The role of minority stress in second-generation Black emerging adult college students' high-risk drinking behaviors

Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2017 Jul;23(3):445-455. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000135. Epub 2017 Feb 16.

Abstract

Objective: This study used a minority stress framework to investigate the relationships between multiple stressors (e.g., general life stress, race related stress, and acculturative stress) and high-risk drinking behaviors in a sample of second-generation Black emerging adult college students across the United States.

Method: Participants (n = 148) were recruited from U.S. colleges and universities as part of a large, multiwave cross-sectional study.

Results: Findings from this study mirrored those in the extant literature: the positive relationship between race-related stress and high-risk drinking behaviors found in other marginalized groups. However, when all stressors were entered into the model, acculturative stress accounted for significant variance in high-risk drinking behaviors above and beyond general life and race-related stressors in second generation Black emerging adult college students.

Conclusion: Findings underscore the need to better understand the influence of acculturative stress on high-risk drinking behaviors among second-generation Black emerging adult college students: an understudied population in both the acculturation and alcohol use literatures. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

MeSH terms

  • Acculturation
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Alcohol Drinking in College / psychology*
  • Black or African American / psychology*
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Minority Groups / psychology*
  • Minority Groups / statistics & numerical data
  • Risk-Taking*
  • Stress, Psychological / epidemiology
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology*
  • Students / psychology*
  • Students / statistics & numerical data
  • United States
  • Universities
  • Young Adult