Demographic and psychosocial risk for alcohol use: ethnic differences.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We examined the influence of demographic variables, and social (parents and peers), attitudinal and intentions variables regarding alcohol use on actual drinking behavior among Asian and white populations. METHOD: Asian (n = 148; 79 female, 69 male) and white (n = 132; 72 female, 60 male) college students completed a questionnaire. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that social and attitudinal factors reflected a common construct of Psychosocial Vulnerability which, in a structural equation model, was significantly predicted by ethnicity. The white population was exposed to more psychosocial risks to alcohol use compared to the Asian population. Ethnicity, however, did not directly predict either drinking intentions or drinking behavior, after the effects on Psychosocial Vulnerability were considered. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that ethnic differences in alcohol use between Asians and whites are mainly due to different levels of exposure to risk factors. Effective prevention programs must consider, not only psychosocial factors, but also certain contextual factors such as sex and ethnicity.

Author information

Author/s: Keefe, K (K); Newcomb, M D (MD);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1563, USA.

Grants: DA01070 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS) ; MH44331 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; MH44331-06SI (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of studies on alcohol (J Stud Alcohol), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1996-Sep; vol 57 (issue 5) : pp 521-30

Dates: Created 1997/01/29; Completed 1997/01/29; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 8858549, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

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