Youth Alcohol Epidemiology Trends and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Community Coalition Funding – Florida, 2002-2014

BACKGROUND: Florida received a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) grant in 2004 to develop effective community coalitions to combat substance use in local communities using evidence-based practices.  The Florida State Epidemiology Workgroup was also established under this grant in June 2005.  Regional in-person workshops were held in 2006-2007 to train the coalitions on using the data to determine needs and selecting programs to address these needs.  Soon after the expiration of the original SPF grant, Florida received a SAMHSA-funded Partnership for Success (PFS) grant to further reduce substance use problems at the state level.  Florida’s emphasis was on underage drinking, concentrating efforts on the strongest functioning coalitions in counties with the largest populations.  This presentation will examine youth epidemiologic measures of alcohol use from 2002 through 2014.

METHODS: The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) is administered annually in Florida.  It is a modified version of the Communities That Care (CTC) Survey that assesses alcohol and other substance use, delinquent behaviors, and risk factors for substance use and other delinquent behaviors.  In even numbered years the survey sample is selected to be representative at the county level.  The county data is then weighted to be representative at the state level.  Total sample sizes in these years all exceed 65,000.  Even-year FYSAS data from 2002 through 2014 was analyzed for this presentation.  Trends were analyzed for alcohol prevalence rates and other alcohol related measures.

RESULTS: Past-30-day alcohol use prevalence decreased from 31.2% in 2002 to 29.8% in 2008 and 20.5% in 2014.  Binge drinking decreased from 16.0% in 2002 to 14.8% in 2008 and 9.5% in 2014.  The percent of high school youth that first drank at age 13 or younger decreased from 37.7% in 2002 to 32.3% in 2008 to 21.8% 2014.  Consistent with these trends, perceptions of youth drinking as wrong and as harmful increased since 2002.  Counties funded by the PFS grant may have had a larger impact on the state changes than other counties in recent years.  These overall trends are consistent among demographic groups, although the consistency of the changes varies.

CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol epidemiology measures among Florida youth changed in the desired direction between 2002 and 2014, but the change may not be as strong among all demographic groups.  The declines in youth alcohol use correlates with implementation of efforts funded by SAMHSA grants, although a causal connection is impossible to make.