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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Sarah Zemore, PhD¹, Nina Mulia, DrPH¹, Yu Ye, MA², and Thomas Greenfield, PhD². (1) Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, Bay Center, Building C, Suite 400, 6475 Christie Ave., Emeryville, CA 94608, 510-642-5208, szemore@arg.org, (2) Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, Bay Center, Building C, Suite 400, 6475 Christie Ave., Emeryville, CA 94608

The role of acculturation in health outcomes, health disparities, and service utilization is gaining recognition despite ambiguous empirical results. Indeed, existing literature on acculturation and alcohol use among Latino populations has produced inconclusive findings for many drinking outcomes, although a recent, rigorous analysis of Latinos in the 1996 National Alcohol Survey data did find evidence for the predicted associations between higher acculturation and higher probability of drinking among women, and higher volumes and more frequent drunkenness among female drinkers (Zemore, 2005). (No associations emerged for men.) The current study, thus, aims to replicate and extend Zemore's (2005) findings by analyzing associations between acculturation and a comprehensive array of drinking outcomes, including problematic drinking and dependence symptoms, among Latina women (preliminary n = 512 Hispanics for abstract) in the 2005 National Alcohol Survey. Acculturation was assessed using a version of Caetano's multi-item composite, which has shown good reliability and validity in prior work. Hypotheses suggested that higher acculturation would predict a higher probability of drinking and, among drinkers, greater consumption and more alcohol-related problems. Consistent with predictions, logistic and linear regressions suggested that higher acculturation was associated with higher probabilities of drinking and most drinking outcomes among drinkers (e.g., higher average volumes; higher frequencies of drinking, 3+ drinking, and drunkenness; and higher probability of dependence symptoms). Acculturation was also associated with various demographic variables including ethnic subgroup, birthplace, region, and marital status. Future work will test more complex models that include roles for important covariates such as these.

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

• Describe how increases in acculturation relate to a variety of drinking outcomes among Latinas in the national survey.
• Relate these findings to prior work on this topic.
• Discuss some factors that may help explain the associations between acculturation and drinking outcomes among Latina women.

Keywords: Latinas, Alcohol Use

Related Web page: www.arg.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation