@article{ref1,
title="Heavy drinking during periods of high unemployment: 15-Year trend study of the role of race/ethnicity",
journal="Drug and alcohol dependence",
year="2013",
author="Lo, Celia C. and Cheng, Tyrone C.",
volume="133",
number="2",
pages="383-390",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: This study conceptualized high unemployment rate as a stressor deriving from the social structure. It tracked American adults' heavy drinking rates 1997-2011, intending to examine (1) whether heavy drinking escalates with rising unemployment, and (2) whether racial minorities, who feel economic downturns more than the majority, engage in heavy drinking at a higher level than Whites in times of high unemployment. METHODS: Research questions were answered using data from the Combined National Health Interview Survey. The present final sample included only respondents classified as heavy drinkers: those reporting that, on days (in the preceding year) on which they had consumed alcohol, they had regularly had at least 5 drinks. RESULTS: The study, which considered individual-level social structural factors, overall found rising unemployment rate to be associated with high measures for heavy-drinking frequency but low measures for heavy-drinking quantity. It did not find race to moderate the unemployment-heavy-drinking relationship, although some empirical evidence has shown racial minorities to be relatively more responsive to fluctuating unemployment inherent in the economic cycle. CONCLUSIONS: Our results in general call for further research on roles of gender and race in heavy drinking, especially where Black females are concerned. Blacks' greater heavy-drinking frequency and greater heavy-drinking quantity (versus Whites) observed in this study may shed light on persistent racial disparities in Americans' health.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0376-8716",
doi="10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.06.018",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.06.018"
}