Mental Health Service Utilization and Drinking Outcomes in a National Population Sample: Are There Racial/Ethnic Differences?

ABSTRACT

Racial and ethnic disparities in alcohol use and alcohol-related problems have been well-documented. Less information is available about possible disparities in outcomes related to mental health services utilization. The differential effect of mental health services use by race on drinking outcomes was examined. Wave 2 of a national population sample of employed adults who reported having at least one alcoholic drink in the past year (N = 1,058) encompassed measures of the prevalence of mental health services use in response to stress, and alcohol-related outcomes. Non-white participants who reported using any mental health services, four or more mental health visits in the past year, and eight or more mental health visits in the past year reported lower rates of problematic drinking behaviors, including frequency of drinking to intoxication, heavy episodic drinking, and modified Brief MAST scores, than whites who reported similar use of mental health services.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol use
• race/ethnicity
• services utilization

Supported by grant AA013332 from the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The article's contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIAAA or the National Institutes of Health. The data were collected by the Survey Research Laboratory (SRL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Notes

^aDifference between whites and non-whites, P <.01.

^bDifference between mental health services users and mental health services non-users, P <.01.

^cDifference between mental health services users and mental health services non-users, P <.05.

^aDifference between whites and non-whites, p <.01.

^bDifference between mental health services users and mental health services non-users, p <.01.

^aUnstandardized regression coefficients are presented. Coefficients presented are from the final model.

^bModel F (11, 871) = 79.06.∗∗

^cModel F (11, 871) = 82.53.∗∗

^dModel F (11, 873) = 13.54.∗∗

^eModel F (11, 867) = 151.09.∗∗

∗p ≤.05.

∗∗p ≤.01.

^aUnstandardized regression coefficients are presented. Coefficients presented are from the final model.

^bModel F (11, 858) = 83.03.∗∗

^cModel F (11, 858) = 82.98.∗∗

^dModel F (11, 860) = 14.69.∗∗

^eModel F (11, 856) = 150.07.∗∗

∗p ≤.05.

∗∗p ≤.01.

^aUnstandardized regression coefficients are presented. Coefficients presented are from the final model.

^bModel F (11, 845) = 88.03.∗∗

^cModel F(11, 845) = 83.05.∗∗

^dModel F (11, 847) = 13.48.∗∗

^eModel F (11, 843) = 146.35.∗∗

∗p ≤.05.

∗p ≤.01.