Guest editors Priscilla Lui and Byron L. Zamboanga discuss the contents of the September 2019 special issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry that examines patterns of drinking behaviors and negative consequences associated with hazardous alcohol use across ethnic and racial groups in the United States.
What is the special issue about?
This special issue presents studies on alcohol-related outcomes across diverse American ethnic and racial minority populations.
The articles focus on psychological and sociocultural determinants and possible intervening pathways that explain patterns of alcohol use among minority populations and ethnic differences in drinking outcomes. These studies showcase a range of research approaches and systematically consider ethnocultural diversity issues in alcohol use and misuse.
The special issue advances understanding of alcohol use and misuse among understudied, underserved minority populations and yields new empirical evidence for
- the effects of acculturation and ethnic identity, minority stress, peer influence, emotion regulation, and alcohol-related beliefs on drinking outcomes across minority groups
- high-risk drinking practices among adolescents, young adults, and African Americans
- correlates of distinct classes of drinkers among Asian Americans
- risk factors associated with alcohol misuse among Hispanic migrant farmworkers
What is the significance of the issue?
Research on alcohol use has tended to focus on common determinants across ethnic and racial groups. Because of persistent observations of group differences and disparities in alcohol use and treatment outcomes, it is important to examine group-distinct factors and processes to establish a fuller understanding of drinking-related outcomes across segments of the U.S. population.
How did this special issue come about?
We saw need and an exciting opportunity to use newer approaches and more sophisticated conceptualizations to examine drinking behaviors and related outcomes among underrepresented ethnic and racial minority groups.
To shed light on ethnocultural diversity issues in alcohol research for a wider audience, we selected articles that focused on psychologically relevant and malleable factors in considering alcohol use outcomes.
The special issue has the potential to inform culturally responsive interventions and to target these factors in services for minority populations.
Tell us about a few key takeaways.
Ethnic and racial minority populations are not a monolithic group when it comes to risk for and factors that protect them from alcohol use and misuse. Alcohol researchers and practitioners should keep in mind important between- and within-group cultural variabilities when working with minority populations.
Culturally distinct factors to consider include ethnic and racial identity, cultural norms and socializations around alcohol use and misuse, sociocultural environments that facilitate drinking practices, and barriers to seeking treatment.
For example, ethnic minority populations are less likely than European Americans to consume alcohol but are more likely to experience greater disease burden and adverse health and social effects of alcohol misuse.
Special Issue
Citation
- Lui, P. P., & Zamboanga, B. L. (2019). Ethnocultural diversity in alcohol use and misuse. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 89(5), 543–548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ort0000422
Note: This article is in the Clinical Psychology topic area. View more articles in the Clinical Psychology topic area.