About the Prevention Research Center

The PRC Today
Our Objectives
Historical Overview of the Center
Recognition and Awards

The PRC Today

The Prevention Research Center (PRC) of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation is a national center for prevention research. The Center was founded in 1983, and is located in Berkeley, California. PRC's focus is on conducting research to better understand the social and physical environments that influence individual behavior that leads to alcohol and drug misuse. PRC is one of fifteen centers sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and is the only one that specializes in prevention.

Alcohol-involved problems are a serious public health issue, and the prevention of such problems is a major need in contemporary America. Whether resulting from personal drinking decisions, a disease process, properties of the alcohol itself, societal norms and values, or alcohol marketing and availability, alcohol problems have been a continual source of public concern. Estimates of the extent of alcohol involvement in trauma include some 40-50% of fatal auto crashes, 30-40% for fatal recreational injuries, and 10-25% for home injuries. Alcohol ingestion, depending upon the quantity and the situation, can increase risk of injury to the drinker and to others. Alcohol is involved in a substantial percentage of injuries caused by falls, drowning, and burns.

Although medical care costs resulting from the physiological damage caused by excessive drinking are substantial ($26.3 billion dollars per year), injuries and deaths related to alcohol use and their associated social costs are broadly experienced throughout the U.S. by drinkers and non-drinkers alike. The economic and social costs due to alcohol use accrue to accidents and injuries and the interpersonal violence associated with drinking among adults and young people. In addition to the estimated 16,000 persons who die each year in alcohol-related traffic crashes, some 2.7 million violent victimization events involving alcohol occur each year, many of which result from violence between partners. Much of the violence associated with drinking takes place among young people between the ages of 15 and 20; this sadly includes high rates of both interpersonal violence and suicide. Alcohol consumption is also a major problem in the U.S. work force, linked to increased medical costs, worker's compensation claims, sick leave/absenteeism, accidents, early retirement, and loss of productivity. Crime and injuries related to drinking account for some $32.2 billion per year. Lost productivity related to drinking accounts for some $87.6 billion per year.

The goal of this basic scientific research is to understand the individual, social, political and environmental circumstances related to adverse health outcomes. The dedicated team of over fifty researchers and support staff of the Prevention Research Center continue working towards the advancement of prevention science for the purpose of reducing alcohol and drug misuse and their resulting problems.

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Our Objectives

The Prevention Research Center's focus is on conducting research to better understand the social and physical environments that influence individual behavior that leads to alcohol and drug misuse. The Center operates with the following objectives:

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Historical Overview of the Center

The history of the Prevention Research Center can be summarized in phases corresponding to the national center grant.

1983-1987

Before its inception in 1983, there was no coordinated concentration of basic science for alcohol problem prevention. As a new center, formed in response to a national research announcement, PRC brought together a group of senior researchers with a common interest in alcohol prevention and relevant research experience in prevention programs and prevention policy. When the center began, the alcohol problem prevention research field was underdeveloped, not unlike a young adolescent. The need for a central focus of research and policy exploration was clear, and the NIAAA decision to establish a national center for prevention research was essential to further development of the prevention field. During its early history PRC undertook a number of objectives including: (1) establishing an integrated and collaborative team of prevention researchers; (2) emphasizing interdisciplinary research by bringing together psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, attorneys, statisticians, public health specialists, and architects; (3) establishing linkages with prevention practitioners and policymakers who have needs for sound policy-relevant research; and (4) training and developing skilled new researchers (pre- and post-doctoral) who could strengthen both the research capability of PRC and the prevention field in general.

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1988-1992

Following its first renewal as a national center, PRC explored in greater depth the research areas of the center. The research program under the center grant included: investigation of the public drinking environment of bars and restaurants to examine the interaction of individual and environmental factors (Delewski & Saltz, 1990; Saltz, 1989, 1993, 1994); alcohol policy in the workplace and its role in a major midwestern manufacturing company (Ames & Delaney, 1992; Ames, 1990; Janes & Ames, 1992; Delaney & Ames, 1993); the influences of television portrayals on early drinking decisions of adolescents (Grube & Wallack, 1994; Grube, 1993; Wallack, et al., 1990); the differences across all states in the regulation of alcohol sales and availability and the relationship to aggregate drinking levels and alcohol problems (Holder, 1988; Gruenewald, Madden, & Janes, 1992; Gruenewald, Ponicki, & Holder, 1993; Gruenewald & Nephew, 1994); and development and testing of a computer model of alcohol use and abuse within San Diego County, CA (Holder & Blose, 1987, 1988; Treno, et al., 1993). This phase of PRC established the empirical evidence of the role of the environment as a major factor in drinking decisions, drinking levels, and alcohol problems. These studies, which were accompanied by individual R01 grants in the role of drinking in Mexican American families (Alaniz, 1995, 1996; Corbett, Mora & Ames, 1991; Ames & Mora, 1988), a cross-national study of Irish and American young people (Morgan & Grube, 1997; Grube, et al., 1997), and the effects of changes in distilled spirits retail availability and drinking and driving in North Carolina (Blose & Holder, 1987; Holder & Blose, 1987) provided a research base for the interaction of the individual, family, organization, and community environment in alcohol problems and identified possible prevention intervention points.

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1993-1997

In its next phase of development, PRC extended some of the prior research and introduced new research areas. This center grant included studies of the role of drinking in the workplace and its interaction with individual and workplace factors (Ames, Grube & Moore, 1997; Ames, 1993; Ames & Rebhun, 1996); the influence of television advertising, peers, and family on decisions about initiation of drinking by adolescents (Grube & Wallack, 1994; Grube, et al., 1995); relationship between drinking and risk of becoming the victim of violent crime (Parker, 1993; Parker & Rebhun, 1995); geospatial analyses of alcohol access, alcohol prices, drinking and alcohol problems (Gruenewald, et al., 1995, 1996; Gruenewald & Ponicki, 1995); and field testing of a computer-based model for planning prevention interventions in 8 states and 12 communities (Holder, 1998, 1996).

These projects were accompanied by a major field test of a community-based prevention trial to reduce alcohol-involved injuries and deaths in three experimental communities and three matched comparison communities. The community-based prevention trial made use of prior and ongoing research by PRC through a field application of responsible beverage service, drinking and driving, underage drinking decisions, and alcohol availability in each of the experimental sites (Holder, et al., 1997; Saltz & Stanghetta, 1997; Grube, 1997; Millar & Gruenewald, 1997).

In addition, the center research components were complemented by individual research grants to investigate: role of violence and drinking in Mexican American neighborhoods (Alaniz & Wilkes, 1995; Alaniz, 1994; Alaniz, Cartmill & Parker, 1998); the effect of mandatory server training at the state level (Saltz, 1997; Holder & Wagenaar, 1994; Holder, 1994); a replication of the role of alcohol policy in a California auto manufacturing plant based upon the Japanese model of management (Ames, Grube & Moore, 1997; Grube, Ames & Delaney, 1994); the influence of the minimum purchasing age on adolescent and young adult violence (Parker, 1993); an evaluation of state laws to remove driver's licenses from underage youth who drink (Grube & Voas, 1996); and an examination of the impacts of city-wide bans on alcohol sales on violence and related problems (Chiu, Perez & Parker, 1997).

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1998-2002

PRC pursued a research agenda that both complemented and extended previous work at the Center. A concerted effort was made to understand the influence of environments on young adult drinking and the transition into adulthood. Young adult drinking arose as a priority in the research program because in this life phase drinking is at its highest and the pathology of future drinking dependence is not as clear. Young people 18 to 25 years of age constitute approximately 11% of the total population, they constitute the highest drinking subpopulation in the U.S. (including a high percentage of high volume drinkers, Johnston, et al., 1996), and they are involved in more alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions (NHTSA, 1999) and interpersonal violence (DHHS, 2001) than any other group. While an at-risk population for alcohol-involved problems (particularly trauma) due to high volume drinking, this population has been understudied with respect to effective environmental prevention.

This age group is roughly distributed into three areas of adult life: college, military, and workplace. Current research studies generally reflect these settings. Drinking and Young Adults in the Workplace is a longitudinal and case study of young people and drinking within the U.S. Navy. To-date, this work has collected both ethnographic and survey data from navy personnel working in a broad array of work sites, and revealed the unusual risks for heavy drinking and smoking among recruits and officer's candidates (Ames, 2001; Ames & Grube, 1999; Ames, Cunradi & Moore, 2001). Ethnographic research has begun to elucidate the role of media activity in promoting risky health behaviors among Navy recruits (Killoran & Ames, 2001; Moore, Cunradi & Ames, 2001).

College Student Drinking and the Campus Environment is a study of the drinking patterns of college students and a test of potential environmental prevention strategies in the college environment. This college-based preventive intervention study has completed implementation of programs to (a) provide brief normative alcohol interventions to entering students at orientations, (b) enforce stronger policies forbidding use and possession of alcohol in residence halls, (c) increase compliance with party management policies in fraternity and sorority systems, (d) enforce regulations on drinking before and after special sports events (Saltz, 2001).

Availability Transitions and College Drinking is a study of alcohol problems associated with college drinking and the effects of changes in living situations upon drinking patterns and problems. To-date, this work has developed a comprehensive model of drinking patterns that disentangles the plethora of drinking measures used in the college drinking literature (Lipton, et. al, 2001, Gruenewald, 1998; 2001; Johnson, et al., 1998), developed a mathematical model relating drinking patterns to problems (Gruenewald, 2001; Lipton, et al., 2001), and collected longitudinal data to assess the impacts of availability transitions (e.g., moving out a dormitory and into a fraternity) upon drinking patterns and problems.

A Prospective Study of Underage Drinking and Driving Behaviors is following a panel of young people from 15 to 25 years of age to determine the factors that increase risks of drinking and driving and riding with a drinking driver. First results from this study show that while young males are more likely to report drinking and driving, both males and females are equally likely to ride with an intoxicated driver (Light, Treno & Grube, 2000). Young people do not report being influenced by either knowledge of drinking and driving laws or availability of alternatives to drinking and driving, but rather overestimate their ability to drive after drinking and underestimate the likelihood of adverse personal consequences (Nygaard, et al., 2001). Analyses of these data also indicate that greater outlet densities (an environmental measure) are related to increased likelihoods of driving after drinking and riding with an intoxicated driver (Treno, Grube & Martin, 2001).

The Geography of Availability and Alcohol Problems is an investigation of the geospatial relationships between the physical availability of alcohol, patterns of drinking and related problems in individual and population studies of adults and youth in California. This work includes methodological contributions to the analysis of spatial data (Gruenewald, 1997, 2000; Gruenewald, et al., 2000), the development of ecological models relating alcohol outlets to violence (Gorman, et al., 2001; Lipton & Gruenewald, 2001) and traffic-related injuries (LaScala, Johnson & Gruenewald, 2001), and the application of multi-level hierarchical models to the assessment of the impacts of geographic distribution of outlets on individual reports of drinking and driving (Gruenewald, Johnson & Treno, 2001). A central finding is that greater outlet densities affect the system of behaviors that underlie drinking and driving; altering likelihoods of driving after drinking, drinking patterns and choices of drinking venues (Gruenewald, Johnson & Treno, 2001).

Additional research projects have investigated the efficacy of preventive interventions for the reduction of alcohol use and related problems in community settings (Holder, Gruenewald, et al., 2000); the role of normative education in perceptions of problematic alcohol use (Agostinelli & Grube, 2000) and the effectiveness of counter-advertising (Agostinelli & Grube, 2001); the cultural roots of American Indian drinking practices (Frank, Moore & Ames, 2000); the effectiveness of persuasion strategies in reducing problematic alcohol use (Giesbrecht & Grube, 2001) and the effects of television advertising on youth use (Grube, Chen & Morgan, 2001); the efficacy of neighborhood-based minority-oriented alcohol prevention programs (Gruenewald, 2000); worksite stress and related drinking behaviors of urban transit operators (Ragland, et al., 2000, 2001); the role of excessive alcohol in intimate partner violence (Cunradi, Caetano & Schafer, 2001; Cunradi, et al., 2000); the role of alcohol outlets in pedestrian injuries (LaScala, Johnson & Gruenewald, 2001) and violence (Gorman, et al., 2001; Lipton & Gruenewald, 2001); methodological contributions to the development of geostatistical models of alcohol problems (Gruenewald, 2000; Gruenewald, et al., 2000); policy studies of the impacts of regulating beverage costs and physical availability (Gruenewald & Treno, 2000; Stockwell & Gruenewald, 2001; Gruenewald, Holder & Treno, 2001); examinations of treatment offset effects for alcoholism (Goodman, et al., 2000; Holder, et al., 2000).

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2003 – 2007

The new Center application emphasizes the development of integrated approaches to both basic research and applied prevention science, building upon our commitments to: (1) longer term, longitudinal research; (2) developmental research in new areas with prevention research promise; and (3) natural extensions of existing research that will replicate and confirm prior findings. The proposed research extends these commitments, examining the multiple interacting contexts of alcohol use and problems (e.g., work, home and family), the multi-level interactions of environmental characteristics and individual determinants of drinking (e.g., alcohol outlets and youth drinking), and the complex interacting policy environments of state level policy change. Alcohol Outlets and Underage Sales proposes a series of geostatistical studies of the spatial and temporal relationships between alcohol outlets and problems involving underage drinkers. Alcohol Availability and Underage Drinking develops data from the same multilevel study to consider the role of availability as it contributes to drinking and problem behaviors among young people. State Level Availability and Alcohol Problems takes an integrated approach to evaluating the impact of different state level alcohol policy interventions (e.g., beverage prices and availability) in an effort to understand, and ultimately predict, the determinants of differences between states. Dissemination and Adoption of Science-Based Prevention, as a new component, reflects the growing maturity of environmental prevention. This component will disseminate science-based prevention programs and explore the impact of dissemination.

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Recognition and Awards

The scientific research conducted at the Prevention Research Center has been recognized continually over the years. The Center is the recipient of the following recent awards:

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