Alcohol Involvement in Asian American Men and Women

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DESCRIPTION: Asian Americans, as a whole, have lower rates of alcohol use and alcohol use disorders than other ethnic groups in the United States. Studies conducted in Asia, however, indicate that Koreans have a significantly higher lifetime prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence than Chinese. There are also data to indicate that these two Asian American subgroups vary greatly with respect to patterns, prevalence and consequences of alcohol use. The overall objective of the proposed research project is to determine variables associated with alcohol involvement (alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems) in 21-25 year old Chinese American and Korean American college students using a risk and protective factor approach. The risk and protective factor dimensions that will be evaluated will focus on factors related to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in previous studies of Asians and other ethnic groups, including variation in three genes involved in alcohol metabolism (ALDH2, ADH2, and ADH3), other genetically influenced factors (e.g., family history of alcoholism), and psychosocial variables. It is hypothesized that Korean Americans will have fewer protective factors and more risk factors than Chinese Americans. In a subsample of participants, an alcohol and placebo challenge paradigm will be conducted to measure level of response to alcohol in Korean Americans with and without an alcoholic father. It is hypothesized that those with an alcoholic father will demonstrate less intense reactions to alcohol than matched controls without a family history of alcoholism. Additionally, this study proposes to explore, within the sample, potential mediating and moderating relationships between vulnerability factors and alcohol involvement. The study of two Asian American subgroups with significantly different patterns of alcohol consumption and alcoholism offers a unique opportunity to control the influence of some specific genetic factors (variation in the alcohol metabolism genes) while searching for additional influences on alcohol use behavior and how these factors may relate to promote or protect against alcohol problems. Ultimately, a better understanding of the factors associated with alcohol behavior in Asian Americans will contribute important information for understanding the causes of alcohol abuse and dependence and might aid in the development of efficacious and culturally sensitive prevention and intervention programs.