Effectiveness of a Community-Based Intervention to Increase Supermarket Vendors’ Compliance with Age Restrictions for Alcohol Sales in Spain: A Pilot Study

Mariàngels Duch, Elena Gervilla, Montse Juan, Clarisse Guimarães, Maite Kefauver, Tobias H. Elgán, Johanna Gripenberg and Zara Quigg
Additional contact information
Mariàngels Duch: European Institute of Studies on Prevention, Rambla, 15 (2º-3º), 07003 Palma, Spain
Elena Gervilla: Balearic Islands Health Research Institute, Carretera de Valldemossa, 79, 07120 Palma, Spain
Montse Juan: European Institute of Studies on Prevention, Rambla, 15 (2º-3º), 07003 Palma, Spain
Clarisse Guimarães: Faculty of Psychology, University of the Balearic Islands, Carretera de Valldemossa, km 7.5, 07122 Palma, Spain
Maite Kefauver: European Institute of Studies on Prevention, Rambla, 15 (2º-3º), 07003 Palma, Spain
Tobias H. Elgán: STAD, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Norra Stationsgatan 69, 11364 Stockholm, Sweden
Johanna Gripenberg: STAD, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Norra Stationsgatan 69, 11364 Stockholm, Sweden
Zara Quigg: Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Exchange Station, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool L2 2QP, UK

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-11

Abstract: In Spain the legal age to buy alcohol is 18 years. However, official surveys show that minors perceive alcohol availability to be easy. This paper describes the impacts of a community-based intervention to increase vendors’ compliance with age limits regarding alcohol sales in supermarkets. The aim of this study was to explore the association between implementation of a multicomponent intervention to reduce adolescents’ alcohol use and sale of alcohol to minors in the city of Palma (Spain). Twenty trained adolescents (14–17 years old) conducted 138 alcohol test purchases in nine supermarket chains in August 2018 (baseline; n = 73) prior to the intervention, and again in January 2020 (follow-up; n = 65). Analysis was conducted according to three levels of intervention implemented across the supermarkets: (i) personnel from the supermarkets’ Human Resources or Corporate Social Responsibility teams received alcohol service training as trainers (i.e., community mobilization); (ii) managers and vendors training by the capacitated trainers; and (iii) no training of managers or vendors (i.e., control group). In the supermarkets that completed the Training of Trainers and the vendors’ training program, average sales decreased significantly from 76.9% in 2018 to 45.5% in 2020, asking for the age of the shopper significantly increased from 3.8% to 45.4%, and asking for proof of age significantly increased from 15.4% to 72.7%. Additionally, a statistically significant increase was observed in the visibility of prohibition to sell alcohol to minors’ signs, from 61.5% to 100%. No statistically significant differences were found for the Training of Trainers intervention alone nor in the control group. In conclusion, community mobilization combined with staff training is associated with significant increases in supermarket vendors’ compliance with alcohol legislation in Spain.

Keywords: alcohol; adolescents; vendors’ compliance; community-based intervention; multicomponent intervention; community mobilization; mystery shopping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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