Focus On: Ethnicity and the Social and Health Harms From Drinking Alcohol Research: Current Reviews

These data show that current drinking is most prevalent among White and Hispanic men and lowest for Asian-American women. Heavy drinking is defined by both weekly and daily drinking limits (i.e., consuming 5 or more standard drinks per day or 15 or more per week for men and 4 or more drinks per day or 8 or more per week for women) (NIAAA 2006). Native Americans of both genders have the highest prevalence of weekly heavy drinking, whereas Hispanic men have the highest prevalence of daily heavy drinking. Rates of weekly heavy drinking are lowest for Asian-American and Hispanic women, and rates of daily heavy drinking are lowest among Asian-American and Black women. Dawson et al. (2004) reported few changes in the percentages of U.S. adults who exceed recommended drinking limits from 1991–1992 to 2001–2002. Among Whites, there was an increase in the proportion of adults exceeding weekly drinking limits and a decrease in proportion exceeding daily drinking limits.

These differences would most likely not approach statistical significance (except perhaps for the overall percentages of individuals who received treatment for any substance use disorder). However, the issue of substance abuse, particularly abuse of alcohol, in individuals of Hispanic origin living in the United States is very complicated, is most likely not fully addressed, and deserves special considerations. Overall, Latino Americans are less likely to drink alcohol than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. Only 54.5% of Hispanic adults over the age of 18 had at least one drink in the past year, compared to 70.3% of non-Hispanic white adults.

1. Additionally, rates of alcohol-related esophageal cancer and pancreatic disease are higher for Black men than White men (Polednak 2007; Yang et al. 2008), whereas fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are more prevalent in Blacks and Native Americans (Russo et al. 2004).
2. There is evidence to support the findings that as women get acculturated into an American lifestyle, they have a tendency to drink more.
3. The sample for these estimates of drinking volume was the U.S. population of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics and included abstainers.
4. Together, these and other studies suggest that culturally tailored alcohol treatment programs are likely solutions for addressing disparities in alcohol treatment for ethnic minority groups (Schmidt et al. 2006).

One of our moderation analysis indicated that gender did not moderate the association between acculturation orientations and alcohol use severity. One explanation for this null finding is that historically, men have reported higher rates for various alcohol use outcomes compared to women, but those differences are narrowing—particularly among emerging adults (Delker, Brown, & Hasin, 2016). In addition, it has been suggested that attitudes toward alcohol may now be very similar between male and female Hispanic emerging adults, and thus, acculturation may not have the same pronounced effect on drinking attitudes and alcohol use outcomes among Hispanic women (Montoya et al., 2016). Some post-hoc analyses of our data indicate that there were no statistically significant differences by gender in relation to acculturation orientations or alcohol use severity which may lend some support to 9 Best Online Sobriety Support Groups this potential explanation. Additional research shows that ethnic groups are differentially affected by alcohol-attributed violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV).

Integrating cultural variables into drug abuse prevention and treatment with racial/ethnic minorities

It’s important to emphasize the Latinx community comprises numerous diverse subgroups and is not a monolith. In this article, the gender-neutral term Latinx is used to refer to folks who identify as “Hispanic,” “Latino,” “Latina,” or “Latinx” in the United States. While the barriers mentioned above may explain some of the disparity, 2007 research suggests a cultural mismatch between clinicians and clients may be at work as well. Some evidence indicates a clash in values, beliefs, and practices between Latinx cultural traditions and how treatment programs are structured. To transform treatment outcomes for the Latinx community, approaching care with a sociocultural lens may help. Approximately 9.5% of Hispanics will struggle with alcohol dependency during the course of their lives, whereas 13.8 % of non-Hispanic Whites struggle with the same dependency.

Acculturation and Alcohol: What Did We Learn?

Unfortunately, alcohol and substance abuse are challenges across all cultures and is one of our commonalities. However, the Hispanic community is plagued with a unique set of circumstances when it comes to substance abuse. The present analyses used data from a cross-sectional study with a sample of 200 participants from the Project on Health among Emerging Adult Latinos (Project HEAL). A quota sampling design was used to enroll participants in Maricopa County, Arizona and Miami-Dade County, Florida. The target quota for Arizona was 100 participants and within Arizona we aimed to enroll 15 non-college student women, 15 non-college student men, 35 college student women, and 35 college student men.

Alcohol Use Severity among Hispanic Emerging Adults: Examining the Roles of Bicultural Self-efficacy and Acculturation

Third, due to the cross-sectional design, the causal or directional ordering of associations found cannot be inferred. Lastly, generalizability may be limited due to the non-probability sampling technique that was utilized in the current study. Also, the sample size adequacy limited the ability to examine subgroup variations attributable to different Hispanic heritage groups.

It examines such social harms as driving under the influence and alcohol-attributed violence but primarily focuses on health harms like fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), liver diseases, and cancers. The higher level of risky drinking for Native Americans and Hispanic men and the increased occurrence of alcohol consequences for Native Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks may indicate a greater need for alcohol treatment in these populations. For Native American men, Beals et al. (2005) reported more help seeking from specialty alcohol or drug treatment providers relative to the U.S. population, but there were no differences for women. Comparatively, Alaska Natives report less use of psychiatrists, medical doctors, and psychologists for alcohol problems than Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics (Hesselbrock et al. 2003). However, the differences in alcohol services for Alaska Natives may represent a lower availability of some professionals in Alaska.

Drinking and driving among Whites and Hispanics on and off the US/Mexico border in California

Other than these patterns of consumption, the volume of alcohol intake, defined as the total alcohol consumed over a time period, is linked to social and health harms. The J and U shapes are characterized by both detrimental and beneficial (e.g., increased high-density lipoprotein “good cholesterol”) (Goldberg and Soleas 2001) effects of alcohol use, with higher risks for abstainers and heavy drinkers compared with light or moderate drinkers. However, this relationship is complex and varies by age, gender, and ethnicity (Roerecke and Rehm 2012). Drinking levels that may be protective of cardiovascular health among men also may increase the risk for other harms such as injury, violence, gastrointestinal disease, and some cancers.

Higher rates of high-risk drinking among ethnic minorities are reported for Native Americans and Hispanics, although within-ethnic group differences (e.g., gender, age-group, and other subpopulations) also are evident for ethnicities. Whites and Native Americans have a greater risk for alcohol use disorders relative to other ethnic groups. However, once alcohol dependence occurs, Blacks and Hispanics experience higher rates than Whites of recurrent or persistent dependence. Furthermore, the consequences of drinking appear to be more profound for Native Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks. Explanations for these differences are complex, likely affected by risky drinking behaviors, immigration experiences, racial/ethnic discrimination, economic and neighborhood disadvantage, and variations in alcohol-metabolizing genes.

Still, the scientists acknowledged that their study had limitations and more research is needed. A survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states that binge drinking and alcohol dependency among Hispanics is similar to European Americans, but somewhat higher than those in the African American community. Opportunities to celebrate diversity bring to light our differences that we can appreciate and learn from, as well as the similarities that bring us together.