Racial differences in the link between alcohol expectancies and adolescent drinking

Social epidemiology of early adolescent alcohol expectancies

PURPOSE

To determine the sociodemographic correlates of alcohol expectancies (i.e., beliefs regarding positive or negative effects of alcohol) in a national (U.S.) cohort of early adolescents 10-14 years old. A second aim was to determine associations between alcohol sipping and alcohol expectancies.

METHODS

We analyzed cross-sectional data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (N = 11,868; Year 2). Linear regression analyses were conducted to estimate associations between sociodemographic factors (sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, household income, parental education, parent marital status, religiosity) and positive (e.g., stress reduction) and negative (e.g., loss of motor coordination) alcohol expectancies. Additional linear regression analyses determined associations between alcohol sipping and alcohol expectancies, adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

RESULTS

Overall, 48.8% of the participants were female and 47.6% racial/ethnic minorities, with a mean age of 12.02 (SD 0.67) years. Older age among the early adolescent sample, male sex, and sexual minority identification were associated with more positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Black and Latino/Hispanic adolescents reported less positive and negative alcohol expectancies compared to White non-Latino/Hispanic adolescents. Having parents with a college education or greater and a household income of $200,000 and greater were associated with higher positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Alcohol sipping was associated with higher positive alcohol expectancies.

CONCLUSIONS

Older age, White non-Latino/Hispanic race, male sex, sexual minority status, higher parental education, and higher household income were associated with higher positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Future research should examine the mechanisms linking these specific sociodemographic factors to alcohol expectancies to inform future prevention and intervention efforts.

Sociocultural influences on alcohol expectancies in early adolescence: Findings from the ABCD study

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol expectancies (AE) during early adolescence predict early alcohol use initiation and problem drinking both cross-sectionally and prospectively well into adulthood. Yet, our understanding of the sociocultural factors associated with AE during this development period remains limited. This study examines associations between AE and sociocultural factors across various domains (i.e., individual, family, peer, school, community, and culture) in a demographically diverse sample of 10- to 14-year-old youth in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study).

METHOD

This cross-sectional study used 2-year follow-up data from the ABCD Release 3.0 for N = 5,322 early adolescents (Mage = 12 years [SD = 0.6]; 47% male). Approximately 60% identified as non-Hispanic/Latinx White, 17% as Hispanic/Latinx, 11% as non-Hispanic/Latinx Black, 2% as non-Hispanic/Latinx Asian, and 11% as mixed/other race-ethnicity. Separate models for positive and negative AE outcomes were conducted using linear mixed-effect models while controlling for demographic covariates.

RESULTS

Positive AE were most strongly associated with familism, followed by other peer, school, community, and cultural level factors. Negative AE were most strongly associated with the peer-level factor of relational victimization and the individual-level factor of negative life events, followed by other peer, school, and community-level factors.

CONCLUSION

The present findings reveal the potential constellation of sociocultural factors that may serve as targets for modifying AE during the middle school years. Study results also underscore the need for future research that integrates cultural factors into our understanding of alcohol use risk and resilience during early adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Measurement Invariance and Differential Relationship to Substance Use of the Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale Across Racial Groups

The Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior (SUPPS-P) scale assesses impulsive traits; however, its use among racial/ethnic minorities needs further testing. The aims of this study are to (a) test the measurement invariance of the SUPPS-P scale between White and racial/ethnic minority groups and (b) determine whether impulsive personality traits differentially relate to substance use outcomes across these groups. Participants were 1,301 young adults and recruited through a large public university or Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis concluded strong measurement invariance for Black, Asian American, and Hispanic/Latino groups, each compared with a White group. Most relationships between SUPPS-P traits and substance use did not differ across the groups compared, although two differences emerged with alcohol use. The SUPPS-P can validly and reliably measure impulsive traits in Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American young to middle adults. Previous findings on risk patterns with the SUPPS-P likely generalize to these groups.

The association between child alcohol sipping and alcohol expectancies in the ABCD study

BACKGROUND

Underage drinking is a serious societal concern, yet relatively little is known about child sipping of alcohol and its relation to beliefs about alcohol. The current study aimed to (1) examine the contexts in which the first sip of alcohol occurs (e.g., type of alcohol, who provided sip, sip offered or taken without permission); (2) examine the association between sipping and alcohol expectancies; and (3) explore how different contexts of sipping are related to alcohol expectancies. We expected to find that children who had sipped alcohol would have increased positive expectancies and reduced negative expectancies compared to children who had never sipped alcohol.

METHODS

Data were derived from the 2.0 release of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a longitudinal study of children in the United States. We utilized data from 4,842 children ages 9-11; 52% were male, 60% were White, 19% were Hispanic/Latinx, and 9% were Black/African American.

RESULTS

We found that 22% of the sample had sipped alcohol. Children reported sipping beer most frequently, and the drink most often belonged to the child's father. We found that children who had sipped had higher positive alcohol expectancies than children who had not while accounting for variables related to alcohol expectancies. Child sipping was not significantly associated with negative expectancies and the context of the first sip of alcohol was not significantly associated with positive and negative expectancies.

CONCLUSIONS

Providing sips of alcohol to children is associated with them having more favorable expectations about drinking.

Revisiting resilience: Examining the relationships between stress, social support, and drinking behavior among black college students with parental substance use disorder histories

The study examined the role social support plays in the relationship between life stress and problem alcohol use behavior in a sample of Black emerging adults in college with histories of parental substance use disorders (SUD). Participants were 1,007 Black emerging adult college students, recruited as part of a larger multi-wave, multisite, study investigating coping behavior among emerging adults in college. Findings suggest that Black college students with parental SUDs engage in riskier and coping motivated drinking behaviors more than those without such histories, and their alcohol use behaviors are more strongly linked to experiencing life stress, despite similar levels of perceived social support. Social support from friends and sufficient global social support help to mediate this adverse relationship. Parental SUD may serve as a readily identifiable risk factor for risky drinking behavior among Black college students. Implications for future research and clinical practice are presented.

Cultural socialization and alcohol use: The mediating role of alcohol expectancies among racial/ethnic minority youth

Introduction

Cultural socialization is associated with reduced risk for several health outcomes among racial/ethnic minority youth. However, to date, less is known about its effect on substance use or the mechanisms through which this process may operate. The current study aimed to examine the effect of cultural socialization on alcohol use through alcohol expectancies among racial/ethnic minority youth.

Methods

113 minority adolescents (69.9% African American; 13.3% Hispanic; 10.6% Multiracial; 2.7% American Indian/Alaskan Native) between ages 12 and 18 (mean age 15) were recruited from community-based after school centers. Participants completed measures on cultural socialization, four alcohol expectancy domains (i.e., positive social, wild and crazy, negative arousal, and sedation), and past year alcohol use.

Results

A significant indirect pathway between cultural socialization, alcohol expectancies and alcohol use was found for negative arousal expectancies (b = −0.160, Boot CI [95] = −0.413, −0.021). Indirect paths were non-significant for the other three alcohol expectancies.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that cultural socialization can help reduce alcohol use among racial/ethnic minority adolescents, in part though influencing negative arousal expectancies. Given evidence that alcohol expectancies play an important and long-lasting role in alcohol use across development, incorporating cultural socialization into intervention programming for racial/ethnic minority youth may prove beneficial to reduce risk for alcohol use.

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Cultural socialization was associated with negative arousal alcohol expectancies.

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Negative arousal expectancies were associated with lower risk for alcohol use.

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Cultural socialization was associated with alcohol use through negative arousal.

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A non-significant indirect effect was found for the other alcohol expectancies.

Examination of the indirect effect of alcohol expectancies on ethnic identity and adolescent drinking outcomes

Although overall rates of alcohol use tend to be lower among racial/ethnic minority youth compared to White youth, consequences associated with use tend to be more severe. Identifying factors that prevent alcohol use is crucial to reducing its impact among minority adolescents. One such factor is ethnic identity, which involves gaining clarity about one's ethnic background and regard toward one's ethnic group. Strong ethnic identity has been found to work through antidrug beliefs to decrease minority youth's substance use. The current study extends previous literature by examining whether specific alcohol cognitions-alcohol expectancies-explain the promotive effect of ethnic identity on alcohol use and severity of alcohol use among minority youth. Participants were 113 ethnic minority youth ages 12-18 (M = 15.27). Most participants were male (66%) and identified as non-Hispanic African American/Black (70%), followed by Hispanic/Latino (15%), multiracial (12%), and American Indian/Native American (3%). Participants completed self-report measures of ethnic identity, positive and negative alcohol expectancies, and hazardous drinking, which were analyzed in an indirect effects model. Results indicated that ethnic identity was inversely related to negative alcohol expectancies. A significant indirect effect of ethnic identity on severity of alcohol use through negative alcohol expectancies was found. However, no indirect effect was found for positive alcohol expectancies. Findings suggest that strong ethnic identity serves as a promotive factor preventing alcohol use for ethnic minority youth, in part through more negative alcohol expectancies, and may be a beneficial target for intervention programs to reduce alcohol use among this group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Factor associated with alcohol use among Lahu and Akha hill tribe youths, northern Thailand

BACKGROUND

Alcohol use impacts several dimensions, including physical health, mental health, families, and social interactions. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and to determine the factors associated with alcohol use among Akha and Lahu hill tribe youths in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

METHODS

An analytic cross-sectional design was applied to obtain key data on these associations. The study sample was Akha and Lahu hill tribe youths aged 15-24 years who lived in 30 selected hill tribe villages. A questionnaire was developed from an in-depth interview and group discussion and tested for validation and reliability before use. Descriptive statistics were used to demonstrate the general characteristics, and Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to detect associations between variables at α=0.05.

RESULTS

A total of 737 subjects were recruited into the study, of whom 50.0% were Lahu. The average age was 17.9 years, 80.7% were single, 71.1% were Christian, 65.9% graduated secondary school, and 65.7% had their major source of income from their parents. Overall, 17.3% smoked and 45.0% drank alcohol. Among the drinkers, 79.8% drank beer, 61.5% started drinking at an age of 15-19 years, 86.8% had drank for < 5 years, 42.5% were persuaded to drink by their peers, 20.2% suffered an accident after alcohol use, and 17.2% had experienced unsafe sex after drinking alcohol. In the multiple logistic regression, six variables were associated with alcohol use among the Akha and Lahu youths. Males had greater odds of alcohol use than females (OR_adj = 3.50, 95% CI = 2.24-5.47). Buddhists had greater odds of alcohol use than Christians (OR_adj = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.17-3.04). Participants who were unemployed, employed, and in other categories of occupation had greater odds of alcohol use than those who were students (OR_adj = 2.20, 95% CI = 1.23-3.92; OR_adj = 6.89, 95% CI = 3.38-13.89; and OR_adj = 2.96, 95% CI = 1.01-8.59, respectively). Participants whose fathers were daily wage workers had greater odds of alcohol use (OR_adj = 2.89; 95% CI = 1.23-6.79) than those whose parents worked in agriculture, and those whose fathers used alcohol had greater odds of alcohol use than those whose fathers did not use alcohol (OR_adj = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.40-3.35). Finally, those who had 6-10 and ≥ 11 close friends living in the same village who used alcohol had greater odds of alcohol use (OR_adj = 8.51, 95% CI = 3.10-23.3; and OR_adj = 3.84, 95% CI = 1.15-12.77, respectively).

CONCLUSION

To reduce the initiation of alcohol use among Akha and Lahu youths, public health intervention programs should focus on males who are not attending school and should be implemented for both their family members and peers.

Racial/ethnic differences in the time-varying association between alcohol expectancies and drinking during the transition from childhood to adolescence

Alcohol expectancies are important determinants of adolescent drinking, but this relationship may differ based on race/ethnicity. This study used time-varying effect modeling to examine racial/ethnic differences in positive and negative alcohol expectancies and their relationship with drinking among White, African American, and Hispanic youth. Youth reported alcohol expectancies and drinking frequency from 5th grade to 10th grade. African Americans initially endorsed higher positive alcohol expectancies than Whites, but the relationship with drinking was stronger among Whites. Hispanic youth reported slightly higher negative alcohol expectancies in high school, but the relationship between negative expectancies and alcohol use was comparable across groups. The effect of expectancies on alcohol use outcomes may be more robust for Whites, which warrants investigation of risk factors for minority youth.

Longitudinal Associations Between Alcohol-Related Cognitions and Use in African American and European American Adolescent Girls

BACKGROUND

African American (AA) girls initiate alcohol use later and drink less than European American (EA) girls, potentially reflecting differences in the development of drinking behaviors. This study examined alcohol-related cognitions: expectancies, attitudes, and intention to drink, as possible sources of variation by race in alcohol use. The aim of this study was to characterize the nature and degree of association between cognitions and use over time and by race in EA and AA girls.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the longitudinal Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,450), an urban population-based sample of girls and their caregivers recruited when girls were between ages 5 and 8, and assessed annually through adolescence. Cross-lagged panel models were conducted separately by race (56.2% AA, 43.8% EA) to identify patterns of association between alcohol use and cognitions from ages 12 to 17 in 2,173 girls.

RESULTS

Endorsement of cognitions and use was higher overall in EA than AA girls but the magnitude of cross-lagged path coefficients did not differ significantly by race. In both groups, bidirectional effects emerged between intentions and use, and alcohol use largely predicted cognitions across ages. However, intention to drink was the only alcohol-related cognition that consistently predicted subsequent use (odds ratios ranged from 1.55 to 2.71).

CONCLUSIONS

Although rates of alcohol use and endorsement of cognitions were greater in EA than AA girls, the anticipated racial differences in longitudinal associations between cognitions and use did not emerge, indicating that variation in associations between use and cognitions does not account for the lower prevalence of alcohol use in AA compared with EA girls. Furthermore, our finding that intention to drink is a consistent, robust predictor of subsequent alcohol use suggests the need to investigate potentially modifiable factors that influence intention to drink across racial groups.