New research from Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) Prevention Research Center (PRC) demonstrates that drinking problems are independently connected with frequency and continued volume of drinking in certain contexts among Whites and Hispanics on the California/Mexico Border.
The results show that:
- Border location is a modifier, changing the effect of frequency of drinking at bars and pubs from protective to a factor of risk for social problems and fights.
- Frequency of drinking at bars/pubs is associated with social problems, risky sex, and fights, but not with injuries.
- Injuries are associated with the frequency of drinking at home alone or with family and at restaurants.
- Volume of drinking at bars/pubs is associated with three different contexts: social problems, injury, and fights. But the volume of drinking at the home of friends or relatives is associated with fights only.
Data for this research come from a household sample of 1209 adults 18 to 39 years in Imperial County on the California/Mexico border; and Kern, Tulare, and Madera in California’s Central Valley.
Lead author of this study, Dr. Raul Caetano, notes that: “The identification of different uses and different problem rates related to contexts between Hispanics and Whites on- and off-the-border tells us what to prevent and what groups to target to reduce problems most efficiently.”
Source: Caetano, Raul, Patrice AC Vaeth, Paul J. Gruenewald, William R. Ponicki, and Zoe Kaplan. “Contexts of Drinking-and Alcohol-Related Problems Among Whites and Hispanics on and off the US/Mexico border in California.” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2023): 1-9. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40615-023-01517-5
