Top

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health

Published in:

01-08-2011 | Original Paper

Epidemiology of Alcohol Abuse Among US Immigrant Populations

Authors: Magdalena Szaflarski, Lisa A. Cubbins, Jun Ying

Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health | Issue 4/2011

Abstract

The knowledge of racial and ethnic variations in alcohol abuse among US immigrants is limited. We compared the prevalence and correlates of alcohol abuse among US foreign-born versus US-natives by race-ethnicity using data from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Alcohol abuse outcomes included clinical diagnosis, excessive drinking, and intoxication. The foreign-born respondents had lower rates of alcohol abuse than the US-born, but some variations were noted by race-ethnicity. The risk of clinical diagnosis due to traumatic events was higher for the foreign-born population. Future research should continue to investigate the role of stress, the specific traumatic events most problematic for immigrant groups, and the interplay of the original and host culture in shaping the patterns of alcohol abuse in the immigrant population.

Available only for authorised users

US Census Bureau. Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 1972.

US Census Bureau. Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2006.

Camarota SA. Immigrants in the United States–2000: a snapshot of America’s foreign-born population. Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies; 2001.

Schmidley AD. Profile of the foreign-born population in the United States: 2000. Current population reports, ed. US Census Bureau. Vol. series P23-206. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2001.

Escobar JI, Hoyos Nervi C, Gara MA. Immigration and mental health: Mexican Americans in the United States. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2000;8(2):64–72.PubMed

Malzberg B. Mental disease in native and foreign-born whites in New York State, 1949–1951. Ment Hyg. 1964;48:478–99.PubMed

Rebhun LA. Substance use among immigrants to the United States. In: Loue S, editor. Handbook of immigrant health. New York: Plenum Press; 1998. p. 493–519.

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV). 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.

Alegria M, Mulvaney-Day N, Torres M, Polo A, Cao Z, Canino G. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders across Latino subgroups in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(1):68–75.PubMedCrossRef

10.

Breslau J, Chang DF. Psychiatric disorders among foreign-born and US-born Asian-Americans in a US national survey. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2006;41(12):943–50.PubMedCrossRef

11.

Marshall GN, Schell TL, Elliott MN, Berthhold SM, Chun CA. Mental health of Cambodian refugees 2 decades after resettlement in the United States. JAMA. 2005;294(5):571–9.PubMedCrossRef

12.

Makimoto K. Drinking patterns and drinking problems among Asian-Americans and Pacific-Islanders. Alcohol Health Res World. 1998;22(4):270–5.PubMed

13.

McKee M. Alcohol in Russia. Alcohol Alcohol. 1999;34(6):824–9.PubMed

14.

Ablon J. Irish-American Catholics in a west coast metropolitan area. In: Bennett LA, Ames GM, editors. American experience with alcohol: contrasting cultural perspective. New York: Plenum Press; 1985. p. 395–409.

15.

Freund PJ. Polish-American drinking: an historical study in attitude change. Providence, RI: Brown University; 1980.

16.

Rosenwaike I, Hempstead K. Differential mortality by ethnicity: foreign-born Irish, Italians and Jews in New York City. Soc Sci Med. 1989;29(7):885–9.PubMedCrossRef

17.

Williams DR, Haile R, Gonzalez HM, Neighbors H, Baser R, Jackson JS. The mental health of Black Caribbean immigrants: results from the National Survey of American Life. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(1):52–9.PubMedCrossRef

18.

Adrian M. Substance use and multiculturalism. Subst Use Misuse. 1996;31(11–12):1459–501.PubMedCrossRef

19.

Berry JW. A psychology of immigration. J Soc Issues. 2001;57(3):615–31.CrossRef

20.

Johnson TP. Alcohol and drug use among displaced persons: an overview. Subst Use Misuse. 1996;31(13):1853–89.PubMedCrossRef

21.

Caetano R. Acculturation, drinking and social settings among US Hispanics. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1987;19(3):215–26.PubMedCrossRef

22.

Alcohol and suicide among racial/ethnic populations—17 states, 2005–2006. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2009; 58(23):637–41.

23.

Stahre M, Simon M. Alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations by race, gender, and age in California. Open Epidemiol J. 2010;3:3–15.CrossRef

24.

Moore DJ, Williams JD, Qualls WJ. Target marketing of tobacco and alcohol-related products to ethnic minority groups in the United States. Ethn Dis. 1996;6(1–2):83–98.PubMed

25.

Thomas T. Acculturative stress in the adjustment of immigrant families. J Soc Distress Homeless. 1995;4:131–42.CrossRef

26.

Al-Issa I. Ethnicity, immigration, and psychopathology. In: Al-Issa I, Tousignant M, editors. Ethnicity, immigration, and psychopathology. New York: Plenum Press; 1997. p. 3–15.

27.

D’Avanzo CE. Southeast Asians: Asian-Pacific Americans at risk for substance misuse. Subst Use Misuse. 1997;32(7–8):829–48.PubMedCrossRef

28.

D’Avanzo CE, Frye B, Froman R. Culture, stress and substance use in Cambodian refugee women. J Stud Alcohol. 1994;55(4):420–6.PubMed

29.

Yen IH, Ragland DR, Greiner BA, Fisher JM. Racial discrimination and alcohol-related behavior in urban transit operators: findings from the San Francisco Muni Health and Safety Study. Public Health Rep. 1999;114(5):448–58.PubMedCrossRef

30.

Yen IH, Ragland DR, Greiner BA, Fisher JM. Workplace discrimination and alcohol consumption: findings from the San Francisco Muni Health and Safety Study. Ethn Dis. 1999;9(1):70–80.PubMed

31.

Wheaton B. The nature of stressors. In: Horwitz AV, Schied TL, editors. A handbook of the study of mental health: social contexts, theories, and symptoms. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1997. p. 176–97.

32.

Williams DR, Neighbors HW, Jackson JS. Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: findings from community studies. Am J Public Health. 2003;93(2):200–8.PubMedCrossRef

33.

Cooper ML, Russell M, Skinner JB, Frone MR, Mudar P. Stress and alcohol use: moderating effects of gender, coping, and alcohol expectancies. J Abnorm Psychol. 1992;101(1):139–52.PubMedCrossRef

34.

Kessler RC, Neighbors HW. A new perspective on the relationships among race, social class, and psychological distress. J Health Soc Behav. 1986;27(2):107–15.PubMedCrossRef

35.

Corbett K, Mora J, Ames G. Drinking patterns and drinking-related problems of Mexican-American husbands and wives. J Stud Alcohol. 1991;52:215–23.PubMed

36.

SAMHSA: Results from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National findings (office of applied studies, NSDUH series H-30, DHHS publication no. SMA 06-4194). Rockville, MD: SAMHSA; 2006.

37.

Grant BF, Shepard J, Moore T. Source and accuracy statement for Wave 1 of the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; 2003.

38.

Acock AC. Working with missing values. J Marriage Fam. 2005;67:1012–28.CrossRef

39.

Little RJA, Rubin DB. Statistical analysis with missing data, 2nd ed. Wiley series in probability and statistics. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2002.

40.

Royston P. Multiple imputation of missing values. Stata J. 2003;4:227–41.

41.

Royston P. Multiple imputation of missing values: update. Stata J. 2005;5:188–201.

42.

Royston P. Multiple imputation of missing values: update of ice. Stata J. 2005;5:527–36.

43.

SAS Institute Inc: SAS 9.1 for windows [computer software]. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc; 2002–2003.

44.

RTI International. SUDAAN 9.0 [computer software]. Triangle Park Research, NC: RTI International; 2005.

45.

Grant BF, Stinson FS, Hasin DS, Dawson DA, Chou SP, Anderson K. Immigration and lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in the United States: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004;61(12):1226–33.PubMedCrossRef

46.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The physicians’ guide to helping patients with alcohol problems (revised). NIH Publication No. 04-3769. Bethesda, MD: NIAAA; 2004.

47.

Dawson DA, Grant BF, Ruan W. The association between stress and drinking: modifying effects of gender and vulnerability. Alcohol Alcohol. 2005;40(5):453–60.PubMed

48.

Botvin GJ, Schinke SP, Epstein JA, Diaz T, Botvin EM. Effectiveness of culturally focused and generic skills training approaches to alcohol and drug abuse prevention among minority adolescents: two-year follow-up results. Psychol Addict Behav. 1995;9(3):183–94.CrossRef

49.

Kumpfer K. Selective prevention interventions: the strengthening families program. In: Ashery R, Robertson E, Kumpfer K, editors. Drug abuse prevention through family interventions. NIDA research monograph no. 177. NIH Pub. No. 994135. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse; 1998. p. 160–207.

50.

Yee Lee M, Law PFM, Eo E. Perception of substance use problems in Asian American communities by Chinese, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese populations. J Ethn Subst Abuse. 2003;2(3):1–29.CrossRef

51.

Vega WA, Sribney WM. Achara-Abrahams I: Co-occurring alcohol, drug, and other psychiatric disorders among Mexican-origin people in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2003;93(7):1057–64.PubMedCrossRef

52.

Wallen GR, Feldman RH, Anliker J. Measuring acculturation among Central American women with the use of a brief language scale. J Immigr Health. 2002;4(2):95–102.PubMedCrossRef

Title: Epidemiology of Alcohol Abuse Among US Immigrant Populations
Authors: Magdalena Szaflarski
Lisa A. Cubbins
Jun Ying
Publication date: 01-08-2011
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health / Issue 4/2011
Print ISSN: 1557-1912
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1920
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-010-9394-9

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Epidemiology of Alcohol Abuse Among US Immigrant Populations

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 4/2011

The Use of Community-Based Interventions in Reducing Morbidity from the Psychological Impact of Conflict-Related Trauma Among Refugee Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Substance Use and HIV Risk in a Sample of Severely Mentally Ill Puerto Rican Women

Global Contexts, Social Capital, and Acculturative Stress: Experiences of Indian Immigrant Men in New York City

Vulnerability to Stress in Migratory Contexts: A Study with Eastern European Immigrants Residing in Portugal

Estimating the Effects of Immigration Status on Mental Health Care Utilizations in the United States

Reactions to Secondhand Smoke by Nonsmokers of Korean Descent: Clash of Cultures?