Author(s): Francis Ayuka and Ross Barnett
Background and purpose of study: Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the ways in which features of residential environments influence health outcomes and health related behaviours. This paper reviews the literature which examines how features of places influence individual alcohol consumption. Gaps for further research are identified.
Method: Research was selected which examined any feature of a residential neighbourhood and how it influenced alcohol consumption including alcohol access. This review was undertaken using search engines and databases including Pubmed, Scopus, Proquest and Web of Science. Of 1,821 articles examined, 64 met the above criterion and were included.
Results: There are a range of social and physical characteristics of neighbourhoods that are associated with alcohol consumption. These include area-level socio-economic status, neighbourhood stress, social capital and cohesion, cultural context, retail outlets and advertising. These place effects are examined at different scales ranging from regional (e.g. state level) to census tracts or meshblocks.
Conclusion: The review provided evidence of how place features influence alcohol consumption and recommended further research. There is a need for focussed attention on a few areas: understanding the mechanism of place effects; deciding on scale of measurement; examining more than one neighbourhood characteristic; and taking greater advantage of natural experiments.
