The associations of Latino/a racial status and neighborhood discrimination to alcohol use and psychological distress

Abstract

Minority Stress Theory posits that discrimination is associated with negative mental health outcomes; however, the location of the perceived discrimination may matter. This study examines whether race, inside-neighborhood discrimination, and their interaction are associated with hazardous drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and depressive/anxiety symptoms in a racially diverse sample of Latino/a adults. Participants (N = 296, 63% male, M_age=41, SD = 12.2) who met criteria for hazardous drinking (4/5 drinks per occasion for females/males, respectively) were separated into two racial groups: those who self-identified as either White (21%, n = 63) or a minoritized race (79%, n = 233). Regression analyses explored whether racial status (White/minoritized race), inside-neighborhood discrimination, and their interaction were associated with hazardous drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and anxiety/depressive symptoms. Perceiving more frequent inside-neighborhood discrimination was associated with greater hazardous drinking (B = 0.03, SE = 0.01, p=.003), alcohol-related consequences (B = 1.92, SE = 3.39, p=.001), and depressive symptoms (B = 0.79, SE = 0.25, p=.001). For anxiety symptoms, the interaction between discrimination and racial status was significant (B = 1.62, SE = 0.76, p=.034); greater perceived inside-neighborhood discrimination was related to more anxiety symptoms only for Latino/a individuals with a minoritized race (but not for those who are Latino/a and White). These findings suggest that perceiving neighborhood discrimination is associated with hazardous drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and depressive symptoms among Latino/a individuals regardless of racial status. Further, Latino/a individuals with a minoritized race who report inside-neighborhood discrimination show greater anxiety symptoms than Latino/a White individuals. Findings highlight the importance of exploring the roles of race and discrimination inside one’s neighborhood within the Latino/a population.

Keywords:

• Latino/a
• race
• neighborhood discrimination
• minority stress
• alcohol
• mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical statement

The authors note that we have complied with APA ethical standards in the treatment of our sample. Research procedures were approved by the university institutional review board prior to beginning data collection. For all research participants, consent was obtained.

Notes

1 The term “minoritized” in the present manuscript is used to emphasize the social construction of the subordination and under-representation of groups in the U.S. as a result of systemic and institutional inequities, as consistent with the use and definition by Harper (2012).

2 The United States Census Bureau defines “race” as one’s self-identification with the socially constructed group(s): White, Black/African American, Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. Separately, they define “ethnicity” as whether or not a person identifies as Hispanic or Latino/a (U.S. Census Bureau 2017). Latino/a individuals may identify with any race, separate from their ethnicity. For the present study, we have divided all individuals into two racial groups: those who identify as Latino/a and a minoritized race (including those who are two or more races) and those who are Latino/a and identify as White race.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism under Grant [R01 021136].