The Perceived Neighborhood Crime and Hazardous Alcohol Use Among Youth in University of the Northeastern Thailand Context

The residents’ perceptions of the crime and lack of safety with their neighborhood environment, associated with stress that confers risk for drinking. While many studies have focused on adult drinking, less is known about how subjective neighborhood crime influences drinking during adolescent. We aimed to determine the association of perceived neighborhood crime and youth alcohol use. Study design: A cross-sectional study.

This study was conducted on 1087 university youths from 30 neighborhood clusters in Northeastern Thailand from May 2019 to Mar 2020. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaire. A multilevel logistic regression model was applied to examine the effect of perceived neighborhood crime on hazardous alcohol use.

Most of youths were female, approximately 60.7% reported hazardous alcohol use, and the average perceived neighborhood crime score was 65.1 (standard deviation, 2.1). The perceived neighborhood crime was associated with hazardous alcohol use; a 1-unit increase in the scores for perceived neighborhood crime corresponded to a 20% increase in hazardous alcohol use. The role of perceived neighborhood crime on alcohol use varied among males, but not females.

The perceived neighborhood crime plays a role in the increase likelihood of hazardous alcohol use. The consideration of neighborhood crime context is important to design the alcohol preventive and intervention strategies.