Gender Equality, Drinking Cultures and Second-Hand Harms from Alcohol in the 50 US States
1
Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA
2
Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(23), 4619; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234619
Received: 13 September 2019 / Revised: 15 November 2019 / Accepted: 19 November 2019 / Published: 21 November 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sex, Gender and Substance Use)
Background: Gender inequality and cultures of binge drinking may increase the risk of second-hand harms from alcohol. Methods: Using the 2014–2015 National Alcohol Survey and 2015 National Alcohol’s Harm to Others Survey (N = 7792), we examine associations of state-level gender equality measures (contraceptive access, abortion rights, women’s economic equality) and binge drinking cultures (rates of men’s and women’s binge drinking) with individual-level indicators of second-hand harms by drinking strangers and partners/spouses. Results: In main effects models, only male binge drinking was associated with greater odds of harms from drinking strangers. There were significant interactions of gender equality with male binge drinking: High male binge drinking rates were more strongly associated with stranger-perpetrated harms in states low on contraceptive access or abortion rights compared to states high on these measures. Conversely, male binge drinking was more strongly associated with spouse/partner-perpetrated second-hand harms in states with more economic equality, compared to states lower on this measure. Conclusions: Detrimental effects of high male binge drinking rates may be modified by gender equality. Targeted interventions may reduce alcohol-related harms experienced by women in states with high rates of male binge drinking. Restrictions in access to contraception and abortion may exacerbate harms due to men’s drinking.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Karriker-Jaffe, K.J.; Tam, C.C.; Cook, W.K.; Greenfield, T.K.; Roberts, S.C. Gender Equality, Drinking Cultures and Second-Hand Harms from Alcohol in the 50 US States. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4619.
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