# Differential Effects of Alcohol-related Policy across US Population Subgroups

> **NIH NIH P50** · PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE · 2020 · $147,629

## Abstract

Abstract: Differential Effects of Alcohol-related Policy across U.S. Population Subgroups
It has recently been recognized that not all groups may benefit from broad-based public health interventions.
In some cases, disadvantaged groups have benefited less and this has had the unintended consequence of
creating or increasing health inequities. Alcohol policy interventions are a vital tool for addressing excessive
drinking and alcohol problems in the population but have not often been employed for the purpose of mitigating
alcohol-related disparities. To begin to consider how alcohol policy might be used in this way, policymakers
first need to know whether and to what extent alcohol policies improve both population health and health
equity. This Component aims to address this question by determining which alcohol policies are likely to yield
the largest reduction in alcohol-related disparities. Our study will focus on alcohol taxation, availability
restrictions and treatment access, three of the most effective and prominent policy approaches for reducing
alcohol consumption and problems. We will assess the effects of individual policies on the general population
and on subgroups defined by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender and age, and will identify the most
and least impactful policies for each group. We will also estimate the effects of hypothetical policy changes on
racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities, and ascertain the optimal mix of tax and availability policies for
mitigating disparities in alcohol consumption, problems and mortality. Our study will draw on policy data from
multiple sources, particularly the NIAAA's Alcohol Policy Information System, and will use several national data
sets to analyze policy-relevant outcomes. These include individual-level, survey-based alcohol consumption
and problems from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and National Alcohol Survey
(NAS), and state-level alcohol-related mortality and treatment utilization rates from the National Center for
Health Statistics and Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). Analyses will focus on the period from 2000-2015
and involve pooled cross-sectional time-series models with fixed and random effects, difference-in-differences
models, and interrupted time-series analyses. Our Specific Aims are to: 1) Investigate the impact of beverage-
specific taxes on drinking patterns, alcohol-related problems and alcohol-attributable mortality; 2) Examine the
effects of alcohol availability policies (government retail control, hours and days of sale, types of sales outlets,
and alcohol outlet density) on alcohol use patterns, problems and mortality; 3) Assess the impact of treatment
access policies (the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and Affordable Care Act) on the use of
specialty and primary care-based alcohol services; and 4) Identify the policies (and policy mix) from Aims 1
and 2 whose hypothetical, nationwide implementation will have...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9843635
- **Project number:** 5P50AA005595-40
- **Recipient organization:** PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** NINA MULIA
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $147,629
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2021-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9843635

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9843635, Differential Effects of Alcohol-related Policy across US Population Subgroups (5P50AA005595-40). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9843635. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*