Malt Liquor Use A Community College Study

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Malt Liquor Use A Community College Study

• Meng-Jinn Chen, Ph.D.

Prevention Research CenterPacific Institute for
Research and Evaluation
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Background

• Malt liquor beverages
• Have higher alcohol content (6-8) than beer
  (4-5)
• Are often packaged in large volume containers
  (40oz)
• Are sold as beer but at cheaper prices (1-2 per
  40oz)
• Are typically consumed in large quantities in a
  short period of time
• Sample brands Colt 45, King Cobra, Mickeys Old
  English, St. Ides
• It has been speculated that malt liquor is
  appealing to young people because of the cheaper
  prices and beer-like taste

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Survey

• Time Sept. 2002 (2 weeks)
• 45 daytime English classes
• Self-administered anonymous questionnaire
• A letter and a fact sheet to students
• Verbal consent at survey
• 20 for participation
• Response rate 87

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Participant Demographics

• N 1,226
• 40 male
• 20 Asian, 6 Black, 38 Caucasian, 25 Latino,
  and 10 other.
• Age 15 to 65 (mean21, mode18)
• 75 20, 12 21-25, 12 26
• (Younger students were over-sampled)

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Sample representation by gender
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Sample representation by ethnicity
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Sample representation by age
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Malt liquor use,Heavy/problem drinking,Other
problem behaviors
The following analyses were limited to students
of age 25 or younger.
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Prevalence of malt liquor use
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Prevalence by Age
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Prevalence by Ethnicity (1)Total sample
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Prevalence by Ethnicity (2)Drinkers only
Note Very few Black students reported drinking,
they were combined with Other.
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Drinking Pattern

• Malt liquor drinkers vs. non-malt liquor drinkers
• ML drinkers reported significantly more
• 30-day frequency-quantity
• 30-day freq. of heavy drinking
• 30-day freq. of intoxication

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ML drinkers scored higher on AUDIT
AUDIT Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test
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ML drinkers were more likely to use tobacco and
other illicit drugs
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ML drinkers were more likely to engage in problem
behaviors
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Logistic Regressions
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Conclusion

• A substantial percentage of community college
  students drink malt liquor.
• It is more prevalent among Caucasian and Latino
  students than Asian and Black students.

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Conclusion

• Malt liquor use is associated with heavy alcohol
  use, multi-drug use, and problem behaviors.
• Malt liquor use was predictive of problem
  drinking, illicit drug use, and problem behaviors
  when background variables and past-30-day
  drinking were controlled.

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Limitation

• Ethnic minority youngsters attending community
  colleges may not be representative of the
  general youngster in ethnic minority groups.
• Studies with general population samples are
  needed.

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• Preparation of this slide presentation is based
  on a paper published at Journal of Studies on
  Alcohol.

Chen, M.-J., Paschall, M.J. (2003). Malt
liquor use, heavy/problem drinking, and other
problem behaviors in a sample of community
college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol,
64(6), 835-842.