In terms of identity, ethnic identification is the extent to which an individual endorses their ethnic group. With regard to US immigration, there is also Americanism or the extent to which an individual is attached to the US. Though each domain can have an influence of substance use, the retention of Hispanic cultural practices is considered protective against substance use including alcohol use (Schwartz et al., 2011). However, the influence of these cultural factors on alcohol use among Latino immigrants with a family history of alcohol use is largely unknown. Accordingly, the first aim of this study was to examine associations of acculturation orientations and domains of bicultural self-efficacy with alcohol use severity among Hispanic emerging adults.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Among the Hispanic Population
Thus, inclusion of these data is essential to better understand Hispanic/Latino population’s risk factors what happens if i report a drug dealer for at-risk alcohol consumption. Our study objective is to fill these important gaps in the available scientific literature by examining the prevalence and patterns of alcohol use in a large, diverse Hispanic/Latino sample residing in the U.S., including the relationship between alcohol use, sex, SES, and proxies of acculturation. The relationship between acculturation and alcohol use among Hispanics/Latinos has been examined extensively 11, 15.
Acculturation and Alcohol: What Did We Learn?
- Since it can be stressful when a person or group is treated differently than other groups of people, individuals belonging to marginalized groups may respond to discrimination with potentially harmful coping mechanisms such as substance use.
- Briefly, a stratified two-stage area probability sample of household addresses was selected in each of the four field centers.
- Both acculturation and assimilation have been found to impact substance use within the Latinx community, for example in 2008 and 2019 research.
- Our study objective is to fill these important gaps in the available scientific literature by examining the prevalence and patterns of alcohol use in a large, diverse Hispanic/Latino sample residing in the U.S., including the relationship between alcohol use, sex, SES, and proxies of acculturation.
Characteristics of Latino Immigrants with or without a family history of alcohol use at baseline. Of past-year Latino American drinkers, 26% engaged in heavy drinking regularly (at least once a month). Communities from a variety of Central and South American countries have immigrated to the states over the years, bringing their unique traditions and culture.
Sample characteristics
However, our findings need to be replicated and more studies are needed with more diverse Hispanic samples (e.g., ages, nativity) and inclusion of other bicultural self-efficacy domains. Based on the interaction we found between acculturation and bicultural self-efficacy—future studies should continue to examine how other sociocultural processes may influence solution based treatment bicultural self-efficacy in relation to substance use behavior. The following limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study.
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. Using PROCESS v3.2 for SPSS (Hayes, 2017), moderation analyses were conducted with 50,000 bootstraps to examine the extent to which potential moderating variables influenced the direction and/or strength of respective associations with alcohol use severity. All moderation analyses controlled for all variables in the HMR model that were not included in respective interaction terms. Given these mixed findings and the rapid growth and diversity of Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S., more current research is needed to examine the relationship between various social factors and drinking patterns in this population. Hispanics/Latinos include a diverse array of heritage groups, socioeconomic statuses, and degrees of acculturation (i.e., generational status, years living in the US, and language use preferences).
Binge Drinking and Other Bad Habits
Given the growing numbers of Mexican background individuals in the US, more research is needed to further examine factors that may contribute to at-risk alcohol use among this group. Further, more research is needed to examine acculturation levels and potential mediators (e.g., acculturative stress) and at-risk drinking for Hispanic/Latina women. Overall, these findings underlie the importance of tailoring research and intervention programs to examine socio-economic and sex-specific factors contributing to alcohol use among Hispanics/Latinos. Over half (58%) were women, 40% had greater than a high school education, 23% were U.S. born (including mainland and U.S. territories), 25% preferred English as their first language, 50% were working either full or part-time, and 49% were married or living with a partner. Almost 30% were former drinkers (33%women, 27%men), and 52% were current drinkers (41%women, 63%men). Overall, 26% had no risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD) (39%women, 14%men), 65% were low risk for AUD (56%women, 74%men), and 9% were at-risk for AUD (5%women, 12.2%men).
However, it has been shown to be the best approach to find hidden populations of immigrants particularly undocumented immigrants. Finally, as with any cohort study, there is a possibility for selection bias from attrition. However, the RLIS has an excellent retention rate and selection bias due to loss to follow up is not likely to effect the sample. Graph of the interaction of family history of alcohol use and positive alcohol outcome expectancies. In addition, respective communities of settlement may also have a distinct context of reception—the social expectations of how immigrants and racial/ethnic minorities should interact with and acculturate toward the receiving culture (Schwartz et al., 2010; Schwartz, Unger, et al., 2014). For instance, research from 2015 indicates that Mexican Americans reported higher rates of alcohol use disorder, whereas Puerto Ricans were more likely to report illegal drug use.
Since it can be stressful when a person or group is treated differently than other groups of people, individuals belonging to marginalized groups may respond to discrimination with potentially harmful coping mechanisms such as substance use. Untreated mental health conditions are often cited as one possible root of substance use. Health departments and healthcare providers can find methods to screen what is mary jane drug for excessive alcohol use on the CDC’s Alcohol and Public Health webpage. “Screening and brief intervention for excessive alcohol use (ASBI) is an effective clinical prevention strategy for reducing excessive drinking, but it is underused in clinical settings,” according to the CDC. Binge drinking is defined as “consuming 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women,” by the CDC.