Heterogeneous Costs of Alcohol and Drug Problems Across Cities and Counties in California.

Background: Estimates of economic and social costs related to alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and abuse are usually made at state and national levels. Ecological analyses demonstrate, however, that substantial variations exist in the incidence and prevalence of AOD use and problems including impaired driving, violence, and chronic disease between smaller geopolitical units like counties and cities. This study examines the ranges of these costs across counties and cities in California.

Students' experiences with web-based alcohol prevention: a qualitative evaluation of AlcoholEdu.

Aim: To provide more in-depth information about students' experiences with AlcoholEdu and in particular to assess if students perceive that the course gives them tools to better control their drinking-related behavior.

Methods: Focus group interviews with freshmen at three California universities.

Findings: 1) The course provides so much information that everyone can find some of it relevant; 2) participants prefer information presented in ways they can identify with; 3) participants report problems with surveys in the program pointing to redundancy and length; and 4) participants did not expect the course to impact their behavior relating to alcohol.

Alcohol risk management in college settings: the safer California universities randomized trial.

Context: Potentially effective environmental strategies have been recommended to reduce heavy alcohol use among college students. However, studies to date on environmental prevention strategies are few in number and have been limited by their nonexperimental designs, inadequate sample sizes, and lack of attention to settings where the majority of heavy drinking events occur.

Purpose: To determine whether environmental prevention strategies targeting off-campus settings would reduce the likelihood and incidence of student intoxication at those settings.

Barriers to implementing screening and brief interventions in general practice: findings from a qualitative study in Norway.

Aims: The qualitative component of this mixed methods study aimed at obtaining more in-depth information about the barriers of implementation of screening and brief interventions (SBI) in general practice identified in the quantitative component by giving general practitioners (GPs) the opportunity to discuss and report on the particular difficulties they experience in relation to identification and treatment of alcohol problems in their daily work.

Methods: Focus-group interviews were performed with seven groups of GPs in different parts of Norway, encompassing 40 participants. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the QDA Miner software.

Use and barriers to use of screening and brief interventions for alcohol problems among Norwegian general practitioners.

Aims: To investigate the use and the obstacles to use of screening and brief interventions (SBI) for alcohol misuse among Norwegian general practitioners (GP).

Methods: A questionnaire with 68 questions about the use and barriers to use of SBI in general practice was mailed to 2000 randomly selected Norwegian GPs.

Results: The survey response rate was 45%.

Communication between researchers and practitioners: findings from a qualitative evaluation of a large-scale college intervention.

Many community-based intervention studies experience problems with collaboration between researchers and practitioners. A preferred strategy appears to be to form community coalitions to carry out the proposed interventions in the community, but doing so risks shifting the focus from intervention objectives to coalition process. As a by-product, coalitions often lack understanding of the project goals and are not given specific instructions on how to implement the intervention.

Identifying social mechanisms for the prevention of adolescent drinking and driving.

This study identifies social mechanisms that might help prevent youth from being involved in driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and riding with drinking drivers (RWDD). Data collected through telephone surveys with 1534 adolescents and young adults aged 15-20 years (mean=17.6, S.

Archival data: collection and use in community alcohol projects.

Archival data are considered useful for identifying problem areas, assessing levels of problems, and evaluation of interventions. However, few publications describe the process of collecting them and related potential obstacles. For the Safer California Universities study, archival data is expected to play a major role in identifying problem settings and the extent of alcohol use-related problems on the campuses.

Focus on secondary prevention: implications of a study on intervention in social networks.

Screening and brief intervention (SBI) as a method within secondary prevention of alcohol use-related problems has experienced enormous attention and interest over the past 20 years. Initial results were very promising and great effort was put into designing screening instruments and developing different kinds of interventions. However, at the same time, the approach has generated problems in its own right.

Why do they do it? A qualitative study of adolescent drinking and driving.

Despite a decline in the prevalence of fatal traffic crashes involving adolescent drinking drivers in recent years, underage drinking and driving (DD) and riding with drinking drivers (RWDD) remain serious problems. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study investigating the influence of beliefs and expectancies on adolescents' decisions to participate in DD or RWDD. Forty-four adolescents, who in a previous survey admitted to having been involved in either DD or RWDD, were interviewed in 2000 about their experiences concerning either driving after drinking or getting into a car with a driver who had been drinking.