Youth-targeted alcohol control policies and adolescent suicide: An interrupted time-series analysis

Adolescent alcohol use is a social concern worldwide and is strongly associated with violence, criminal behavior, and especially suicide. The aim of this study was to evaluate how efforts to control underage drinking in Korea over the past decades have affected adolescent suicide, another public health issue in Korea.

An interrupted time-series analysis was conducted to assess the changes in adolescent suicide mortality following the implementation of youth-targeted alcohol control policies-the prohibition of proxy alcohol purchases for youth, the mandate for age-restriction signage in retail premises, and the increase in penalties for selling or serving alcohol to young people. Monthly suicide mortality among adolescents aged 10-19 years from January 2006 to December 2019 were acquired from the Korean Cause of Death Statistics.

Suicide mortality peaked in 2009 at 654.1 per 10 million population and then gradually declined. Suicide mortality (per 10 million population) dropped by 0.26 after the implementation of the first polity, by 0.35 (-0.51 to -0.18) after the second policy, and by 0.11 (-0.52 to 0.31) after the third policy. Girls had a 0.50 (-0.90 to -0.09) reduction in suicide mortality following the first policy implementation, while there was no significant change in the rate for boys.

This study's findings support a link between the implementation of youth-targeted alcohol control policies and a reduction in youth suicide rates, suggesting that limiting access to alcohol during adolescence is crucial from a suicide prevention perspective.