Gender, Ethnic, Age, and Relationship Differences in Non-Traditional College Student Alcohol Consumption: A Tri-Ethnic Study

Negative Affect, Harassment and Problematic Alcohol Use in Young Adults

Background: While research suggests that both negative affect and alcohol use are impacted by exposure to harassment (i.e., sexual harassment, generalized harassment or bullying), less is known about the effect of harassment on negative affect subsequently leading to alcohol consumption, particularly in young adults. We examined the mediating role of negative affect on the relationships between sexual and generalized harassment at school and alcohol misuse. Methods: Participants were 2899 incoming freshmen in fall of 2011 who completed a Web-based survey assessing demographics (T0), sexual and generalized harassment at school (T0-T2), negative affect (T3), and problems associated with drinking, binge drinking, and drinking to intoxication (T0, T4, T5). Separate hybrid path models were fitted in Mplus v.8.8 for generalized harassment and sexual harassment and each outcome. Results: Mediation analyses showed a small but significant indirect effect for the sexual harassment model (beta = 0.05, S.E. = 0.01, p < 0.001) and generalized harassment (beta = 0.03, S.E. = 0.01, p < 0.01), indicating that negative affect partially mediated the associations between harassment early in students' college experience and later problems associated with drinking. No significant indirect effects were found for the binge drinking or intoxication models. Conclusions: High levels of negative affect associated with harassment may contribute to longer term impact on problematic use of alcohol in young adults, providing evidence that the effects of harassment on drinking may partly stem from harassment's lingering effects on negative affective pathways.

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between solitary drinking and alcohol problems in adults

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Solitary drinking in adolescents and young adults is associated with greater risk for alcohol problems, but it is unclear whether this association exists in older demographics. The current paper is the first meta-analysis and systematic review, to our knowledge, to determine whether adult solitary drinking is associated with greater risk for alcohol problems.

METHODS

PsychINFO, PubMed and Google Scholar were searched following a pre-registered International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) protocol (CRD42019147075) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology. Following the methodology used in our recent systematic review and meta-analysis on adolescent/young adult solitary drinking, we systematically reviewed solitary drinking measures/definitions, prevalence rates and associated demographic variables in adults. We then meta-analyzed (using random-effects models) associations between adult solitary drinking and alcohol use/problems, negative affect and negative/positive reinforcement-related variables (e.g. drinking to cope or for enhancement).

RESULTS

Solitary drinking was defined as drinking while physically alone in nearly all studies, but measures varied. Prevalence rates were generally in the 30-40% range, with some exceptions. In general, males were more likely than females to report drinking alone, and married individuals were less likely than unmarried individuals to report drinking alone; racial/ethnic differences were mixed. Meta-analytical results showed significant effects for the associations between solitary drinking and the following factors: alcohol consumption, r = 0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.18, 0.33, k = 15, I²  = 97.41; drinking problems, r = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.10, 0.21, k = 14, I²  = 92.70; and negative reinforcement, r = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.14, 0.32, k = 11, I²  = 89.77; but not positive reinforcement, r = 0.02, 95% CI = 0.06, 0.09, k = 8, I²  = 76.18; or negative affect, r = 0.03, 95% CI = -0.02, 0.08, k = 8, I²  = 52.06. Study quality moderated the association between solitary drinking and negative affect (β = -0.07, P < 0.01) such that lower-quality studies were significantly associated with larger effect sizes. Study quality was generally low; the majority of studies were cross-sectional.

CONCLUSIONS

Solitary drinking appears to have a small positive association with alcohol problems.

The cost of minority stress: Risky alcohol use and coping-motivated drinking behavior in African American college students

A motivational drinking framework is utilized to understand the relationship between minority stressors (e.g., race-related stress and acculturative stress) and alcohol use behaviors (risky alcohol use and coping-motivated drinking) among a large sample of Black American college students. Six hundred forty-nine Black college students from 8 colleges and universities in the United States were recruited as part of a large, multiwave, cross-sectional study investigating the stress and coping experiences of Black emerging adults. Results from the current investigation provide support for the independent contributions of acculturative stress and race-related stress to the risky alcohol use behavior of Black college students, while acculturative stress significantly predicted coping-motivated drinking behaviors in the sample. Findings underscore the need to better understand the unique relationships between minority stress and risky alcohol use behaviors of Black college students, namely, relationships not shared by their nonminority peers that increase their risk of problem drinking.

What are other parents saying? Perceived parental communication norms and the relationship between alcohol-specific parental communication and college student drinking

This study examined parents' normative perceptions of other college parents' alcohol-specific communication, and how parents' perceived communication norms and alcohol-specific communication relate to student drinking outcomes. A sample of 457 student-parent dyads were recruited from a midsize university. Students completed Web-based assessments of alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors. Parents completed alcohol-specific measures of communication norms and parent-child communication, including communication content (i.e., targeted communication) and frequency of communication. Results indicated that parents overestimated how much other parents talked to their college students about the frequency and quantity of alcohol use, but underestimated how often parents initiated conversations about alcohol. In a path model, perceived communication norms positively predicted both targeted communication and frequency of communication. Perceived communication norms and targeted communication negatively predicted students' attitude toward alcohol use. In contrast, more frequent communication predicted students holding more approving attitudes toward alcohol. The relationship between parents' perceived communication norms and students' drinking behaviors was mediated by the parental communication variables and student attitudes. Tests of indirect effects were undertaken to examine meditational processes. The findings underscore relations involving parental perceived communication norms and parents' own alcohol communication and their children's drinking outcomes. The complex relationships of different types of parental communication and student outcomes warrant further research.

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: a mechanism in the relationship between early sexual victimization and incapacitated/drug-or-alcohol-facilitated and forcible rape

Sexual assault occurring when the victim is unable to consent or resist due to the use or administration of alcohol or drugs (i.e., incapacitated/drug-or-alcohol facilitated rape; IR/DAFR) is a particularly prevalent form of victimization experienced by college women. By definition, substance use precedes IR/DAFR; however, few studies have examined other potential risk factors for IR/DAFR that may be unique from those associated with forcible rape (FR; i.e., sexual assault occurring due to threats or physical restraint). The present investigation tested a model of risk for IR/DAFR and FR suggesting that child or adolescent sexual abuse (CASA) leads to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, which in turn increase the likelihood of IR/DAFR, but not FR. Results revealed full mediation for PTSD hyperarousal symptoms in the pathway between CASA and IR/DAFR, and partial mediation for hyperarousal symptoms in the pathway between CASA and FR. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Comments on "Gender, ethnic, age, and relationship differences in non-traditional college student alcohol consumption: a tri-ethnic study"

The purpose of these comments is to serve as a reaction to an article by Stephanie Babb, Cynthia Stewart, and Christine Bachman of the University of Houston-Downtown. The article is ambitiously titled "Gender, Ethnic, Age, and Relationship Differences in Non-Traditional College Students' Alcohol Consumption: A Tri-Ethnic Study" and is published in this issue of the Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. These comments are not intended to be a definitive response to all of the possible points raised by the authors of the article; rather they are reflective of the personal views of an addiction professional who has been active in the field for several years, particularly involved with efforts directed at substance use by non-traditional college students, and who has published previously on related topics. It is only possible to react to a few specific issues raised by the article; another commentator or a peer reviewer would probably address a myriad other areas. Indeed, several other topics of concern could have been addressed, but I felt it prudent and hopefully more productive to keep my comments more narrowly focused on some of the matters that seemed more pressing.