Underage Drinking Prevention
Logic Model Guidance Document

Background and Description of the BSAS Underage Drinking Prevention Logic Model

As part of the BSAS underage drinking prevention local strategic planning process, communities were asked to develop and submit a program logic model. The guidelines below are intended to help you review and update your current logic model.

Logic Model Construction and Definitions

While there are many valid ways to construct logic models, the version included below is intended to be a clear, simple way to map out your local problems/intervening variables, strategies and outcomes. Logic models are simply a series of “if…then” statements. Each column of the logic model should logically follow as a result of the previous column.

  1. Problem / Intervening Variable: In the problem section of the logic model, local community conditions that are contributing to or influencing the problem of underage drinking should be identified. Specifically, intervening variables that were identified during the local assessment should be specified and briefly explained. An interveningvariablerefers to a factor related to the occurrence and magnitude of an identified health issue or behavior. Intervening variables relevant to underage drinking preventionmay include, for example,easy social access to alcohol or social norms accepting and/or encouraging underage drinking. As an example, if one of the Problems / Intervening Variables is identified as social access, local data may be included to describe what the problem looks like locally (i.e. 76% of youth in Margaritaville access alcohol from social sources, in particular friends (47%) and home (26%)).
  1. Strategy: Underage drinking preventionstrategies are programs, practices, and/or policies designed to address the intervening variables identified. For example, if youth are purchasing alcohol at liquor stores (easy commercial access), then “conducting compliance checks” may be selected as a strategy to impact that problem / intervening variable. Key words in this section of the logic model include: conduct, develop, distribute, teach, educate, train, identify, refer, set up, support, give, offer, and provide.
  1. Output:The outputs of the strategies are the direct, quantifiable products that come out of implementing the strategies. Outputs are often counts of what is done, how much is done, how many times and/or how often. For example, the output of a social marketing campaign might be to saturate the public environment, via 10 newspaper ads, 3 billboards and 5 radio messages, with information about the laws and consequences of providing alcohol to youth under 21. Key words in this section of the logic model include:types, numbers, levels and targets of delivered services.
  1. Short-Term Outcome: The short-term outcomes of the strategies describe the immediate or “first” measurable results of that strategy. In many cases this will include changes (increases or decreases) in the knowledge, attitudes, motivation, awareness and/or skills of the group targeted by the strategy (e.g., increased publicknowledge of the consequences associated with providing alcohol to youth under 21).
  1. Intermediate Outcome: The intermediate outcomes of underage drinking prevention strategies describe changes in behaviors, practices, policies, or procedures that are the direct results of accomplishing the short-term outcomes, andare necessary to accomplish long-term change. Examples of intermediate outcomes may include:a decrease in the number of adults providing alcohol to youthunder 21;or adoption and ratification of new policies regarding stricter consequences of providing alcohol to youth. It is possible that there may be several successive intermediate outcomes that are necessary to get from a short-term outcome to the long-term outcome. For example, if the first intermediate outcome is a “decrease in youth accessing alcohol at community events where alcohol is served”; the next intermediate outcome could be a “decrease in youth access to alcohol via social sources”. Both of these steps may be necessary to accomplish the long-term outcome.
  1. Long-Term Outcome: The long-term outcomes of the underage drinking prevention programsdescribe the ultimate goal of the project. For all BSAS Underage Drinking Prevention Grants, the long-term outcomes have already been defined:Reduction in underage youth use of alcohol.

BSAS Underage Drinking Prevention Logic Model Template

Funded communities should complete the following template for each of the intervening variables approved as part of their local strategic plan.

SAMPLE #1
Intervening Variable / Strategy / Output / Outcomes
Short-Term / Intermediate / Long-Term
Easy Social Access to Alcohol.
76% of Margaritaville of youth access alcohol from sources, in particular friends (47%) and home (26%). / Develop social marketing campaign to educate the public about the consequences of providing alcohol to minors. /
Saturate the public environment, via 10 newspaper ads, 3 billboards and 5 radio messages, with information about the laws regarding and consequences of providing alcohol to youth under 21
/ Increased public knowledge of the consequences associated with providing alcohol to youth under 21 / Decreased adults providing alcohol to underage youth.

Decreased underage youth access to alcohol via social sources, i.e. adults in the community / Decreased use of alcohol by underage youth
SAMPLE #2
Intervening Variable / Strategy / Output / Outcomes
Short-Term / Intermediate / Long-Term
Easy Commercial Access to Alcohol.
40% of liquor stores in Margaritaville failed compliance checks in 2008. / Conduct two rounds of compliance checks /
1. Conduct 2 trainings for police and youth to learn compliance check procedures
2. Conduct compliance checks according to ABCC standards in 100% of pouring and non-pouring establishments twice per year / 1. Increased % of compliant vendors
2. Increased enforcement of existing underage drinking laws / Decreased commercial establishments unknowingly selling alcohol to underage youth.

Decreased underage youth access to alcohol via commercial sources. / Decreased use of alcohol by underage youth

In reviewing your logic model, if you identify any revisions to be made, please complete the following template for each of the intervening variables that need to be revised. You can reproduce this template as many times as needed.

Intervening Variable / Strategy / Output / Outcomes
Short-Term / Intermediate / Long-Term
Decreaseduse of alcohol by underage youth
Intervening Variable / Strategy / Output / Outcomes
Short-Term / Intermediate / Long-Term
Decreaseduse of alcohol by underage youth

Modified from the MassCALL2 Logic Model Advisory
by the SoutheastCenter for Healthy Communities,
a program of Health Care of Southeastern MA, Inc.