Community Attitude towards Underage Drinking

Background: Preventing and reducing underage drinking is now a national priority in the United States of America. Objectives: This project was commissioned by a 50-member local coalition to determine a local community's attitude towards underage drinking and to describe the community's solutions to addressing the problem of underage drinking. Methods: Six focus groups were conducted with members of a community in North Central Florida. The groups were: 1) high school students, 2) drug users, 3) parents, 4) rural residents, 5) low income housing residents, and 6) members of faith-based institutions. Each person was paid $25 for participating. The study used a socio-ecological model to develop the interview guide and as a framework for analyzing the data. Thematic analysis was used to search and identify common trends and themes in the data. Results: The major themes identified for the individual/interpersonal level were: “Kids will be kids,” “All kids are susceptible to underage drinking,” and “Underage drinking is hard to detect. The major themes identified for the interpersonal level were: “Underage drinking is a rite of passage” and “Parents are a major contributor.” The major themes identified for the organizational level were: “Schools play a major role in prevention” and “Faith-based organizations need to have a visible role.” The major themes identified for the community level were: “The community sends mixed messages about underage drinking,” “Alcohol use is visible in lower income neighborhoods,” “The community is tolerant of underage drinking,” “Community members are reluctant to get involved,” “Few activities exist for children and youth in the community.” The major themes identified for the policy level were: “There should be heavier penalties for underage drinking,” “Underage drinking laws need to be enforced.” Conclusions and Implications: Community coalitions must make concerted efforts to reduce opportunities for underage drinking by targeting environmental influences that provide easy access to adolescents. In this study, participants identified environmental influences such as the high density of convenient stores, bars, and “bootleg/shot houses” in low-income neighborhoods. Strategies that focus on changing the community environment could have a significant and lasting impact on adolescent drinking behavior.