit increase in APS, p=0.027), and rape offenses (0.85% decrease per one-unit increase in APS, p=0.021). The associations APS scores had with disciplinary actions and rape offenses were partially and fully mediated, respectively, by state-level young adult binge drinking. No associations were found between APS and fondling offenses. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional study presents evidence that more restrictive state alcohol policies are associated with fewer alcohol-related arrests and disciplinary actions, and rape offenses on college campuses. Future research should identify the alcohol policy domains that are most protective against these outcomes.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0749-3797",
doi="10.1016/j.amepre.2023.09.015",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2023.09.015"
}