Citation

Lee DB, Hope MO, Heinze JE, Cunningham M, Caldwell CH, Zimmerman MA. J. Ethn. Subst. Abuse 2018; ePub(ePub): 1-23.

Affiliation

b Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15332640.2018.1540956

PMID

30589400

Abstract

While racial discrimination (RD) is associated with increased alcohol-related problems among African Americans (AAs), researchers have not examined how RD contributes to the physical consequences of alcohol consumption over time. In addition, the protective role of religious coping has been discussed but not formally tested in pathways connecting RD to the physical consequences of alcohol consumption. To address this gap, we estimated latent growth mediation models in a sample of 465 AA emerging adults. We found that RD increased physical consequences of alcohol consumption over time through psychological distress. After identifying two profiles of religious coping (i.e., low and high religious coping), RD indirectly influenced the physical consequences of alcohol consumption through psychological distress among AAs in the low religious coping group. Our results signal the importance of developing alcohol-misuse prevention programs that address the psychological consequences of RD. Integrating culturally tailored coping strategies (e.g., religious coping) may bolster the efficacy of these prevention programs.

Language: en

Keywords

Racial discrimination; alcohol; health disparities; religious coping