The Epidemiology of Alcohol Consumption at College Football Tailgate Parties: Implications for Traffic Safety

Transcription

1 The Epidemiology of Alcohol Consumption at College Football Tailgate Parties: Implications for Traffic Safety SW Clarke KE Glindemann DM Wiegand College Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center, 147 McComas Hall (0140), Center for Applied Behavior Systems, 202 Williams Hall (0436), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA Background The economic cost attributable to alcohol misuse in the U.S. is currently estimated at $185 billion per year. 1 Excessive alcohol consumption among U.S. college students continues to be one of the most serious public health problems confronting college campuses and their surrounding communities. 2,3 Perhaps one of the most serious alcohol-related problems affecting self and others is driving while under the influence of alcohol (DUI). According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 17,448 people were killed in alcoholrelated traffic crashes in 2001, accounting for approximately 41% of all traffic fatalities. In Virginia alone, approximately 36% of all traffic fatalities in 2001 were alcohol-related. 4 Surveys conducted in 1999 revealed that in the previous year more than two million American college students drove while under the influence of alcohol, and over three million rode in a car with a driver who was intoxicated. 5 The highest intoxication rates in fatal car crashes in 2000 were among drivers aged 21 to 24 (27%), followed by those aged 25 to 34 (24%), and those aged 35 to 44 (22%). 6 In addition, individuals aged have the highest incidence of involvement in fatal alcohol-related car crashes. 7 One particular time when DUI may be more prevalent is during holidays and following other celebrations. For example, college students report consuming excessive amounts of alcohol when celebrating an occasion, 8 and a greater percentage of students drink alcoholic beverages during celebration days (e.g., home football games, holidays, school breaks) than during typical days and consume alcohol over a longer period of time. 9 A study of college students alcohol consumption on Halloween, also indicates a significant association between dressing in costume and self-reported alcohol consumption. 10 Among non-college young and older adults, celebratory drinking may also be a common occurrence. American culture provides numerous occasions when individuals may engage in celebratory drinking, including holidays, birthdays, after-work gatherings, promotions at work, religious and family gatherings, etc. While we could find no research on celebratory drinking among these populations, one could hypothesize that much of the alcohol consumption that occurs among American adults is of a celebratory nature. Objectives There has been little research in the United States on alcohol consumption and the celebratory drinking patterns of adults at sporting events. Excessive alcohol consumed at tailgate parties before and following athletic contests, and in the event venues, sets the occasion for high levels of intoxication, and creates the potential for an increase in DUI. This field study was designed to study alcohol use at collegiate football games in order to: a) gain a better understanding of alcohol use patterns and intoxication levels of tailgaters,

2 especially drivers; and b) estimate the occurrence of DUI following collegiate football games. Methodology Participants and Setting Participants included 1085 individuals (719 men and 366 women) attending more than 165 tailgate parties before or after one of six NCAA Division 1-A college football games. The university is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., enrolls approximately 25,000 students, and is located in a rural community ( 50,000 full-time residents). The football stadium seats approximately 65,000 spectators. Approximately 30,000 individuals attend roughly 4,000 tailgate parties in 25 university parking lots covering approximately 90 acres. Procedures Behavioral observations of tailgate party environment. Observations were made at randomly selected tailgate parties before two college football games. Both were against in-conference opponents. Game 1 was against a 3-win/4-loss team and started at 3:30. Game 2 was against a 6-win/2-loss team and started at 7:00 pm. To identify the environmental characteristics of a particular tailgate party, a team of two research assistants approached tailgates and recruited tailgaters to participate. The following tailgate characteristics were observed: a) location of tailgate; b) the number of men and women; c) the number of children (under age 18); and d) the presence of alcoholic beverages (yes vs. no). To determine the reliability of the observation system, the two research assistants independently observed and record information concerning the tailgate environment at 50% of the tailgate parties. Interviews at pre-game tailgate parties. Observations were made at tailgate parties before three college football games: 1) a 7:00 pm kick-off against an in-conference opponent with a 6-win/2-loss record, 2) a 3:30 pm kick-off against an in-conference opponent with a 7- win/3-loss record, and 3) a 7:35 pm kick-off against an out-of-conference opponent with an 8-win/4-loss record. Games two and three were against in-state rivals. Research teams conducted interviews with randomly-selected tailgaters for 90 minutes immediately before kick-off. Participants read and signed an informed consent and were then asked to step away from their tailgate party to answer a few questions. The following survey information was collected: a) gender; b) age; c) relationship to university (student, alumni, faculty/staff, or none); d) season ticket holder (yes vs. no); e) intention to consume alcoholic beverages during the game and at their tailgate party after the game (yes vs. no); i) intention to drive after the game (yes vs. no); and j) designated driver status (yes vs. no). Subsequently, blood alcohol level (BAL) was assessed using a hand-held breathalyzer (LifeLoc FC20; accuracy = ±.005; LifeLoc Inc., Denver, CO). Participants were warned not to drive if their BAL is.02, encouraged not to consume any more alcohol if their BAL is.08, and told they may experience serious negative consequences if they continue to drink when their BAL is.15. Any participant with an unusually high BAL (i.e., BAL >.20), or who appeared dangerously intoxicated, was brought to the attention of fellow tailgaters. Interviews at post-game tailgate parties. Data were collected following a single football game starting at 3:30 pm, against an in-conference opponent with a 7 win/3 loss record. Two research teams recruited participants at two locations with high pedestrian traffic from individuals leaving the football game. Data collection began mid-way through the fourth quarter of the football game, and continued for 30 minutes following the game. Research assistants solicited participation from randomly selected pedestrians. The following survey

3 information was collected: a) gender, b) designated driver status, and c) use of a designated driver. Then, BALs were assessed with a hand-held breathalyzer. Results and Analysis Tailgate Party Environment A total of 120 tailgate parties were observed at two games in three types of parking areas reserved for tailgaters with different levels of financial contribution to the athletic fund and tenure as a season ticket holder. Sixteen tailgate parties were observed in parking lots reserved for the highest level of financial support (high-contributor), 31 tailgate parties were observed in parking lots reserved for moderate to low levels of financial support (moderate-contributor), and 73 tailgate parties were observed in parking lots reserved for the general public and those who do not contribute to the athletic fund (non-contributor). Only one tailgate party did not consent to participating, resulting in a 0.8% rejection rate. The reliability (interobserver agreement) of the observations ranged from 68% to 99%. The only variable with reliability below 90% was the number of children present. Results indicated that men were more likely to attend tailgate parties than women (4.2 men versus 2.6 women per tailgate party), t(119) = 6.37, p <.001. While there were fewer women per tailgate party, only 10.8% of the tailgate parties were composed of all men and 1.4% included women only. There were relatively few children per tailgate party (M = 0.4), with at least one child present at 28.4% of the tailgate parties observed. Alcohol was present at 77.5% of the tailgate parties. Results of a 2 Game (one vs. two) x 2 Alcohol (present vs. absent) Chi-Square indicated a greater percentage of tailgate parties had alcohol present at Game 2 (95.7%) than at Game 1 (77.5%), 2 (1) = 7.09, p <.01. In addition, results of a 2 Children (present vs. absent) x 2 Alcohol (present vs. absent) Chi-Square indicated that a lower percentage of tailgate parties had alcohol present when there were children at the tailgate party (69.2%) than when no children were present (89.0%), 2 (1) = 6.08, p <.05. Alcohol Consumption at Pre-Game Tailgate Parties Assessments of BAL were obtained at 45 tailgate parties. Of the 282 tailgaters (209 men and 72 women and one unknown) recruited, 215 agreed to participate (158 men, 56 women and one unknown). Thus, the rejection rate was 23.8%. Overall, the tailgaters who agreed to a BAL assessment were primarily men (73.8%) and had no formal relationship with the university (61.8%; with 6.5% alumni, 31.2% students, and 0.5% faculty/staff). They ranged in age from 18 to 55 years (M = 29.0, SD = 8.3). A minority of tailgaters were season ticket holders (42.3%). Season ticket holders had an average tenure of 4.3 years (SD = 3.0; Range: 1 22 years). Almost all, 90.7%, of the 52 tailgaters had consumed alcohol at their tailgate party. Pregame BALs ranged from.000 to.253 (M =.075, SD =.053), with 22.8% having a BAL between.050 and.079, and 44.2% having a BAL.080. Despite university policy prohibiting alcohol in the stadium, 28.8% indicated they would consume alcohol during the game. In addition, 73.1% indicated they would consume alcohol at their tailgate parties following the game. Follow-up analyses indicated that pre-game BALs were greater for men (M =.086 SD =.051) than for women (M =.046, SD =.048), t(212) = 5.08, p <.001. In addition, individuals 35 years of age had lower BALs (M =.055, SD =.047), than both those under

4 age 25 (M =.081, SD =.052) and those aged 25 to 34 (M =.081, SD =.055), F(2, 209) = 4.38, p <.05. Finally, those intending to consume alcohol at their tailgate parties after the game had higher BALs (M =.081, SD =.048) than did those who did not intend to drink after the game (M =.045, SD =.056), t(50) = 2.24, p <.05. Analyses of variables related to drinking and driving indicated that 30% intended to drive following the game, and 21.2% indicated they were the designated driver (DD). Results of a t-test indicated no significant difference in the pre-game BALs of those intending to drive following the game (M =.054, SD =.057) and those not intending to drive (M =.077, SD =.051), t(50) = 1.41, p >.10. Further analyses using a 2 driving intention (yes vs. no) x 2 post-game drinking intention (yes vs. no) Chi-Square indicated that participants who intended to drive after the games were less likely to intend to drink after the game than did those who did not intend to drive after the game (46.7% vs. 82.9%), 2 (1) = 6.82, p <.01. Finally, among those tailgaters who indicated that they intended to drive after the game (n = 15), 33.3% did not consume alcohol, 13.3% were at-risk for DUI (.05 BAL <.08) and 33.4% were legally intoxicated (BAL.08) at their pre-game tailgate party. Post-Game Tailgate Parties Of the 151 pedestrians recruited (113 men and 28 women), 61 (57 men and 4 women) agreed to participate. Thus, the rejection rate was 59.6% (49.6% for men and 85.7% for women), The BALs ranged from.000 to.184, with an average BAL of.065 (SD =.052). In addition, 85.4% indicated they had a DD and 13.1% indicated they were a DD. Drivers who described themselves as the DD (n = 8) had an average BAL of.023 (SD =.029), and 37.5% of these had a BAL of.000. In contrast, drivers who indicated they were not a DD (n = 8) had an average BAL of.072 (SD =.026), with 50.0% at risk for DUI (.050 BAL <.08) and 12.5% legally intoxicated (BAL.080). Discussion Overall tailgate parties were attended by more men than women and more adults than children. While men were more likely to be tailgating, most tailgates were dual-gender (~85%). Surprisingly, most tailgaters had no formal connections to the competing universities, as only 30% were students, <10% were alumni, and less than 1% were faculty or staff. Thus, most tailgaters were members of the community, indicating the importance of these college sporting events to the general public. Most tailgate parties had alcohol present, ranging from 75% - 98% across games. There were significant variations in the availability of alcoholic beverages across games, with the more competitive game (6-2 vs. 3-4 opponent) having a greater percentage of tailgates with alcohol available. In addition, there was less alcohol available at tailgates where children were present. Thus tailgate parties occurring against weaker teams and with children present were less likely to have alcohol available. Antidotal observations made during the course of this study also indicate a number of other factors that might affect alcohol consumption, including conference affiliation (in vs. out of conference), perceived rivalry status of the opponent, opponent s national ranking, time of kick-off, and weather. Overall, results indicated that a number of variables were related to intoxication levels at pre-game tailgate parties, including gender, age, and driving intentions. Men were more intoxicated than women, older adults ( 35 years of age) were less intoxicated than younger adults (18 34 years of age), and there was no difference between the intoxication levels of drivers and non-drivers at pre-game tailgate parties. These results indicate that younger men might be a good population to target at football tailgate parties to reduce high-risk drinking and the risk of DUI. With regard to drinking and driving, we

5 found that a high percentage (47.7%) of individuals who intended to drive after the game had BALs of.05 or greater at their pre-game tailgate parties. The pronounced difference in the intoxication levels of men (M =.086) versus women (M =.046) was unexpected and intriguing. These differences in the intoxication levels of men and women were the largest we have detected in our extensive field research over the last 15 years. In fact, an analyses of eight field studies indicated an average gender difference of.010 (SD =.007), with gender differences ranging from.002 to Gender differences were significant in only one of these studies. 15 Post-game BALs (M =.065) were similar to those obtained at pre-game tailgate parties (M =.075). Overall, most participants interviewed after the game indicated they had a DD (85%), and ~13% of drivers indicate they were DDs. Unfortunately, results also indicated that participants who identify themselves as DDs, while sober, often did not abstain from consuming alcohol. In fact more than half of the designated drivers had a post-game BAC >.000. Given the rejection rate and low n-sizes, further study is warranted. Perhaps most disappointing, was the high rejection rates experienced when attempting to assess BALs of individuals leaving the football game. Research assistants indicated that individuals leaving the football game were anxious to get to their vehicles and attempt to beat the traffic. Other contributing factors could have been the low air temperature (25 degrees F), and the fact that the home team lost a game they were expected to win. While our initial efforts at collecting data as individuals were leaving a college football game were not as successful as we had hoped, results indicate a need to gather more information on the drinking and driving habits of individuals at tailgate parties and when leaving college football games. Possible Next Steps Future research should focus on developing procedures that will reduce rejection rates and increase sample size to provide a larger and more representative sample of BALs. Research should also focus on identifying environmental, person and behavioral factors related to risk for DUI following athletic events, and other celebrations, that will inform the development and evaluation of intervention strategies (including policies) that could reduce DUI. Effective interventions to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and DUI at football and other sports venues are clearly needed. Since police are occupied with security and traffic control duties at these settings, effective interventions will require more than enforcement of legal mandates or local policy. Acknowledgements This research was conducted while the authors were supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, United States (5 R01 AA ). We thank E. Scott Geller, Professor, Virginia Tech for his comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and the multitude of undergraduate and graduate research assistants that made this project possible References 1. Hanson, G.R., & Li, T.K. (2003). Public health implications of excessive alcohol consumption. J Amer Med Assoc, 289(8), Wechsler, H., Lee, J.E., Kuo, M., & Lee, H. (2000). College binge drinking in the 1990s: A continuing problem. J Amer Coll Health, 48(5), Wechsler, H. & Wuethrich, B. (2002). Dying to drink: Confronting binge drinking on dollege dampuses. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books.

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