Examining the role of racism in the risky alcohol use behaviors of black female college students

Race-based Traumatic Stress Predicts Risky Drinking, Over and Above Negative Affect, and Non-race-related Trauma Symptoms in Racial/Ethnic Minority Female College Students

OBJECTIVES

Alcohol misuse remains a major concern in college student populations and rates of risky and problematic drinking are specifically on the rise for women. One important factor that has been shown to be positively associated with substance use/misuse for women from historically marginalized or minoritized racial/ethnic backgrounds is exposure to racial discrimination and possible resulting traumatic stress reactions. Questions remain about the relationship between race-based traumatic stress and risky drinking particularly among diverse female college students who are at greater risk due to their marginalized status in their racial/ethnic and gender groups.

DESIGN

The current study examined race-based traumatic stress as a unique predictor of risky drinking when controlling for negative affectivity and general trauma symptoms, additional risk factors for risky drinking in women.

RESULTS

Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that race-based traumatic stress made a significant and unique contribution to the amount of variance in risky drinking, above negative affectivity, and general trauma symptoms.

CONCLUSION

These findings highlight the importance of considering experiences of racism as risk factors in substance use prevention and intervention, specifically for female college students from marginalized or minoritized racial/ethnic backgrounds.

Examining a Race-Sex Interaction Effect on Binge Drinking Among Afro-Latina/o Adults in the US

Latinx/es are often racially homogenized in alcohol use disparities research, leaving the behavioral and mental health status of Afro-Latinx/es unknown. Though Latina/o and Black adults consume less alcohol than non-Latina/o Whites, they may binge drink to cope with discrimination. Gendered racism uniquely and negatively affects Black women's psychological well-being and may increase their chances of engaging in risky drinking. This may be the case for Afro-Latina women, but no study has disaggregated alcohol use disparity outcomes among a nationally representative sample of Latina/o adults by race and sex. This study (1) examines the relationship between racial self-classification (White-Latina/os vs. Afro-Latina/os) and binge drinking in the past year and (2) tests whether sex (male vs. female) moderates the relationship between race and binge drinking. Secondary data that included a respondent sample of 9415 Latina/o adults was obtained and analyzed from the 2013-2018 National Health Interview Survey. Multivariate analyses included logistic regression models to assess the main effects of race, sex, and interaction effect of the two on binge drinking while controlling for sociodemographic variables. The probability of Afro-Latina/o adults binge drinking trends lower than White-Latina/os. Respondents' sex moderated the association between racial self-classification and binge drinking. We discuss racial identity salience, mujerismo, and gendered racism as possible protective and risk factors for Afro-Latina/os and Afro-Latina women to contextualize these findings.

Racial trauma as a risk factor for risky alcohol use in diverse college students

Exposure to potentially traumatic race-based experiences poses a risk factor for risky drinking among college students from historically marginalized racial/ethnic backgrounds. Objective: The current study examined the relationship between both the level (severity) and pattern of race-based traumatic stress (RBTS) reactions and risky drinking. Participants: The current study sample was made up of 62 male (23.5%) and 202 female (76.5%) Latino/a/x, Black, and Asian college students attending a minority-serving institution. Methods: Study participants were asked to participate in an anonymous online survey. Results: A criterion profile analysis revealed that higher scores on RBTS reactions overall, and elevated scores on RBTS - avoidance, low self-esteem, and anger, specifically, were indicative of more risky drinking. Conclusions: These findings highlight a distinct pattern of RBTS scores that may predict a vulnerability to risky drinking and underscore the importance of racial trauma healing in alcohol use prevention and intervention efforts.

A Systematic Review of Black People Coping With Racism: Approaches, Analysis, and Empowerment

This article reviews the current research literature concerning Black people in Western societies to better understand how they regulate their emotions when coping with racism, which coping strategies they use, and which strategies are functional for well-being. A systematic review of the literature was conducted, and 26 studies were identified on the basis of a comprehensive search of multiple databases and reference sections of relevant articles. Studies were quantitative and qualitative, and all articles located were from the United States or Canada. Findings demonstrate that Black people tend to cope with racism through social support (friends, family, support groups), religion (prayer, church, spirituality), avoidance (attempting to avoid stressors), and problem-focused coping (confronting the situation directly). Findings suggest gender differences in coping strategies. We also explore the relationship between coping with physical versus emotional pain and contrast functional versus dysfunctional coping approaches, underscoring the importance of encouraging personal empowerment to promote psychological well-being. Findings may help inform mental-health interventions. Limitations include the high number of American-based samples and exclusion of other Black ethnic and national groups, which is an important area for further exploration.

The Association Between Racial Attitudes, Alcohol Use and Mood Disorders Among Black Adolescents

Alcohol is the most widely used substance among adolescents. Although Black adolescents use alcohol at lower rates than White adolescents, Black adolescents tend to have worse outcomes. This includes higher rates of mood disorders and criminal justice involvement associated with alcohol use and misuse compared to any other racial group. Black adolescents are also more likely to experience racial discrimination and be exposed to traumatic events within their communities, which may increase their chances of using substances. Understanding the relationship between racial attitudes (towards one's own group and others) and substance use and mental health can provide unique and meaningful insight into prevention programming for Black adolescents. Yet, these concepts have been understudied. To fill this gap, we examined the association between racial attitudes and alcohol use and mood disorders in Black adolescents in Philadelphia, PA (N = 154). We used the revised Adolescent Survey of Black Life to measure pro-Black (positive attitudes toward being Black and factors related to Black people), anti-White (negative attitudes toward White people due to experiences of racism and discrimination) and racism awareness (recognition of racism) domains. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the associations. Results showed that: higher pro-Black attitudes were associated with a lower odds of mood disorder (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.55, 0.89); and higher racism awareness was associated with an increased odds of alcohol use (OR = 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06, 1.29). Findings provide preliminary support for interventions and policies for Black adolescents that bolster positive racial identity and eliminate experiences of racism as alcohol use and mood disorder prevention strategies.

Intersectional discrimination from black women, white women, black men, or white men impacts young adult black women's affective states and risky health cognitions

OBJECTIVE

Black women experience pronounced inequalities in alcohol use and sexual risk outcomes. Racial discrimination is a known contributor to health inequalities. However, Black women face unique and intersectional forms of discrimination beyond racial discrimination. The current study investigates how exclusion from four distinct social groups effects Black women's negative affect and risky health cognitions.

DESIGN

Black women (N = 124; ages 18-29) were randomly assigned to be excluded in Cyberball by Black women, Black men, White women, or White men.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Participants responded to measures of internalising (depressive, anxious) and externalising (anger) affect, heavy alcohol use willingness, and risky sex expectations.

RESULTS

Participants primarily attributed exclusion from White women to racial discrimination, exclusion from Black men to gender discrimination, and exclusion from White men to both gender and racial discrimination. When excluded by White women, participants reported the highest levels of anger, depressive affect, and anxiety. Exclusion by White men predicted the greatest heavy drinking willingness, though exclusion by Black men predicted the greatest risky sex expectations.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to demonstrate that exclusion from different social groups leads to differing patterns of negative affect and risky health cognitions in young adult Black women.

Posttraumatic Stress, Alcohol Use, and Alcohol Use Motives among Non-Hispanic Black/African American College Students: The Role of Emotion Regulation

OBJECTIVE

The associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, alcohol use, and alcohol use motives are well-established. Emotion regulation difficulties have been implicated in the association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol use. A dearth of empirical work, however, has examined these associations among Black/African American college students, a population with high prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events, PTSD symptomatology, and alcohol-related consequences.

METHODS

This study examined PTSD symptoms, emotion regulation difficulties, and alcohol use severity and motives among a sample of Black/African American trauma-exposed college students (N = 282; 77.4% identified as female; M age = 22.36, SD = 4.71).

RESULTS

PTSD symptom severity was related to alcohol use and coping and conformity motives for alcohol use through heightened emotion regulation difficulties. Findings were significant above and beyond the effects of trauma load (i.e., number of potentially traumatic event types experienced).

CONCLUSIONS

This study extends past work to an understudied population and contributes to groundwork for culturally informed interventions.

Racial/ethnic discrimination, ADH1B*3, and coping-motivated drinking among Black college students

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Discrimination due to race and/or ethnicity can be a pervasive stressor for Black college students in the United States beyond general negative life events and has demonstrated associations with adverse health and alcohol outcomes. Genetics may confer individual differences in the risk of drinking to cope with discrimination-related stress. This study tested whether associations of racial/ethnic discrimination with coping drinking motives and alcohol use differ as a function of a well-documented variant in the alcohol dehydrogenase 1B gene (ADH1B*3).

METHODS

Cross-sectional data were obtained from 241 Black students (Mage  = 20.04 [range = 18-53]; 66% female) attending a predominantly White university in the northeastern United States. Participants provided a saliva sample for genotyping and self-reported on their racial/ethnic discrimination experiences, coping drinking motives, and past-month total alcohol quantity.

RESULTS

Path models demonstrated that associations of discrimination with alcohol quantity directly or indirectly through coping drinking motives did not differ as a function of ADH1B*3, after controlling for gender, age, negative life events, and potential confounding interactions of covariates with model predictors. Regardless of ADH1B*3, greater experience of negative life events was associated with higher coping drinking motives, which in turn were associated with greater alcohol quantity. CONCLUSION AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Findings represent a novel investigation into gene-environment interplay in associations of alcohol use with racial/ethnic discrimination. Findings demonstrate coping-motivated drinking associated with negative life events within Black college drinkers regardless of ADH1B*3. Future research should leverage longitudinal designs to characterize associations of genetics, stressful experiences, and coping-motivated drinking over time.

Racial Discrimination and Trajectories of Problematic Alcohol Use Among African American Emerging Adults: The Role of Organizational Religious Involvement

Racial discrimination jeopardizes a wide range of health behaviors for African Americans. Numerous studies demonstrate significant negative associations between racial discrimination and problematic alcohol use among African Americans. Culturally specific contexts (e.g., organized religious involvement) often function protectively against racial discrimination's adverse effects for many African Americans. Yet organized religious involvement may affect the degree to which racial discrimination increases problematic alcohol use resulting in various alcohol use trajectories. These links remain understudied in emerging adulthood marked by when individuals transition from adolescence to early adult roles and responsibilities. We use data from 496 African American emerging adults from the Flint Adolescent Study (FAS) to (a) identify multiple and distinct alcohol use trajectories and (b) examine organizational religious involvement's protective role. Three trajectory classes were identified: the high/stable, (20.76% of sample; n = 103); moderate/stable, (39.52% of sample; n = 196); and low/rising, (39.72% of the sample; n = 197). After controlling for sex, educational attainment, and general stress, the interaction between racial discrimination and organized religious involvement did not influence the likelihood of classifying into the moderate/stable class or the low/rising class, compared with the high/stable class. These results suggest organized religious involvement counteracts, but does not buffer racial discrimination's effects on problematic alcohol use. Findings emphasize the critical need for culturally sensitive prevention efforts incorporating organized religious involvement for African American emerging adults exposed to racial discrimination. These prevention efforts may lessen the role of racial discrimination on health disparities related to alcohol use.

Self-reported functional impairment in college students: relationship to noncredible reporting, ADHD, psychological disorders, and other psychological factors

INTRODUCTION

Both symptoms and functional impairment should be assessed in college students seeking evaluations for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, impairment is not specific to ADHD. Although it is well documented that self-reported symptoms can be reported noncredibly, there is less research examining credibility of self-reported impairment, and few clinicians rule out alternative causes for impairment.

METHOD

Participants (N = 428) completed self-report measures of functional impairment, sleep, perceived stress, and in an ADHD symptom measure with embedded validity indicators.

RESULTS

Noncredible reporters endorsed greater functional impairment than credible reporters in several domains, but impairment was reported at a high rate even in credible responders (N = 323) in several domains. Participants who reported prior ADHD and participants who reported prior psychiatric diagnoses reported greater impairment and higher rates of clinically significant impairment than those who reported no prior diagnoses. Few differences in reported impairment emerged between those who reported ADHD and psychiatric diagnoses. Sleep and stress accounted for significant variance in impairment, and the ADHD group reported greater impairment than the psychiatric diagnosis and no diagnosis groups after controlling for these variables.

CONCLUSIONS

Results reinforce the importance of considering the validity of, and alternative sources for, self-reported impairment in college students with ADHD concerns.

Superwomen and Sleep: an Assessment of Black College Women Across the African Diaspora

BACKGROUND

Women and racial/ethnic minority groups in the U.S. report poor sleep health. While stress and alcohol use may contribute to sleep problems, few studies have examined the roles of stress and alcohol use on sleep among Black college women. Gender-racial ideology of Black womanhood may also play a role in sleep. This exploratory study sought to examine the relationships between stress, alcohol, ethnic-gender identity, and sleep.

METHOD

Guided by the biopsychosocial model and intersectionality theory, a cross-sectional study design recruited undergraduate women (18-24 years) attending a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) who self-identified as Black (N = 110). Participants completed the Insomnia Severity Index, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Perceived Stress Scale, Alcohol Use Disorders Test, and Giscombe Superwoman Schema Questionnaire. Univariate and multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine independent and multiple effects of stress, alcohol, and ethnic-gender identity on insomnia and sleep quality.

RESULTS

Participants (mean age 19.4 years) represented diverse ethnic groups, 53% American, 25% African, and 20% Caribbean. Nearly 23% reported moderate to severe levels of insomnia. Scores from the Perceived Stress Scale, the Alcohol Use Disorders Test, and the Giscombe Superwoman Schema Questionnaire were independently associated with insomnia and sleep quality. In multivariate analyses, only perceived stress exhibited a significant association with insomnia and sleep quality.

CONCLUSION

This exploratory study demonstrated that stress, excessive alcohol use, and ethnic-gender identity have relational impact on sleep health. Yet, stress may have greater importance and further research is needed to explore factors that mediated the relationship between stress and sleep.