Thesis (M.A. (Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / Refer to the document

The purpose of this research is to describe and analyze the public relations elements of Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s campaign to prevent underage drinking. The focus will be Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and its current communication strategies and possible future initiatives. An analysis of underage drinking in the United States provides the necessary background for MADD’s change in its prior mission statement and goals. The public relations strategies of MADD will be analyzed through the characteristics of organizational excellence, models of public relations and focus principally on the factors for self-directed change. After discussing the basic foundations of MADD’s current campaign, an analysis of underage drinking on college campuses explains the need for a separate campaign for the college community. The results of MADD’s public relations and campaign will be discussed in closing. / text

Despite the minimum legal drinking age of 21, many underage persons regularly purchase alcohol from licensed alcohol establishments. The purpose of this study was to determine the establishment, geographic, and community economic and demographic characteristics that are associated with illegal sales of alcohol to underage persons in Georgia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors that were associated with illegal sales of alcohol to underage persons of Georgia. Statistical adjustments were made for ownership type (e.g., corporate owned), region (e.g., southeast Georgia, metro-Atlanta), rural vs. urban area, and many community economic and demographic variables (e.g., unemployment rate, minority populations). Overall, underage subjects attempted to purchase alcohol in 2949 off-premise establishments from July of 2007 to June of 2008. Compared to corporate-owned establishments, institutions not owned by corporations were associated with increased odds of alcohol sale to underage persons, adjusting for other independent variables. Establishments that are located in counties with a high density of alcohol outlets were much more likely to sell alcohol to underage persons. To reduce underage drinking in Georgia, beverage law enforcement should increase monitoring of non-corporate owned establishments and areas with a high density of alcohol outlets. Overall, responsible beverage service training of both corporate and non-corporate employees may help in reducing alcohol sales to underage persons in Georgia.

Research has consistently demonstrated a negative association between religiosity and college students’ alcohol consumption. However, few studies have explored the unique roles religious beliefs and behaviors might play in this relationship. Using 283 underage college students, we investigated the influence of internal and external factors on drinking behaviors for students with differing combinations of religious beliefs and religious behaviors. Tests of mediation and mediated-moderation were used to help explain the unique influences beliefs and behaviors have on alcohol consumption. Results indicated that religious beliefs only functioned as a protective-factor against underage drinking when accompanied by religious behaviors; students with high religious beliefs but low religious behaviors exhibited the highest rates of alcohol consumption. Positive affect experienced during alcohol consumption mediated the relationship between religious beliefs and alcohol consumption. Drinking norms and social availability of alcohol mediated the association between religious behaviors and alcohol consumption. Both positive affect and negative affect were found to partially mediate the interaction between religious beliefs and behaviors on student alcohol consumption. Findings from this study may aid in the formulation of a more comprehensive model for the relationship between religiosity and alcohol consumption in young college students.

In 2007 South Carolina funded 15 regional coordinators to work with local law enforcement agencies and alcohol and drug commissions to create 16 community alcohol enforcement teams to improve enforcement of underage drinking laws. Previous researchers have suggested that collaborative leadership is needed for effective teams, yet little is known about the factors that serve as barriers to and facilitators of, collaborative leadership in alcohol enforcement teams. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of coordinators involved in leading the alcohol enforcement teams in South Carolina. The theoretical framework used was Cameron, Quinn, DeGraff, and Thankor's conceptualization of the competing values framework. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 12 alcohol team coordinators. These data were inductively coded and then subjected to a modified Van Manen and Vagle analysis. Key findings indicate strong support for the idea that existence of positive community relationships and supportive champions from community partners were crucial to building and maintaining successful teams. These findings were consistent with the theoretical framework. Recommendations include implementing leadership and collaboration training for the coordinators and team members. These findings have implications for positive social change by increasing awareness among policy makers about collaborative leadership factors, which in turn could lead to policies that generate more effectual teams, improve enforcement of underage drinking laws, and consequently, result in safer communities.

Underage drinking has featured prominently in both scholarly and conventional literature in recent decades as a major health and socio-economic concern in the United States. As new evidence emerges associating underage drinking with a host of negative outcomes for both the youth who drinks and society in general, a closer examination of the long-term effects of underage drinking is critical. This exploratory study was designed to examine predictor variables and their ramifications (1) using logistic regression to identify a model for underage drinking history (UDHISTORY) as a predictor of concomitant alcohol dependence and poor educational attainment (CADAPEA) among individuals aged 25 and above, and (2) obtain a better understanding of how demographic variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity) influence the prediction. The nature and strength of the effect(s) of these demographic variables on the prediction were also investigated. The 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data set ICPSR 32722-0001 which is previously unexploited for this purpose is utilized in this study. The data analysis tool, SDA on SAMHSA's website and IBM SPSS were used for correlation analysis and logistic regression to test the hypothesis that currently legal age drinkers 25 years and older with UDHISTORY are more likely to experience CADAPEA than their counterparts without UDHISTORY. When considered alone, UDHISTORY was a strong and statistically significant predictor of CADAPEA. The identified bivariate logistic regression model was statistically significant, &chi2 (1, n = 60) = 13.39, Adjusted Wald F1, 60 = 13.39, p = 0.001 < .05, accounting for 1.26% (Cox and Snell R square), 1.3% (Log Likelihood Pseudo R square), to 7.9% (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in CADAPEA. However, adding demographic variables to the model made UDHISTORY a much stronger and more statistically significant predictor. The identified final multivariable logistic regression model was statistically significant, &chi2 (6, n = 55) = 170.43, Adjusted Wald F6, 55 = 26.04, p = 0.00 < .001, accounting for 1.8% (Cox and Snell R square), 7.2% (Log Likelihood Pseudo R square) to 7.9% (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in CADAPEA. The model also correctly classified 99.1% of cases.

The strategic prevention framework (SPF) is a data-driven operating system to assist designing evidence-based substance abuse prevention programs. The study performed here was to assess the effectiveness of the SPF as a prevention planning system. One purpose of this study was to determine the implementation fidelity of the programs that used the SPF process; the other purpose was to assess effectiveness of the SPF process. This study utilized a set of data collected by the national cross site evaluation team on all jurisdictions that implemented the SPF. A subset of communities collected and reported at least 2 pre-implementation and at least 2 post implementation outcomes data. The minimum sample size for the study was determined by using Cohen's d criteria. The assessments were performed using both qualitative and quantitative methods by using data collected from multiple levels with a quasi-experimental design. The qualitative data were analyzed using qualitative software with key word searches to examine implementation processes, and the quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential methods such as Student t tests to examine and compare outcomes. Results show that the communities in the study implemented the SPF process with fidelity and that there were changes in desired directions. Factors related to improvements include sufficient internal resources and monitoring follow-through. This research has important implications for social change since substance abuse is a major social issue that has consequences across life span. Recent studies have shown that many behavioral problems have similar risk factors and that improvements for some behavioral problems will most likely have beneficial effects on other related problems.

Underage drinking is common among Swedish adolescents and is related to problems for individuals, families, and society. From a public health perspective, it is of great importance that knowledge be gained about alcohol prevention. The overall aim of this thesis is, within the context of a national support program for NGOs, to study parents, a parental support program, and adolescents with regard to preventing underage drinking.  The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW) has a government commission to distribute funds to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for alcohol and drug prevention efforts. Study I of the thesis describes and analyses this program with a special emphasis on research and development for an evidence-based practice. It is a research strategy case study with 135 projects and 14 embedded in-depth studies. The results reveal that this program to support NGOs has been successful in engaging a wide range of NGOs in prevention efforts. A trustful partnership between practitioners, national agencies, and researchers has also been developed, which has improved the quality and results of the different projects. Studies II, III, IV, and V all used data from a longitudinal questionnaire study with parents and adolescents within one of the 14 in-depth studies: the study of IOGT-NTO’s parental program Strong and Clear. Additional data, such as telephone interviews and other parental questionnaires, are also used.  Study II aims to analyse the significance of socio-demographic factors for parental attitudes and behaviour regarding adolescent alcohol consumption to see if any group of parents is especially important for intervention efforts. The results showed that fathers were more likely than mothers to have non-restrictive attitudes towards underage drinking and to have children who had drunk or tasted alcohol at home. Study III examines reasons for non-participation in the program. Parents with a low educational level were found more likely to be non-participants than highly educated parents. When parents stated their reasons for non-participation it emerged that they did not perceive a need for the intervention and that there were practical obstacles to their participation. Study IV is an effect study of Strong and Clear and showed that the program contributed to maintaining parents’ restrictive attitude toward underage drinking, postponing alcohol debut, and preventing drunkenness among the adolescents. Study V, only presented in the thesis, examined parents’ perceptions about Strong and Clear. Parents primarily thought it had led to their speaking more often about alcohol with their children, and had been a help in this conversation. Many also stated that the program had influenced their ability to set limits for their children. The school and IOGT-NTO were considered as suitable providers of Strong and Clear. This thesis showed that a national support program for NGOs including research and development contributes to a more evidence-based public health practice.