Alcohol use Exacerbates Acculturative Stress Among Recently Immigrated, Young Adult Latinas

Experiences of sexist discrimination as a potential explanatory factor for alcohol and drug misuse among Latina young adult women

RATIONALE

Marianismo beliefs, or traditional female gender role beliefs among Latinas, have been found to serve as risk or protective factors linked with health risk behaviors in prior studies, including alcohol and drug misuse. However, limited research has examined potential factors that may contribute to or explain these associations. Sexist discrimination, which can serve as a significant stressor that may contribute to substance misuse, is one potential factor that may link marianismo beliefs and substance misuse among Latina young adult women.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined sexism as a potential mediator of hypothesized negative associations between five marianismo beliefs (Family Pillar, Virtuous and Chaste, Subordinate to Others, Silencing Self to Maintain Harmony, and Spiritual Pillar) and alcohol and drug misuse using structural equation modeling.

METHOD

Participants included 611 cisgender Latina full-time college student young adult women in the U.S. ages 18-26 who participated in an online cross-sectional survey about their health and behaviors.

RESULTS

Results delineated experiences of sexism as a significant risk factor for alcohol and drug misuse and as a potential explanatory factor that may partly explain associations between certain marianismo beliefs (i.e., Virtuous and Chaste beliefs) and substance misuse. Specifically, experiences of sexism partially accounted for the negative association between endorsement of the Virtuous and Chaste belief and increased alcohol and drug misuse among Latina young adults.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevention and intervention efforts should take a culturally responsive, gender-informed approach to address substance misuse among Latina young adults and address the negative influence of sexism on health.

Health Risk Behaviours by Immigrants’ Duration of Residence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives: The aim was to systematically review and synthesise international evidence on changes in health risk behaviours by immigrants’ duration of residence.

Methods: We searched literature databases for peer-reviewed quantitative studies published from 2000 to 2019, examining alcohol, drug and tobacco use; physical inactivity; and dietary habits by duration of residence.

Results: Narrative synthesis indicated that immigrants tend to adopt health risk behaviours with longer residence in North America, with larger variation in effect sizes and directionality in other contexts. Random-effects meta-analyses examining the pooled effect across all receiving countries and immigrant groups showed lower odds of smoking (OR 0.54, 0.46–0.63, I² = 68.7%) and alcohol use (OR 0.61, 0.47–0.75, I² = 93.5%) and higher odds of physical inactivity (OR 1.71, 1.40–2.02, I² = 99.1%) among immigrants than natives, but did not provide support for a universal trend by duration of residence.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that duration of residence could serve as an effective instrument to monitor immigrants’ health changes. However, differences in receiving country contexts and immigrant populations’ composition seem to be important to predict the level and direction of behavioural change.

Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, PROSPERO CRD42018108881.

Acculturation and drinking behavior among Latinxs: a narrative review

Research suggests that acculturation is associated with increased alcohol consumption among Latinxs. The purpose of this narrative review is to contribute to this literature by examining the association between acculturation and alcohol use within current theoretical and etiological frameworks on cultural norms, acculturative stress, and acculturative gaps. This review also compares the utility of these explanatory frameworks for guiding future research. Two databases (PubMed and PsycInfo) were used to identify peer-reviewed studies pertaining to the associations between acculturation and alcohol use among Latinxs. Studies that examined drinking norms, acculturative stress, acculturation gaps, and drinking behavior in Latinxs were included. The types of study approaches and designs included quantitative, qualitative, cross-sectional, cohort, and longitudinal studies published between January 2000 and December 2021. Quality assessment and data synthesis were conducted by two reviewers. A total of 65 articles reporting empirical studies were included in the final review. Eighteen studies did not utilize a specific framework, but generally supported that acculturation is associated with increased alcohol consumption and alcohol related consequences among Latinxs. Additionally, sixteen studies examined cultural norms, twenty-two examined acculturative stress, while only nine utilized a gap discrepancy framework. Studies examining drinking norms appeared to largely explain changes in drinking behavior among Latinas, while studies examining acculturative stress seemed to be better equipped to explain changes in drinking behavior among Latino men. Meanwhile, the Gap Discrepancy Model articulates the gap between old and new cultural influences and can be conceptualized as an additional dimension of acculturative stress.

Discrimination-Based Acculturative Stress, Depression, and Alcohol Use among Latina Emerging Adults During Initial Months in the USA

Background

The present study examined the links between discrimination-based acculturative stress (DAS), depressive symptoms, and alcohol use among recently immigrated Latina young adults and explored potential within-group Latina ethnic differences.

Methods

Structural equation modeling was used to assess these relations among 530 Latina young adults (age 18-23) who had immigrated to the U.S. within approximately 12 months prior to assessment.

Results

Women reporting more DAS indicated more depressive symptoms and alcohol use than counterparts reporting less DAS. Women reporting more time in the U.S. experienced higher levels of DAS. Undocumented participants, and those who had lived in the U.S. for less time, reported more depressive symptoms than their peers.

Discussion

Findings highlight the need for mental health clinicians to attend to their local sociopolitical climate context for discriminatory practices and integrate cultural factors in mental health and alcohol use interventions targeting Latina young adults who recently immigrated to the U.S.

Domains matter: A prospective investigation of traditional feminine gender roles and alcohol use among Latinas

Scholars suggest traditional feminine gender roles (TFGRs) influence alcohol use among U.S. Latinas, but relevant literature is limited. This two-wave study examined how multi-dimensional internal (i.e., beliefs) and external (i.e., practices) TFGR processes related to drinking among college-bound Latina emerging adults across time. TFGRs characterized by virtue predicted less alcohol engagement, while some TFGR dimensions (e.g., subordinate) predicted more. TFGR practices more strongly predicted cross-sectional alcohol outcomes than TFGR beliefs, although some TFGR beliefs predicted later drinking. These findings highlight the utility of assessing multiple TFGR dimensions and domains to better understand the link between TFGRs and drinking among Latinas.

International Students' Mental Health Care in China: A Systematic Review

International students in China are facing difficulties while adapting their Chinese culture, and their life is influenced by the widespread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and caring for their mental health is currently challenging. As a result, our aim is to explore the current mental health care of this minority in China and to provide useful suggestions for future research and institutes. We used the systematic review method, and it was conducted on 11 existing pieces of literature. Our results confirm the unsatisfying psychological situation of international students and the lack of research in this area. We focus on the causes and symptoms of mental problems and explore the effectiveness of methods.

Acculturative Stress and the Effects on Health and Health Behaviors in Hispanic Immigrants: A Systematic Review

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate previously published literature that examined the impact of acculturative stress on health in Spanish-speaking populations. The database search yielded a final count of 32 eligible articles for inclusion in this review. Age, acculturative stress measure, and study results were analyzed. Overall, 81.2% of studies investigated the impacts of acculturative stress on mental health with the majority concluding that increased acculturative stress had a significant relationship with greater mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, and psychological stress. Other studies in this review examined impacts on physical health and health behaviors, but yielded inconclusive results indicating that these are areas for future research.

"En la Lucha": Strategies to Improve HIV Care for Puerto Ricans with Opioids Use Disorders

BACKGROUND

Clínica Bienestar is a comprehensive HIV primary care clinic for Spanish-speaking Latinx with opioids use disorders (OUD). This article describes the barriers and trajectories to HIV viral suppression for Puerto Ricans with a transnational profile and dual diagnoses (HIV and OUD), and the strategies applied to increase retention in care.

METHODS

Case study methodology was used to select two patient life histories that illustrate the most common pathways to success in reducing HIV viral load to undetectable and achieving OUD long-term recovery.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Patients' major challenges included: (1) Persistent migrating while seeking substance use treatment services with limited or no support from their sending and hosting communities; (2) Intersectional stigmas; (3) Untreated trauma; (4) Language and cultural barriers. Clínica Bienestar's service model included ten strategies to retain patients in care (e.g., Case management to identify cases with high social isolation), six emerged as central to addressing transnational challenges.

Patterns of Primary Care Use Among Young Adult Refugees Resettled in Colorado

Little is known about the prevalence of young adult refugees' primary care use following resettlement in Colorado. Among a sample of Bhutanese and Burmese young adult refugees resettled in Colorado, proportions with a primary care provider (PCP), physical exam in the last 12 months, and knowledge to make an appointment were calculated across 4 years and compared within the refugee population by demographics using Pearson's Chi-Squared tests and compared to older refugees and to the general population using two-tailed tests of proportions. Greater than 70% of young adult refugees reported a physical exam in the last 12 months during the 4 years after arrival. Disparities were identified within young adult refugees by sex, marital status and country of origin. Young adult refugees were significantly different than both refugees over 55 and the general population in terms of their primary care use. Young adult refugees need support to identify PCPs earlier in resettlement and maintain primary care use years after resettlement.

Representation of gender in migrant health studies - a systematic review of the social epidemiological literature

Background

Gender as a social construct contributes to determine who migrates and which migration-related risks and opportunities emerge in all phases of the migration trajectory. Simultaneously, migration influences the individual as well as societal definition and perception of gender roles. An explicit gender perspective in migration-related epidemiological research can contribute to adequately analyse and interpret the health of migrants. This systematic review gives a comprehensive overview on how gender has been conceptualised, operationalised and measured in social epidemiologic studies aiming to assess the influence of gender on health among migrants.

Methods

We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, EconLit and PsycINFO and conducted backward reference searching. Reviewers independently selected studies, extracted data and conducted the quality assessment. Eligible studies actively aimed to understand, identify or explain the influence of gender on migrants’ health, whereby the role of gender can encompass a variety of mechanisms, processes or states of differentiation, discrimination and/or inequality.

Results

Almost all of the 43 studies were cross-sectional and focussed on health outcomes in the post-migration phase. The most common theme of research was the health of male migrants in the US, and in particular of men who have sex with men (MSM). All studies treated gender as a binary variable (men vs. women), without discussing additional types of gender identities. A minority of studies differentiated clearly between sex and gender. Gender was mostly operationalised through attitudes toward gender roles and gender-based discrimination, experienced at the individual level. Community and societal level gender measures capturing structural gender determinants were underrepresented.

Conclusions

The intersections of migration and gender suggested synergistic effects on health that only become visible when considering those two social determinants together. Future research needs to embrace a multilevel and non-binary understanding of gender and reflect on the influence of gender in the different phases of the migration journey.

Systematic review registration

PROSPERO CRD42019124698.

Traditional gender roles and alcohol use among Latinas/os: A review of the literature

Research indicates alcohol use among Latinas/os occurs within a gendered context. Scholars surmise this is due to traditional gender roles (TGRs) of Latina/o culture, but without an analysis of the literature these assertions are unclear. Thus, this article provides a narrative review of the extant TGRs and alcohol use literature among Latinas/os. Thirteen articles met inclusion criteria. Across studies, findings were mixed, aside from those suggesting TGRs composed of hypermasculinity (i.e., traditional machismo) were robustly related to drinking. Tests of mediation and moderation indicated TGRs and alcohol use should be assessed within a multivariate framework. Future research should address these inconsistencies through methodological refinements. In addition, we suggest the integration of existing theoretical perspectives to assist with scholarly development in this area.