Citation

Lo CC, Cheng TC. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013; 133(2): 383-390.

Affiliation

University of Alabama, United States. Electronic address: clo@ua.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.06.018

PMID

23880246

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.

Language: en