Table 1.
Highlights of select reviews addressing policy impacts on harms to women and children
| Review Article | Description |
|---|---|
| Baldwin et al. (2022) | Systematic review of 31 studies on effects of alcohol supply reduction policies on children and adolescents • Policies: minimum legal drinking age (MLDA), trading restrictions (hours), taxation • Outcomes: alcohol-related hospitalizations, emergency department presentations, child protection orders, mental health–related outcomes • Mechanism(s) described: many covariates and confounders described; authors explicitly looked for but found no articles examining psychosocial wellbeing; one included paper examined mental health-related outcomes using hospital admissions data • Additional details: data sources include police-reported crime data; authors note lack of longitudinal data |
| Campbell et al. (2009) | Systematic review of 88 studies on reducing excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms through policies that address alcohol outlet density • Policies: alcohol availability (privatization of alcohol sales, alcohol bans, and changes in license arrangements) • Outcomes: suicide, interpersonal violence • Mechanism(s) described: distance to alcohol outlets, social aggregation • Additional details: three studies assessed relationships of outlet density with IPV |
| Fitterer et al. (2015) | Review of 87 studies on effects of alcohol control policies on interpersonal violence • Policies: pricing/taxation, alcohol availability (trading hours, outlet density) • Outcomes: violent offenses/street crime, domestic abuse, child abuse, assaults • Mechanism(s) described: consumption, intoxication • Additional details: Markowitz and Grossman (2000) found relationship between increase in beer taxes and reduction in child abuse rates; authors note lack of crime data linked with information on intoxication levels or consumption location |
| Fitzgerald et al. (2016) | Evidence synthesis of 63 systematic reviews with a focus on gender differences in alcohol policy impacts • Policies: pricing/taxation, alcohol availability, drink-driving regulation, workplace-based policies, mass media/advertising • Outcomes: sexual assault, rape, child abuse, “violence aimed at wives” • Mechanism(s) described: consumption • Additional details: update of Martineau et al. (2013) review |
| Gmel et al. (2016) | Systematic review of 160 studies on impacts of alcohol outlet density on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms • Policies: alcohol availability • Outcomes: IPV, child maltreatment • Mechanism(s) described: drinking frequency, drinking volume, alcohol sales • Additional details: 10 studies provided data on IPV; 2 studies included child maltreatment; authors describe lack of data to establish causality |
| Holmes et al. (2014) | Critical review of 138 studies on impacts of alcohol availability on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms • Policies: outlet density, hours/days of sale • Outcomes: 38 studies included data on violence generally; 11 studies had measures of IPV; 5 reported on child abuse or maltreatment • Mechanism(s) described: consumption • Additional details: described “acute” outcomes including IPV and emergency department admissions (“other” outcomes included child abuse) |
| Kearns et al. (2015) | Review of 18 studies on alcohol policies that prevent IPV • Policies: alcohol availability (alcohol outlet density; hours of sale), pricing/taxation • Outcomes: IPV reported police calls, self-report, police-reported DV, IPV-related emergency room visits, intimate partner homicide rates • Mechanism(s) described: substitution effects, changes in drinking • Additional details: could not identify any existing evidence on alcohol advertising/marketing policies and impact on IPV |
| Kondo et al. (2018) | Review of 28 US studies on neighborhood interventions to reduce violence, including 4 with outcomes related to alcohol • Policies: alcohol availability (including limiting hours of sale), licensing • Outcomes: violence data from police reports, ambulance trips, crime data, hospitalization • Mechanism(s) described: consumption • Additional details: review was not specific to alcohol policy but focused on family violence; studies that included alcohol were related to IPV |
| Popova et al. (2009) | Systematic review of 59 studies on impacts of outlet density or hours/days of sale on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms • Policies: alcohol availability • Outcomes: 15 studies with data on assault or violence; 3 studies with data on child abuse or neglect; 1 study with data on assaults on women • Mechanism(s) described: consumption • Additional details: data sources include police and hospital data |
| Sanchez-Ramirez and Voaklander (2018) | Systematic review of 26 studies on days/hours of sale • Policy: alcohol availability (days/hours of sale) • Outcomes: 11 studies with data on violence or assault (police records, hospital records); 1 study with data specifically on violence against women • Mechanism(s) described: none • Additional details: data sources include police records, hospital records |
| Wilson et al. (2014) | Systematic review of 11 studies on alcohol interventions, including alcohol policy, in relation to IPV • Policies: pricing/taxation, alcohol availability (hours of sale, alcohol outlet density), couple-based treatments, individual treatments • Outcomes: self-reported spousal abuse in national surveys, female homicide rates, intimate partner homicide rates, rates of assaults on women, IPV police call-outs • Mechanism(s) described: Consumption; measures of aggression and “psychological aggression” • Additional details: data sources included self-reported spousal abuse, crime data |