The Downward Spiral: Socioeconomic Causes and Consequences of Alcohol Dependence among Men in Late Young Adulthood, and Relations to Racial/Ethnic Disparities

Variation by race/ethnicity-gender in the relationship between arrest history and alcohol use

BACKGROUND

Alcohol use contributes to the national burden of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Arrest, as a unique form of criminal justice system involvement, may be related to alcohol use from adolescence to adulthood. This study investigates the relationship between arrest and alcohol use across race/ethnicity-gender (R/E-G) status (e.g., Black, Latinx, and White men and women) as youth age.

METHODS

Data from 17 waves (1997-2015) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort (N = 8901) were used to explore how variation in R/E-G moderates the relationship between arrest history and alcohol use trajectories from 13 to 30 years old. Multilevel zero-inflated Poisson and Poisson regression were used to assess R/E-G variation in the relationship between arrest history and days of alcohol consumption, drinks per drinking occasion, and days of binge drinking after accounting for covariates, including incarceration.

RESULTS

The findings indicate that an arrest history is associated with alcohol use, and these results varied by R/E-G status, age, and alcohol use outcome. Those with an arrest history reported more days of drinking than their counterparts without an arrest; yet, the magnitude and direction of average drinks per occasion and binge drinking days varied by R/E-G status and age. Paradoxically, Black men, Black women, and Latinx men with an arrest history reported fewer days of binge drinking as they aged than their counterparts without an arrest.

CONCLUSIONS

A history of arrest is important for alcohol use from adolescence to adulthood and varies by R/E-G status, age, and alcohol use outcome. This work confirms previous scholarship showing that arrest and alcohol use are socially patterned and R/E-G status is an essential consideration in understanding the relationship. Future work should include additional identities and health behaviors and the consequences related to alcohol use outcomes.

Racial disparities in lifestyle habits and dietary patterns in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives

To evaluate lifestyle habits and dietary patterns among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with skin color.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted with 1315 undergraduate students from a public higher education institution. Sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, and food consumption were collected. Factor analysis was used to identify dietary patterns and multivariate logistic regression was conducted to estimate the associations between race/skin color and outcomes.

Results

Black individuals were less likely to show behaviors associated with the use of cigarettes or tobacco products (OR = 0.61; 95% CI 0.42-0.89). However, black individuals with higher income (greater than, or equal to one minimum wage per person) were less likely to show behaviors associated with illicit drug use (OR = 0.54; 95% CI 0.31-0.96), use of cigarettes or tobacco products (OR = 0.46; 95% CI 0.24-0.87) and alcohol consumption (OR = 0.64; CI 95% 0.42-0.98). In addition, individuals of race/skin color black with lower income (less than one minimum wage per person) showed decreased consumption of vegetables (OR = 0.68; CI 95% 0.48-0.96).

Conclusions

Black college students with higher income were less likely to show undesirable behaviors related to the use of psychoactive substances. In contrast, individuals with lower income had lower consumption of foods from the vegetable group, which can be considered an unfavorable health-related behavior.

Alcohol Use

Unhealthy alcohol use-the consumption of alcohol at a level that has caused or has the potential to cause adverse physical, psychological, or social consequences-is common, underrecognized, and undertreated. For example, data from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicate that 7.0% of adults reported heavy alcohol use in the previous month, and only 4.2% of adults with alcohol use disorder received treatment. Primary care is an important setting for optimizing screening and treatment of unhealthy alcohol use to promote individual and public health.

The association between unemployment trajectories and alcohol consumption patterns. Evidence from a large prospective cohort in The Netherlands

Unemployment is expected to influence alcohol consumption, but studies show mixed results, partly because most studies concentrate on current employment status. However, unemployment could be particularly consequential if it is part of a trajectory of employment precariousness. Moreover, the association between unemployment and alcohol consumption may not be homogeneous across the population, but differ by subgroups (e.g. socioeconomic status). This study longitudinally analyses the association between different employment trajectories and alcohol consumption, and examines if the association is moderated by socioeconomic status (SES), partner status, age and gender. Four waves of data of the Lifelines Cohort study are used. Sample consists of individuals from 18-50 years old, active in the labor market (n = 104,766) from the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Employment trajectories are defined by employment status in each wave, duration of unemployment, and number of exposures to unemployment. Drinking patterns are divided into "abstainers", "moderate drinking" (<1.5 drinks/day), "heavy drinking" (≥1.5 drinks/day) and "binge drinking" (≥5 drinks/occasion; 4 for women). The associations are estimated with multinomial logistic regression models. Results show that recent, long-term unemployment (≥ 6 months) is associated with higher rates of heavy drinking (RRR = 1.26 [95 % CI 1.03-1.54]), whereas short-term unemployment does not show any association with the outcome. Being continuously unemployed throughout the observation period shows a strong association with binge drinking (RRR = 1.43 [95 % CI 1.06-1.93]), as well as reporting 2 or more long unemployment spells (RRR = 1.49 [95 % CI 1.21-1.83]). The group of abstainers (77.95 % women) have significantly lower SES, and poorer health than their peers. For some individuals, recent unemployment increases the likelihood for abstinence (RRR = 1.23 [95 % CI 1.00-1.51]). Evidence suggests that length of unemployment is key in order to grasp its effects in terms of changing drinking patterns.