Examining associations between minority-related stressors and alcohol use among Latinx college students

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Abstract College student risky drinking continues to be a significant public health concern in the U.S. and a priority area within NIAAA. Considerable research has examined how stressors, motives, and norms are associated with college drinking, but limited theory-driven published reports examine whether any of the effects generalize to Latinx students. This is highly concerning because college campuses in the U.S. are becoming increasingly diverse with the percentage of Latinx students having increased to 18% in 2016. Although Latinx students typically make up a small percentage of students at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs; e.g., 6-8%), cumulatively they represent the majority of all Latinx students in higher education. Latinx students attending PWIs experience greater minority-related stress, which is associated with risky alcohol use. Before an effective drinking intervention can be administered to Latinx students at PWIs, research must be conducted to understand how different minority-related stressors they experience at college contribute to risky drinking. Minority-related stressors that Latinx students experience in college at the environmental, interpersonal, and systemic level in relation to risky drinking have not been examined using intensive longitudinal methods. There is also currently no understanding of how minority-related stressors experienced in college interact with factors known to influence college drinking (e.g., motives, norms, sex, Latinx subgroup). Examining both between- and within-person associations of risky drinking and minority stressors in college have the potential to provide the information needed to significantly inform tailored intervention efforts for Latinx students. The goal of this NRSA research is to understand risk factors that influence risky drinking and consequences for Latinx college students. The proposed study employs a rigorous longitudinal daily diary design with Latinx college students attending a PWI to test the following: Aim 1 examines novel theoretical associations between minority-related stressors experienced at college (environmental, interpersonal, systemic) and risky drinking; and Aim 2 examines factors associated with college drinking (motives, norms, sex, Latinx subgroup) as moderators in the relationships between minority-related stressors at college and risky alcohol use.