Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #103260

Dionne Godette, PhD, Youth Alcohol Prevention Center, Boston University, School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, 580 3rd floor, Boston, MA 02118, 617-414-8445, dgodette@bu.edu, Erika Edwards, MPH, Data Coordinating Center, Boston University, School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, 580-2, Boston, MA 02118, and Timothy Heeren, PhD, Department of Biostatistics, Boston University, School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Tablot E424, Boston, MA 02118.

Although Blacks drink in lower amounts and less frequently than those in most other U.S. racial groups, they suffer higher prevalences and more severe consequences of alcohol use. Most studies of problem drinking explore the relationship between levels of alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences or focus on racial comparisons of the incidence or prevalence of alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences. What is missing from the evidence, is the investigation of factors, other than alcohol use, that may contribute to the disparity that Blacks experience related to alcohol-related social consequences. Few studies have attempted to investigate socioeconomic factors that may precede alcohol use in the pathway to alcohol-related social consequences. Even fewer studies have focused on this within a population of Blacks.

Young adulthood (age 18-24) may be a critical period in the development of sustained alcohol-related social consequences for Blacks. Young adulthood is a time when patterns of “escapist” drinking are most likely to emerge; as a result, this period may be crucial to understanding disparities in alcohol-related consequences experienced by Blacks. Informed by life course theory and theories of stress and coping, this study uses a sub-sample (N=979) of Black young adult respondents to the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions to test the hypothesis that alcohol use mediates the relationship between socioeconomic factors such as educational attainment, household income, and occupation and alcohol-related social consequences. Results of this study will contribute to our understanding of the etiology of alcohol-related social consequences among Blacks in the U.S.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session the participants will be able to

• Discuss the role of multiple indicators of socioeconomic status in the etiology of alcohol-related social problems among Black young adults.
• Assess the role of SES in contributing to disparities in alcohol-related social problems among Blacks during young adulthood.

Keywords: African American, Alcohol

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.