Long-term effects of minimum drinking age laws on past-year alcohol and drug use disorders.
- Authors
- Norberg, Karen E; Bierut, Laura J; Grucza, Richard A
- Year
- 2009
- Journal
- Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research
- PMID
- 19775322
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01056.x
- PMCID
- PMC3018854
BACKGROUND: Many studies have found that earlier drinking initiation predicts higher risk of later alcohol and substance use problems, but the causal relationship between age of initiation and later risk of substance use disorder remains unknown. METHOD: We use a "natural experiment" study design to compare the 12-month prevalence of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, alcohol and substance use disorders among adult subjects exposed to different minimum legal drinking age laws minimum legal drinking age in the 1970s and 1980s. The sample pools 33,869 respondents born in the United States 1948 to 1970, drawn from 2 nationally representative cross-sectional surveys: the 1991 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiological Survey (NLAES) and the 2001 National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions. Analyses control for state and birth year fixed effects, age at assessment, alcohol taxes, and other demographic and social background factors. RESULTS: Adults who had been legally allowed to purchase alcohol before age 21 were more likely to meet criteria for an alcohol use disorder [odds ratio (OR) 1.31, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 1.15 to 1.46, p < 0.0001] or another drug use disorder (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.19 to 2.44, p = 0.003) within the past-year, even among subjects in their 40s and 50s. There were no significant differences in effect estimates by respondent gender, black or Hispanic ethnicity, age, birth cohort, or self-reported age of initiation of regular drinking; furthermore, the effect estimates were little changed by inclusion of age of initiation as a potential mediating variable in the multiple regression models. CONCLUSION: Exposure to a lower minimum legal purchase age was associated with a significantly higher risk of a past-year alcohol or other substance use disorder, even among respondents in their 40s or 50s. However, this association does not seem to be explained by age of initiation of drinking, per se. Instead, it seems plausible that frequency or intensity of drinking in late adolescence may have long-term effects on adult substance use patterns.
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| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| 1970s cohort local | cohort |
| 1980s cohort local | cohort |
| 1991β1992 Survey local | cohort |
| 2001β2002 Survey local | cohort |
| adolescent drinking | phenotype |
| adolescents | cohort |
| adult alcohol dependence | phenotype |
| adults | cohort |
| adults born in the US between 1948 and 1970 local | cohort |
| Adults in their 40βs and 50βs local | cohort |
| Adults with early legal purchase eligibility local | cohort |
| Adults with standard legal purchase age local | cohort |
| age | phenotype |
| Age at drinking initiation local | phenotype |
| age at initiation | phenotype |
| age group | cohort |
| Age of drinking initiation local | phenotype |
| age of onset of drinking local | phenotype |
| Age of onset of drinking local | phenotype |
| Ageβrestricted cohort (18β20 within two years of MLDA law change) local | cohort |
| age-restricted sample local | cohort |
| Age-restricted sample local | cohort |
| alcohol | phenotype |
| alcohol abuse | phenotype |
| alcohol dependence | phenotype |
| Alcohol Problems | phenotype |
| alcohol-related problems | phenotype |
| Alcohol-related traffic crashes local | phenotype |
| Alcohol Use Disorder | phenotype |
| alcohol use disorders | phenotype |
| animal models | cohort |
| any past-year alcohol or other substance use disorder local | phenotype |
| beer | drug |
| benzodiazepines | drug |
| birth cohort | cohort |
| black ethnicity local | phenotype |
| Brain areas involved in judgment and self-control local | anatomy |
| Census respondents born in the US between 1948 and 1970 local | cohort |
| Census sample local | cohort |
| Clandestine binge drinking local | phenotype |
| cocaine | phenotype |
| Cohort 1948-1955 local | cohort |
| Cohort 1956-1970 local | cohort |
| combined sample | cohort |
| crime | phenotype |
| cross-state migration local | phenotype |
| cross-state move local | phenotype |
| current illegal drug use disorder local | phenotype |
| current substance use disorder local | phenotype |
| drinking | phenotype |
| Drinking-age laws local | drug |
| drinks per week | phenotype |
| drug | drug |
| drug dependence | phenotype |
| DSM-IV | phenotype |
| DSM-IV alcohol use disorder | phenotype |
| DSM-IV Substance Use Disorder local | phenotype |
| Earlier cohort local | cohort |
| earlier legal purchase age local | phenotype |
| early alcohol use | phenotype |
| Early birth cohort local | cohort |
| early cohort | cohort |
| educational attainment | phenotype |
| employment | phenotype |
| Episodic heavy drinking local | phenotype |
| exposed subjects local | cohort |
| family history of alcoholism | phenotype |
| frequency of alcohol use | phenotype |
| full sample | cohort |
| genetic risk | cohort |
| hallucinogens | drug |
| hazardous drinking | phenotype |
| heavy drinking | phenotype |
| High school seniors | cohort |
| Hispanic | phenotype |
| inhalants/solvents | drug |
| intensity of alcohol use local | phenotype |
| Intensity of drinking local | phenotype |
| Later birth cohort local | cohort |
| later cohort | cohort |
| Later substance dependence local | phenotype |
| law change local | phenotype |
| Law Change Cohort local | cohort |
| lifetime abstention status local | phenotype |
| Lifetime alcohol use pattern local | phenotype |
| Lifetime other substance use pattern local | phenotype |
| likelihood of lifetime abstention local | phenotype |
| likelihood of onset of drinking after age 21 local | phenotype |
| likelihood of onset of drinking at 16 or 17 local | phenotype |
| likelihood of onset of drinking at 19 or 20 local | phenotype |
| liquor | drug |
| Louisiana local | cohort |
| lower drinking age local | phenotype |
| lower minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) local | drug |
| lower MLDA local | phenotype |
| lower MLDA exposure local | phenotype |
| marijuana | phenotype |
| marital status | phenotype |
| Maternal alcohol problems | phenotype |
| Minimum legal drinking age local | cohort |
| Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) local | drug |
| Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) law local | drug |
| minimum legal purchase age local | cohort |
| minor local | phenotype |
| MLDA local | drug |
| MLDA local | phenotype |
| MLDA exposure local | drug |
| MLDA exposure local | phenotype |
| MLDA exposure (birth state) local | drug |
| MLDA exposure (current residence) local | drug |
| MLDA exposure (state of birth) local | drug |
| MLDA laws local | drug |
| Monitoring the Future Study (MTF) local | cohort |
| motor vehicle crashes local | phenotype |
| NESARC | cohort |
| NESARC sample local | cohort |
| nicotine | drug |
| nicotine dependence | phenotype |
| NLAES | cohort |
| NLAES/NESARC combined sample local | cohort |
| NLAES sample | cohort |
| NLAES survey local | cohort |
| Non-Hispanic black | cohort |
| onset of regular drinking at age 16 or 17 local | phenotype |
| onset of regular drinking at age 18 local | phenotype |
| onset of regular drinking at age 19 or 20 local | phenotype |
| onset of regular drinking at age 21 local | phenotype |
| onset of regular drinking before age 16 local | phenotype |
| opiates | drug |
| other illegal drugs local | drug |
| Other illegal drugs local | drug |
| other illegal drug use disorders local | phenotype |
| other substances | phenotype |
| parental alcoholism | phenotype |
| past-year alcohol or other substance use disorder local | phenotype |
| past-year alcohol or substance abuse disorders local | phenotype |
| past-year alcohol or substance use disorder local | phenotype |
| past-year drug use disorder local | phenotype |
| Past-year drug use disorder local | phenotype |
| past-year marijuana use disorder local | phenotype |
| paternal alcohol use disorder | phenotype |
| Persons aged 15 to 17 local | cohort |
| Persons aged 18 to 20 local | cohort |
| Persons aged 21-24 local | cohort |
| presence of children under 13 in the home local | phenotype |
| psychotropic medication | drug |
| Public Use Micro samples (PUMS) local | cohort |
| race/ethnicity | phenotype |
| regular alcohol use | phenotype |
| respondents | cohort |
| sedatives | drug |
| sex | phenotype |
| State beer taxes local | phenotype |
| State Beer Taxes local | phenotype |
| stimulants | drug |
| Subjects in their 30βs or beyond local | cohort |
| substance abuse | phenotype |
| substance use | phenotype |
| suicide | phenotype |
| Survey local | cohort |
| target cohort | cohort |
| underage drinking | phenotype |
| unexposed subjects local | cohort |
| United States | cohort |
| US Census local | cohort |
| U.S. Census 1970 local | cohort |
| U.S. Census 1980 local | cohort |
| U.S. Census 1990 local | cohort |
| U.S. Census 2000 local | cohort |
| Voluntary consumption of alcohol local | phenotype |
| wine | drug |
| young adults | cohort |
| young drivers local | cohort |
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