Papers by Thomas Greenfield
Extending the Harm to Others Paradigm: Comparing Marijuana- and Alcohol-Attributed Harms in Washington State
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Dec 3, 2020
ABSTRACT Harms attributed to others’ alcohol use have been extensively studied in the US and inte... more ABSTRACT Harms attributed to others’ alcohol use have been extensively studied in the US and internationally, but no studies have measured harms from others’ marijuana use. We utilize data from five cross-sectional waves of a survey series with representative samples of Washington state residents conducted every 6 months from 2014 to 2016, after the legalization of adult use marijuana. Harms attributed to others’ drinking and to others’ marijuana use included family and financial problems, assault, harassment, and vandalism experiences, and accidents due to impaired drivers. Past year harms attributed to others’ marijuana use were reported by 8.4% of the sample, while 21.3% reported alcohol-attributed harms and 4.3% experienced both. Women were more likely to experience harms from either substance. While heavy drinkers were most likely to experience alcohol harms from others’ use, frequent marijuana users reported the least harms from others. About three times as many individuals reported harassment, vandalism, or family problems attributed to someone’s alcohol use compared to those harms attributed to someone’s marijuana use, with a smaller ratio seen for financial trouble and a wider ratio for physical harm. Harms attributed to other’s marijuana use in Washington were found to be substantial, but lower than harms from others’ drinking.
Alcohol and Alcoholism, Aug 13, 2020
Aims: Alcohol policy effects on alcohol's harms due to others' drinking (AHTO) and contextual fac... more Aims: Alcohol policy effects on alcohol's harms due to others' drinking (AHTO) and contextual factors that may mediate such policy effects have been understudied. This study examines state binge drinking prevalence as a mediator of the relationship between state alcohol policy and socioeconomic environments and individual-level AHTO. Methods: A nationally representative sample of US adults (N
Views of alcohol control policies in the 2000 National Alcohol Survey: What news for alcohol policy development in the US and its States?
Journal of Substance Use, 2007
ABSTRACT This article examines public opinion in US alcohol policies during the 1990s and their c... more ABSTRACT This article examines public opinion in US alcohol policies during the 1990s and their correlates in 2000, using five national telephone surveys. Trend analyses of public opinion on 11 common alcohol policies is presented and factor‐based policy scales, based on 14 items in 2000, are used to examine demographic correlates of support for various policy areas, using bivariate, linear (OLS) and logistic regression analyses. With the exception of the alcohol warning label policy, national support for alcohol policies declined (eight policies) or was unchanged in the 1990s for 11 measured policies. In 2000, four meaningful policy opinion factors were found with adequate reliabilities (αs 0.65–0.75) for three of four derived scales. In 2000, support for specific policies varies. Warnings on labels and advertisements have highest support (>90%), then interventions like prevention, treatment, and responsible beverage service at 70% (with similar levels seen for improving access to treatment). Alcohol controls show varied, but lower support from 25% (raising minimum drinking age further), to above 60% for banning sales in corner stores; only about a third favor higher alcohol taxes (35%) and more restrictive hours of sale (32%). In general, women and those with lower socio‐economic status show higher alcohol policy support. Multivariate results show heavier drinkers are least supportive of alcohol policy, while ethnic minorities, especially Hispanics are more favorable to alcohol controls and raising alcohol taxes. Since evidence‐based alcohol control policies show mixed, but lower public support than treatment, prevention and consumer warnings, there is a need for community‐based strategies to increase awareness of environmentally orientated alcohol policies and their public health benefits.
Face-to-Face versus Telephone Interviews: Using Cognitive Methods to Assess Alcohol Survey Questions
Contemporary drug problems, Dec 1, 1999
This research compares retrieval strategies and comprehension problems encountered by 30 heavier ... more This research compares retrieval strategies and comprehension problems encountered by 30 heavier drinking respondents using protocol analysis on three alcohol use items: In the last 12 months, maximum quantity consumed in one day, frequency of drinking only one to two drinks, and frequency of drunkenness. We compare two modes of administering the questionnaire: face-to-face and telephone interviews. Results indicate that respondents in both modes used similar retrieval strategies. Anchoring (giving a response immediately) and context (describing a context in or around which drinking occurs) were most often used by respondents. Comprehension problems varied by question rather than by interview mode. The maximum quantity question was more likely to invoke issues around time frame; the one to two drinks item elicited problems concerning misinterpretation (“only” versus “at least”), and the drunkenness item was more likely to stimulate questions of definition. Overall, the findings from this study lend some support for moving from face-to-face surveys to telephone surveys in the next U.S. national alcohol survey and provide some direction for strengthening the transition.
American Journal of Public Health, 2000
veys were used to investigate whether declines shown previously in drinking and heavy drinking ac... more veys were used to investigate whether declines shown previously in drinking and heavy drinking across many demographic subgroups have continued. Methods. Three alcohol consumption indicators-current drinking (vs abstaining), weekly drinking, and weekly heavy drinking (5 or more drinks in a day)-were assessed for the total US population and for demographic subgroups. Results. Rates of current drinking, weekly drinking, and frequent heavy drinking, previously reported to have decreased between the 1984 and 1990 surveys, remained unchanged between 1990 and 1995. Separate analyses for each beverage type (beer, wine, and spirits) and most demographic subgroups revealed similar temporal patterns. Conclusions. Alcohol consumption levels, declining since the early 1980s, may reach a minimum by the 21st century. Consumption levels should be monitored carefully over the next few years in the event that long-term alcohol consumption trends may be shifting. (Am J
Alcohol and Drug Confrontation Scale
Childhood Experiences and High-Intensity Drinking Among American Indian and Alaska Native Adults: Findings From the 2000–2015 National Alcohol Surveys
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Sep 1, 2021
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine associations with high-intensity drinking (HID... more OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine associations with high-intensity drinking (HID) in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations and compare them to White and other minority groups using four National Alcohol Surveys, 2000 to 2015 (total N = 29,571; AI/ANs = 434). METHOD Current drinking and HID (8+ and 12+ drinks on any day) from maximum drinks in the prior 12 months were analyzed with independent variables and race/ethnicity (AI/AN, non-Hispanic White, and other racial/ethnic groups combined). Adjusted logistic regression models comprised gender, age, marital status, employment, education, survey year, rurality, and especially, childhood trauma (physical/sexual abuse), and biological family alcohol problem history (each dichotomous). RESULTS In adjusted population models, Whites had twice the odds of current drinking as AI/ANs, with no difference between other racial/ethnic groups and AI/ANs. Descriptively, AI/AN drinkers consumed at higher intensity levels than other groups, with higher prevalence of childhood trauma and family problem drinking than others. However, on a population basis, adjusting for all factors, apparent differences between AI/AN and White HID were eliminated; other minority groups together, compared with AI/ANs, showed lower odds of consuming 8+ drinks. CONCLUSIONS AI/ANs had a higher prevalence of childhood trauma and family alcohol problems as well as lower current drinking likelihood compared with Whites. In adjusted population models, the combined other minorities group was less likely to ever consume 8+ drinks than AI/ANs. In all populations, childhood trauma and family alcohol problems increased the risk of HID, strongly so in AI/ANs. Addressing childhood trauma and family problems is important among AI/ANs to break generational cycles of drinking extreme amounts per occasion.
Interested constituents: identifying groups to mobilize in community organizing efforts to strengthen alcohol control policies
American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Mar 18, 2021
ABSTRACT Background: Policy support research identifies demographic profiles of those who support... more ABSTRACT Background: Policy support research identifies demographic profiles of those who support policies, but community organizers aim to mobilize groups with an existing structure. Thus, identifying established groups that support alcohol policies may aid organizing efforts. Objective: This paper calculates prevalence and odds of policy support among three potential constituency groups (i.e., religious affiliation, persons harmed by others’ drinking, and persons in recovery from alcohol) for three policies: alcohol tax increases, banning alcohol in corner stores, and universal coverage for alcohol treatment. Methods: Using the 2014–15 National Alcohol Survey (n = 3,444; 1,457 male, 1,987 female) and logistic regression, this study explores associations between constituency groups and policy support. Results: Support was higher for the individual-level strategy of alcohol treatment (80.8%) than raising taxes (27.5%) and banning sales in corner stores (52.2%). Support for taxes was higher among persons who valued religion highly (vs not; aOR = 1.46, p < .01), persons harmed by others’ drinking (vs not; aOR = 1.71, p < .001), and persons in recovery (vs. not; aOR = 1.76, p = .02); Catholics had lower odds of support for taxes (vs no denomination; aOR = 0.63, p = .01). Persons who valued religion highly (aOR = 1.53, p < .001), Protestants (aOR = 1.63, p < .01), Catholics (aOR = 1.46, p = .03), and persons with other religious denominations (aOR = 2.17, p = .02) had higher odds of supporting bans in corner stores. Only those in recovery showed greater support for treatment (aOR = 3.20, p < .001). Conclusion: Overall, support was lower for population-wide approaches, but results revealed constituency groups that supported these policies. These groups may be allies to organizers who seek to reduce population-level alcohol consumption and harms.
Drinking and Informal Social Control: Five Studies from Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS)
Contemporary drug problems, Mar 1, 2009
In this issue there are five articles concerned with drinking and informal social control. Differ... more In this issue there are five articles concerned with drinking and informal social control. Differences in how society reacts to drinking and alcohol-related harms can often be explained by cultural variation in societies' use of formal rules. But not all rules are explicitly expressed, which is especially true of those that underlie studies included here: those involving reactions of spouses or partners, other family members and close friends, to a person's drinking and alcohol problems. In the accumulating literature on drinking and informal social control, many mechanisms of social pressure to drink less or, as in one study here, to drink more have been found to be cross-cultural. In spite of this universality, it is reasonable to expect variations of the intensity of social pressure between cultures.The delicate balance and interplay on the one hand of respecting autonomy of adults while on the other, at least in certain instances, attempting to provide feedback on the behavior of family or friends, involves a complex pattern of traditions, norms and other social values. The articles in this issue aim to examine how mechanisms of social control of drinking are linked to gender differences, regional views on the position of alcohol in society and countries' varying economic situations.All the articles included in this issue originate from the project, Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS). GENACIS is a collaborative international project affiliated with the Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol and coordinated by a steering committee made up of GENACIS partners from the University of North Dakota, the University of Southern Denmark, the Free University of Berlin, the World Health Organization, and the Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Ontario, Canada, the Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville California and the University of Melbourne, Victoria. The strength of this project is that the data are drawn from low- and middle-income countries as well as rich ones. Such a worldwide sample of countries representing Europe, Africa, North and Latin America, and Asia offers a fine opportunity to study informal control of drinking and its consequences in a wide range of cultural contexts.Participants in the GENACIS project were faced with some methodological challenges. The project set out with a common core questionnaire and an optional extended questionnaire to be used in general populations' surveys. For practical reasons, not all countries used the same questions or the response categories. Therefore, in the comparative articles in this collection, the number of dataseis used varied from 12 to 18. Criteria for inclusion in each study depended on whether the datasets were available at the time when the comparative analysis was carried out, and on whether the research questions posed in the particular article involved items included in the respective national surveys.As a whole, the studies in this issue are thematically very close, but they vary in approach and methodology. Marja Holmila and her coauthors examined between-country variation in how family members attempt to influence each other to drink less. In all studied countries, women reported less pressure than men, and informal pressure was exerted most often by the spouse or sexual partner. However, other family members were also involved. The authors conclude that informal pressure to drink less by family members is on one hand an expression of social and family problems, caused by heavy drinking, especially in the economically less developed countries, suggesting alcohol-related economic deprivation as an influence.Klara Selin and her associates examined how "togetherness" of drinking, i.e., the proportion of drinking occasions spent together with the partner, is connected to pressure from partner to drink less. …
Methods for evaluating policy changes in alcohol services
Addiction, Nov 1, 2000
Policy research assesses how outside forces affect alcohol treatment services. In this primer, we... more Policy research assesses how outside forces affect alcohol treatment services. In this primer, we examine a range of effective methods that can be brought to bear by researchers and address the issues involved in conceptualizing and conducting studies of policy formation, implementation and policy implications. Because there is no single superior methodology for studying policy change, researchers have relied on five broad methodologies for studying policy context, formation, change and implications. We provide specific examples of each approach, addressing the following issues: data sources and samples; the problems, challenges, strengths, and limitations of the approach; and whether (and how) the method has been used in the alcohol field. The five methods are archival studies; key informant studies; ethnographic and observational studies; surveys; and meta‐analyses. The strongest research designs in alcohol services research often combine methods and sources to get different vantage points on questions about policy change.
Largescale individual-level and agent-based models are gaining importance in health policy apprai... more Largescale individual-level and agent-based models are gaining importance in health policy appraisal and evaluation. Such models require the accurate depiction of the jurisdiction's population over extended time periods to enable modeling of the development of non-communicable diseases under consideration of historical, sociodemographic developments. We developed CASCADEPOP to provide a readily available sociodemographic micro-synthesis and microsimulation platform for US populations. The micro-synthesis method used iterative proportional fitting to integrate data from the US Census, the American Community Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, Multiple Cause of Death Files, and several national surveys to produce a synthetic population aged 12 to 80 years on 01/01/1980 for five states (California, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, and Texas) and the US. Characteristics include individuals' age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital/employment/parental status, education, income and patterns of alcohol use as an exemplar health behavior. The microsimulation simulates individuals' sociodemographic life trajectories over 35 years to 31/12/2015 accounting for population developments including births, deaths, and migration. Results comparing the 1980 micro-synthesis against observed data shows a successful depiction of state and US population characteristics and of drinking. Comparing the microsimulation over 30 years with Census data also showed the successful simulation of sociodemographic developments. The CASCADEPOP platform enables modelling of health behaviors across individuals' life courses and at a population level. As it contains a large number of relevant sociodemographic characteristics it can be further developed by researchers to build US agent-based models and microsimulations to examine health behaviors, interventions, and policies.
The role of client satisfaction in evaluating university counseling services
Evaluation and Program Planning, 1983
Though ubiquitously used for evaluating university counseling services, client satisfaction asses... more Though ubiquitously used for evaluating university counseling services, client satisfaction assessment has been hampered by inadequate instrumentation. Systematic use of a short form of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ) in one such center over the past 5 years is described, together with strategies to ensure maximal accuracy and utilization of results. Several method factors were investigated. Optional respondent identification was not found to reduce response rate or increase reported satisfaction compared to anonymity, while a substudy obtaining very high response suggested bias from nonresponse to the routine survey (response rate = 40%) was not great. The CSQ was found to have excellent psychometric properties and many advantages for use in student service settings. Relationships between satisfaction and a number of other variables such as demographics, precounseling expectancies, problem type and severity, counselor differences, and duration of counseling are reported. Ways such findings were incorporated in service planning are briefly discussed.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Jul 1, 2008
Addiction sciences and its psychometrics: the measurement of alcohol-related problems
Addiction, Nov 1, 2007
ABSTRACTAims The focus of this paper is on psychometric issues related to the measurement of alc... more ABSTRACTAims The focus of this paper is on psychometric issues related to the measurement of alcohol problems.Methods Taking a broad perspective, this paper first examines several issues around the use of instruments to provide diagnostic categories in surveys, including dimensionality, severity and alcohol consumption. Secondly, a discussion of some of the political issues surrounding measurement of alcohol problems is presented, including some of the conflicts that arise when the psychometric properties of commonly used instruments are questioned. Finally, newer statistical techniques that can be applied to scale development in the alcohol field are examined, including non‐linear multivariate analyses and confirmatory/hypothesis‐based methods.Results and conclusions Continued scholarly discussion needs to be encouraged around these psychometric issues so that instrument development and maintenance in the addiction sciences becomes an ongoing academic pursuit as we strive to measure alcohol problems in the best way possible.
Contemporary drug problems, Dec 1, 2004
Quantity per Occasion and Consequences of Drinking: A Reconsideration and Recommendation
The International journal of the addictions, 1986
Research and methodological analyses having implications for measurement of patterns of consumpti... more Research and methodological analyses having implications for measurement of patterns of consumption of alcohol are reviewed. The importance of estimating quantity per occasion, especially maximum, in addition to average volume of intake when investigating consequences of alcohol abuse is established. Problems with commonly used indicators of styles of consumption are identified and a new Volume-Maximum Index overcoming a number of these is proposed. Initial results having a bearing on construct validity are summarized, based on a 2-year longitudinal survey of university students. Several applications for such an indicator are discussed, with particular attention to evaluating prevention and treatment programs for young problem drinkers.
Estimates of the Mean Alcohol Concentration of the Spirits, Wine, and Beer Sold in the United States and Per Capita Consumption: 1950 to 2002
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, Sep 1, 2006
Estimates of per capita consumption of alcohol in the United States require estimates of the mean... more Estimates of per capita consumption of alcohol in the United States require estimates of the mean alcohol content by volume (%ABV) of the beer, wine, and spirits sold to convert beverage volume to gallons of pure alcohol. The mean %ABV of spirits is estimated for each year from 1950 to 2002 and for each state using the %ABV of major brands and sales of sprits types. The mean %ABV of beer and wine is extrapolated to cover this period based on previous estimates. These mean %ABVs are then applied to alcohol sales figures to calculate new yearly estimates of per capita consumption of beer, wine, spirits, and total alcohol for the United States population aged 15 and older. The mean %ABV for spirits is found to be lower than previous estimates and to vary considerably over time and across states. Resultant per capita consumption estimates indicate that more alcohol was consumed from beer and less from wine and spirits than found in previous estimates. Empirically based calculation of mean %ABV for beer, wine, and spirits sold in the United States results in different and presumably more accurate per capita consumption estimates than heretofore available. Utilization of the new estimates in aggregate time-series and cross-sectional models of alcohol consumption and related outcomes may improve the accuracy and precision of such models.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Mar 1, 2016
Alcohol and Alcoholism, Oct 30, 2018
Liquor privatization was the specific focus of our study, which was the subject of Dr Braillon's ... more Liquor privatization was the specific focus of our study, which was the subject of Dr Braillon's letter; this complex policy change involved liberalization of retail availability and wholesale practices but also an effective increase in taxation. Tax rates in Washington are complicated as they include both fees and taxes based on both price and spirits volume implemented at different points in the distribution process. Dr Braillon's figures on tax rates appear to come from the Tax Foundation website, where estimates from the Distilled Spirts Council of the USA are presented. The $35.22 per gallon figure is from 2013, after privatization had occurred, and estimates from the same source for 2011 show an estimated tax rate of $26.70 under the government control system. As noted in our paper , we have also demonstrated that liquor prices increased from 2012 to 2014 by 15.5% for an index of 750 ml containers and 5.5% for an index of 1.75 L containers, reflecting increased spirits taxes . The letter's 2017 tax estimate of $31.48 may represent the reduction in the wholesale fee to 5% that occurred by 2015 and possibly variation from assumptions in the estimation formula regarding product prices for converting ad valorem to specific tax rates. Regardless, it is clear that tax rates increased with privatization, and Washington continues to levy the highest spirits taxes of any US state. Therefore, although liquor availability did greatly increase, it is not accurate to describe the Washington liquor privatization as only a liberalization. Liquor-related income is also somewhat complicated in Washington as this includes both taxes that did not change across privatization and other sources that did change. First, an ad valorem tax on dollar sales and a specific tax on spirits volume were applied at consistent rates across privatization. Second, before privatization the state received revenues from government wholesale and retail store profits, while after privatization income also includes wholesale and retail-level fees on gross dollar sales. The figures quoted by Dr Braillon do not match any reported by Washington state government sources. Revenues from the tax on liters of spirits sold, $3.7708 per liter of spirits regardless of ethanol content, should have the clearest relationship with alcohol sales as the other taxes and fees are percentages of dollar sales. The liter tax revenue as reported by the Washington Department of Revenue did increase
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Papers by Thomas Greenfield