The Legacy of Minimum Legal Drinking Age Law Changes: Long‐Term Effects on Suicide and Homicide Deaths Among Women
Year: 2011
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Prior to the establishment of the uniform drinking age of 21 in the United States, many states permitted legal purchase of alcohol at younger ages. Lower drinking ages were associated with several adverse outcomes, including elevated rates of suicide and homicide among youth. The objective of this study is to examine whether individuals who were legally permitted to drink prior to age 21 remained at elevated risk in adulthood. METHODS: Analysis of data from the U.S. Multiple Cause of Death files, 1990 to 2004, combined with data on the living population from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey. The assembled data contained records on over 200,000 suicides and 130,000 homicides for individuals born between 1949 and 1972, the years during which the drinking age was in flux. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate whether adults who were legally permitted to drink prior to age 21 were at elevated risk for death by these causes. A quasi-experimental analytical approach was employed, which incorporated state and birth-year fixed effects to account for unobserved covariates associated with policy exposure. RESULTS: In the population as a whole, we found no association between minimum drinking age and homicide or suicide. However, significant policy-by-sex interactions were observed for both outcomes, such that women exposed to permissive drinking age laws were at higher risk for both suicide (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.18, p = 0.0003) and homicide (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.25, p = 0.0028). Effect sizes were stronger for the portion of the cohort born after 1960, whereas no significant effects were observed for women born prior to 1960. CONCLUSIONS: Lower drinking ages may result in persistent elevated risk for suicide and homicide among women born after 1960. The national drinking age of 21 may be preventing about 600 suicides and 600 homicides annually.
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: POLICY AS ENVIRONMENT : LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF LAWS RESTRICTING YOUTH SUBSTANCE USE, G1498645941, EARLY SUBSTANCE USE AND ADDICTION: GENES, ENVIRONMENT, AND EPIDEMIOLOGY, Drug Abuse Research Center, G1654839069, G238373470, MARC: Genetic Epidemiology of Alcoholism & Comorbidity, G3426911475, G3532200029, G370871742, G413336477, Substance Use Histories and Risky Sexual Behaviors Among Young Persons, Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (KL2), Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (UL1), G8746184185
OpenAlex ID: W1879097982