ABSTRACT
Objective: The aim of the study was to examine alcohol use in African American women’s social networks.
Design: This was a longitudinal study of African American women and their social networks in Baltimore, MD. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews at a community-based research clinic. Alcohol consumption frequency was assessed by a single question ‘How often do you drink alcohol?’ with a four-point ordinal rating scale ‘never,’ ‘monthly or less,’ ‘2–4 times a month’ and ‘>2 times a week.’ A longitudinal ordinal logistic model was conducted to use 317 African American women’s alcohol consumption frequency as a predictor of their social networks’ alcohol consumption frequency.
Results: Results show that African American women’s alcohol consumption frequency was a statistically significant predictor of their social network members’ alcohol consumption frequency.
Conclusion: Findings suggest the merit of social network-based approaches to address alcohol use among urban minority populations.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Carl Latkin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0643-8586