Neighborhood Characteristics, Alcohol Outlet Density, and Alcohol-Related Calls-for-Service: A Spatiotemporal Analysis in a Wet Drinking Country

Abstract

Alcohol outlets have been associated with different social problems, such as crime, violence, intimate partner violence, and child maltreatment. The spatial analysis of neighborhood availability of alcohol outlets is key for better understanding of these influences. Most studies on the spatial distribution of alcohol outlets in the community have been conducted in U.S. cities, but few studies have assessed this spatial distribution in other countries where the drinking culture may differ. The aim of this study was to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution of alcohol outlets in the city of Valencia, Spain, and its relationship with neighborhood-level characteristics, as well as to examine the influence of alcohol outlet density on alcohol-related police calls-for-service. Spain is characterized by having a "wet" drinking culture and greater social acceptance of drinking compared to the U.S. Data on alcohol outlets between 2010-2015 in three categories (off-premise, restaurants and cafes, and bars) were used for the analysis. We used the 552 census block groups allocated within the city as neighborhood unit. Data were analyzed using Bayesian spatiotemporal regression models. Results showed different associations between alcohol outlets categories and neighborhood variables: off-premise density was higher in areas with lower economic status, higher immigrant concentration, and lower residential instability; restaurant and cafe density was higher in areas with higher spatially-lagged economic status, and bar density was higher in areas with higher economic status and higher spatially-lagged economic status. Furthermore, restaurant and cafe density was negatively associated with alcohol-related police calls-for-service, while bar density was positively associated with alcohol-related calls-for-service. These results can be used to inform preventive strategies for alcohol-related problems at the neighborhood-level in Spain or other countries with a wet drinking culture. Future research would benefit from exploring the relationship between alcohol availability and different social problems in cities outside the U.S.

Connecting Child Maltreatment Risk With Crime and Neighborhood Disadvantage Across Time and Place: A Bayesian Spatiotemporal Analysis

“…Advantages of Bayesian spatiotemporal modeling over the frequentist approach include the ability to simultaneously address spatial autocorrelation (i.e., tendency for maltreatment risk factors to cluster together geographically) and temporal dependence (i.e., tendency for maltreatment risk factors to correlate between years within zip codes) in the data. This data analytic strategy has increasingly been applied to the study of the ecology of social problems including child maltreatment (DiMaggio, 2015; Freisthler, Kepple, & Holmes, 2012; Freisthler & Weiss, 2008; Gracia et al, 2017; Law, Quick, & Chan, 2014; Marco, Freisthler, Gracia, López-Quílez, & Lila, 2017). In the present study, four Bayesian spatiotemporal models were performed for overall child maltreatment, as well as for the maltreatment subtypes of child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, and child neglect.…”

A comprehensive review of quantitative research on crime, the built environment, land use, and physical geography

“…Looking at a couple of studies outside of the United States, one study analyzed alcohol-related calls-for-service in Valencia, Spain (Marco et al, 2017). Results suggest that more restaurants and cafes in a neighborhood were related to fewer alcohol-related calls-for-service, whereas a higher density of bars in a neighborhood was associated with more calls-for-service, as expected.…”

What calls for service tell us about suicide: A 7-year spatio-temporal analysis of neighborhood correlates of suicide-related calls

“…Bayesian models let researchers incorporate prior information, and also address issues such as overdispersion and spatial autocorrelation 26 , 27 , 31 . The Bayesian approach is increasingly being used to analyze social outcomes such as crime or violence 49 , 51 – 58 , and also to study suicide 31 , 32 , 37 .…”