Ethnicity and Adolescent Pathways to Alcohol Use

Purpose: This study examined the influence of ethnicity on factors impacting alcohol use behaviors for adolescents and young adults. An analysis of ethnicity as a moderator of the Deviance Proneness model was conducted. The Deviance Proneness model proposes multiple pathways to pathological alcohol involvement for adolescents who have a family history of alcoholism (Sher, 1991). Childhood problem behaviors, negative affectivity, and positive alcohol expectancies are among those factors expected to mediate the relationship of a family history of alcoholism to alcohol use.

Method: An ethnically diverse community sample of male and female adolescents and young adults at risk for developing alcohol problems was examined (N = 323). Participants were recruited along with their fathers, including adolescents with an alcohol or drug dependent father and a mother with no alcohol or drug dependence, and controls with no parental history of alcohol or drug dependence. At baseline participants were between the ages of 14 and 21. They were re-interviewed five years later for time 2. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model for predicting the age of regular drinking onset and the frequency of drinking among adolescents and young adults. Positive alcohol expectancies, childhood conduct problems, and paternal educational attainment were expected to directly impact alcohol use behaviors and to mediate the effect of a paternal history of substance dependence and negative affect on drinking. Cross-group equality constraints and the chi-square difference test were used to evaluate ethnic group differences on model paths.

Results: The sample at baseline was 57.9% female and had a mean age of 16.5 years (SD 1.61). Approximately twenty-five percent (24.5%) of the participants were black, 60.7% white, and 14.5% Hispanic. Both ethnic group differences and similarities were identified in testing model paths. For all ethnic groups, a father's positive diagnosis for lifetime substance dependence predicted his reduced educational attainment, which was associated with increased conduct problems in the adolescent. Conduct problems showed a positive relationship with alcohol expectancies and the frequency of drinking. Negative affect was mediated by alcohol expectancies in predicting alcohol use, with more positive alcohol expectancies predicting a greater frequency of drinking. Different relationships for black participants compared to white and Hispanic participants were found on paths from conduct problems and positive alcohol expectancies to age of regular drinking onset. Increased childhood conduct problems predicted an earlier age of regular drinking onset for blacks, while more positive alcohol expectancies was associated with an earlier initiation of regular drinking for whites and Hispanics.

Conclusions and Implications: Ethnic group membership was found to moderate pathways linked to the onset of regular alcohol use, but not to drinking frequency. Starting to drink at an early age has been associated with alcohol dependence and related problems for adults (Grant & Dawson, 1997; Hingson et al., 2006). In delaying regular alcohol use, prevention interventions for white and Hispanic adolescents may focus on addressing their positive beliefs about the effects of alcohol, while programs for black adolescents may target children with conduct problems.