Developmentally appropriate strategies are needed to delay initiation of alcohol use, because the family environment may be less influential compared with the influence of peers, social norms, and media among older adolescents and young adults. Future interventions should focus on multiple levels of societal environments, from the community to the individual level. Individual-level factors that influence alcohol use are nested within home, work, and school environments, which are nested within the larger community. Macro-level factors, such as exposure ecstasy withdrawal and detox symptoms and timelines to advertising, may influence family and peer network attitudes and norms, which ultimately affect individual attitudes and behaviors. The heterogeneity of patients who completed the Alcohol Symptom Checklist online versus in clinic is an important finding that underscores the need for both modalities to avoid inequitable identification of AUD. Young adults (aged years), older adults (aged ≥65 years), patients of minoritized racial and ethnic backgrounds, and patients who needed an interpreter were more likely to complete checklists in clinic.

After Rehab: How To Stay Sober When You Come Home From Treatment

This was particularly true for women, suggesting gender norms around alcohol use may be a factor. However, Borrell and colleagues (2007) did report an association between discrimination and past-year alcohol use. Past studies suggest that African Americans with higher levels of education were more likely to report experiencing discrimination, whereas the opposite was true among Whites (Borrell et al. 2007; Krieger et al. 1998). This may be because better educated African Americans find themselves in situations in which they may be exposed to discrimination, or they may be more acutely aware of how subtly it can be expressed.

Acculturation and Alcohol

In particular, Native American violent crime victims were more likely (62 percent) than other violent crime victims to report alcohol use by their offender, including Whites (43 percent), Blacks (35 percent), and Asians (33 percent). 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).

Procedure and Participants

Alarmingly, according to two nationally representative samples, trends in alcohol misuse increased among both men and women and African-American and Hispanic youth over the decade between 1991–1992 and 2001–2002. Rates of dependence also increased among men, young Black women, and Asian men during the same time period (Grant et al. 2004). 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.

Where to find immediate support via Spanish-speaking hotlines

Participants explained that high-risk drinking is seen as a phase of youth, and an inescapable habit for Hispanic men. Thus, early signs of problems with alcohol are easily overlooked by family and individuals alike. The men discussed that because alcohol use is not perceived to be a problem, that treatment is not perceived as necessary until they face grave consequences of their alcohol abuse, such as serious health problems, loss of family, or driving under the influence (DUI) convictions. Levels of acculturation could also greatly influence alcohol use among this population (Castañeda et al., 2019; Zemore, 2007).

Among female current drinkers, Puerto Ricans report a higher weekly consumption (9.5 drinks), which is almost three times higher than the rate for other women. The t-tests indicated significant differences in weekly alcohol consumption between Puerto Rican and Cuban American women; between Puerto Rican and Mexican American women; and between Puerto Rican and D/SC women. The normalization of alcohol abuse compounded by macho-driven self-reliance generates a peer-to-peer environment that can exacerbate problems with alcohol and deter individuals from treatment. Participants mentioned that most men will reach out to their closest drinking companions for advice when problems with alcohol abuse arise.

We evaluated the cumulative impact of DIF by estimating how total scores would be expected to change due to DIF if a patient with the same level of latent AUD completed checklists online vs in clinic (Multimedia Appendix 4 [6,14-20]). Puerto Ricans are likely to drink significantly more per week compared to Cuban Americans (Table IV). Drinking initiation before age 18 or younger and men who are either US-or foreign-born are factors of risk of consuming more alcohol per week. Protective factors are having a college degree or professional education and being retired or a homemaker. Binge drinking rates vary considerably across women with Puerto Rican women reporting rates nearly twice as high as the other groups. However, statistically significant differences across age groups are present only for Cuban Americans.

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). Examining interactions between acculturation and bicultural self-efficacy would not only deepen our understanding of bicultural self-efficacy, but it would also advance our understanding of substance use behavior among ethnic minorities. Some key components of this framework are that acculturation can act as a moderator that influences distinct forms of adaptation. One type of adaptation in this framework is sociocultural adaptation, operationalized as a person’s “fit” within their new receiving culture and ability to respond to the demands of the social environment. This framework also proposed that individuals who develop a higher degree of sociocultural adaptation are more likely to experience better psychological adaptation (e.g., psychological and behavioral well-being; Berry, 1997).

Given that Hispanics/Latinos are more likely to experience SES disparities in the United States [23], more research is needed. The following limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study. First, the present study utilized self-report measures that are susceptible to participant misrepresentation and error. Second, our assessment of acculturation was limited to linguistic acculturation and only two domains of bicultural self-efficacy were examined out of a possible six. 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.

1. Relating neighborhood characteristics to alcohol use risk is useful for public health program planning because it allows policymakers and programmers to understand how changing structural-level factors of the built environment may affect health risk behaviors, including alcohol use.
2. As a result, the variety in experiences with alcohol and treatment seeking offered valuable internal and external perspectives to the phenomenology this study explored, which is a strength of this study.
3. Role repertoire refers to one’s level of confidence in using or learning culturally appropriate behaviors in relation to both cultural groups (David et al., 2009).
4. Prevention and treatment programs should account for the broader socioeconomic context of participants as part of comprehensive treatment plans.

Thus, the data indicates that there are only slight differences in the percentages of individuals of Hispanic origin and non-Hispanic origin who need treatment for substance use disorders, get treatment for substance use disorders, and do not get treatment for substance use disorders. 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. Studies are beginning to recognize the importance of premigration factors, including levels of alcohol use before migration as well as the cultural influences of countries of origin (Sanchez et al. 2014; Walsh et al. 2014). One study (Sanchez et al. 2014) among Latinos found that Latino men had higher levels of alcohol use before immigration, with steeper declines postmigration compared with Latino women.

Differences in social and socioeconomic factors and biological differences related to alcohol metabolism also could contribute to alcohol’s varying effects across populations. This article reviews current research examining the harms of drinking for U.S. ethnic 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. Individual interviews were conducted using a semistructured interview guide (Table 2) formulated to elicit perspectives related to alcohol abuse, masculinity, and treatment seeking behaviors.

The overall treatment program for an alcohol use disorder as specified by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) would not vary substantially. According to a joint effort produced by SAMHSA and the Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment, it should include some specific considerations. Increased drinking to cope with pandemic-related stressors, shifting alcohol policies, and disrupted treatment access are all possible contributing factors,” study authors wrote. Despite these challenges, does ketamine cause cardiac arrest it is important to develop new strategies to systematically examine the impact of advertising and marketing on alcohol use among different populations. For example, researchers might continue to compare marketing and advertising strategies within specific neighborhoods to more fully understand targeted marketing’s influence on alcohol use. Further research and evaluation studies also are needed that can help establish whether and how advertising and marketing can lead to alcohol use in vulnerable and disadvantaged populations.

Older men also drink because of their respected status in the family and community; drinking thus is an earned right and an indicator of economic stability. In summary, these findings on volume of drinking and binge drinking by age suggest that older US Hispanic men are at a considerable risk of developing alcohol-related problems because of their continued drinking. The purpose of this study was to examine Hispanic male perspectives regarding alcohol abuse treatment-seeking behaviors and the structural, sociocultural, and individual factors that may influence initiation and continued engagement in treatment in this population.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2009b) statistics on alcohol-related motor vehicle crash deaths also point to an important subgroup difference for Asians. In 2006, the overall death rate among Asians (1.8 per 100,000 people) obscured the death rate among Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (5.9), which was less than the rate for Native Americans but similar to that for Hispanics (14.5 and 5.2, respectively). Two-way interaction with Hispanic orientation moderating the association between the social groundedness domain of bicultural self-efficacy and alcohol use severity.

Moreover, Asian-American adolescents who have a high attachment to family or who share their family’s negative attitudes toward drinking are less likely to consume alcohol (Hahm et al. 2003). The sample included patients who completed annual screening at a primary care appointment and thus represent the population that uses care agonist definition and usage examples but may not represent other groups that do not receive primary care. While processes for completing the Alcohol Symptom Checklist online versus in clinic differed, these differences reflect actual clinical assessment procedures, providing high external validity regarding how checklists perform under real-world conditions.