Acculturation, gender, and alcohol use among Mexican American college students

Marcela Raffaelli, Rosalie A. Torres Stone, Maria I. Iturbide, Meredith McGinley, Gustavo Carlo, Lisa J. Crockett

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Prior research with non-college samples of Mexican Americans has demonstrated that gender moderates the association between acculturation and alcohol use. We replicated this finding in a college student sample and attempted to account for the differential impact of acculturation on Mexican American men and women by examining the mediating effects of social context, family conflict and psychological functioning. Participants were 148 Mexican Americans (67% female; M age 23 years) from three state universities in California and Texas who completed self-report surveys. In multivariate analyses controlling for age, maternal education, living situation, and site, linguistic acculturation was associated with increased alcohol use and misuse among women but not men. Two social context variables (social facilitation and family drinking) mediated the association between acculturation and alcohol use (heavy drinking, past year alcohol use, and a composite drinking variable) among women. The findings highlight the importance of social context for understanding alcohol use by Latina college students and indicate directions for future research and intervention development.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2187-2199
Number of pages13
JournalAddictive Behaviors
Volume32
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2007

Keywords

  • Acculturation
  • Alcohol use
  • College students
  • Gender
  • Mexican Americans
  • Social context

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Toxicology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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