A small number of studies have identified a positive relationship between alcohol outlet density and domestic violence. These studies have all been based on cross-sectional data and have been limited to assess ecological correlations between outlet density and domestic violence rates.
This study provides the first longitudinal examination of this relationship.
This study provides the first longitudinal examination of this relationship.
The study uses data for 186 postcodes from within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia for the years 1996 to 2005. Alcohol outlet density measures for three different types of outlets (hotel/pub, packaged liquor, on-premise) were derived from liquor licensing records and domestic violence rates were calculated from police recorded crime data, based on postcode of the victim. The relationships between these three types of alcohol outlet density and domestic violence were assessed over time using a fixed-effects model. Controls for the spatial autocorrelation of the data were included in the model.
Alcohol outlet density was significantly associated with rates of domestic violence, over time. In particular, the density of hotel (pub) licences and the density of packaged liquor licences were positively related to domestic violence rates and the density of on-premise licences was negatively related to domestic violence.
In Melbourne, changes in density of hotel (pub) licenses and packaged liquor licenses have been positively associated with changes in rates of domestic violence whereas the rates of on-site liquor licenses have been negatively associated with domestic violence.
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michaell@turningpoint.org.au
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Request Reprint E-Mail:
michaell@turningpoint.org.au
