Racial Microaggressions and Alcohol Consumption Among African American and Latinx Emerging Adults

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Racism is a system of power and dominance that is rooted in the oppression of marginalized groups and embedded in everyday experiences (Harrell, 2000). Experiences of racial discrimination have been found to impact individuals’ physical and mental health. Evidence suggests that these experiences impact daily externalizing behaviors, including alcohol consumption and negative drinking consequences, such as getting into fights or car accidents (Desalu et al., 2019). Alcohol use itself has been linked to greater risk of negative health outcomes (Rehm et al., 2003), and racial-ethnic disparities exist in the social consequences of drinking (Mulia, et al., 2009). Much of this work, however, has focused on overt experiences of racial discrimination, and less so on the more subtle, ambiguous, and everyday experiences of discrimination, known as racial microaggressions. Racial microaggressions are linked to negative mental health outcomes; however, less work has focused on the link to externalizing behaviors, such as alcohol consumption. This study examined how weekly experiences of racial microaggressions predict weekly changes in alcohol consumption among Latinx and African American emerging adults. We hypothesized that on weeks that emerging adults reported greater racial microaggressions, they would also report greater alcohol consumption. Given gender differences in alcohol consumption (Wilsnack et al., 2009), and evidence that males report stronger associations between racial discrimination and mental health outcomes (Assari et al., 2017), we hypothesized that the association between racial microaggressions and alcohol consumption would be most pronounced among males.

Latinx and African American college students (N = 145) participated in a four-week diary study (91 students identified as African American; 54 identified as Latinx). Most of the sample identified as female (69.4%) and were, on average, 20 years old (range 18 - 25; SD = 1.19). Weekly racial microaggressions and alcohol consumption were assessed via online diary entries each week. Microaggressions were assessed using the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS; Nadal, 2011) and alcohol consumption was assessed by asking participants the question “During the past 7 days, on average, how many alcoholic drinks did you consume?” Multilevel modeling analyses were utilized in order to examine the within-person effects of racial microaggressions on alcohol consumption.

Young adults reported experiencing 4 racial microaggressions a week and consuming approximately 3 alcohol drinks a week. Within-person microaggressions did not significantly predict weekly alcohol consumption (Table 1, Model 1). However, gender moderated this relationship (Model 2). Probing of the interaction revealed that racial microaggressions significantly predicted alcohol consumption for males, but not females. Specifically, on weeks that boys reported greater racial microaggressions, they also reported greater alcohol consumption, b = 14.70, SE = 6.16, p = .018.

Subtler forms of racial discrimination relate to African American and Latinx males’ alcohol consumption. Given that alcohol consumption can place youth at risk for subsequent problems and that males of color face academic disparities, understanding how racial microaggressions relate to weekly functioning in college is important. By doing so, we can better equip academic institutions with information and resources needed to address racism and its consequences on college campuses.

Authors

• Kayla M. Osman, University of Arizona
  Presenting Author

• Katharine Zeiders, University of Arizona
  Non-Presenting Author

• Antoinette M. Landor, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Evelyn Danilova Sarsar, University of Arizona
  Non-Presenting Author