The study will conduct a national household survey of 2000 families including an oversample of 800 Hispanic families to examine the relationship between Hispanic ethnicity, intra-family violence and family members' substance abuse. The proposed study is the first large survey of its kind designed specifically to test hypotheses on the drinking-family violence relationship in Hispanic families compared. to families of other ethnicity. It is also the first such survey to examine the importance of alcohol expectancies to marital conflict and violence, and to use structural equation models to test this association. Major methodological improvements over previous studies include the use of Spanish/English versions of the interview, and face-to-face interviewing. Specific measures of acculturation will permit a more accurate assessment of how acculturated versus non-acculturated Hispanic families vary in their family roles, conflict patterns, and patterns and consequences of substance use. The proposed research will also provide detailed information on both alcohol and poly-drug use patterns in families. The major questions to be examined include the following: l.To what extent do culturally-linked attitudes exist in Hispanic families concerning the permissiveness of heavy drinking or approval of male dominant family roles? Do these attitudes predict violence in Hispanic families more so than other ethnic groups?;2.Do acculturated or non-acculturated Hispanic families have higher rates of drinking problems and family violence rates, or is poverty the more important predictor; 3. Is alcohol or other substance use a greater contributor to family violence?; 4. How do family problems vary in alcohol abusing families according to ethnic group membership, acculturation, class, family type, family of origin, and sex of the alcohol abuser?;5. Is parental substance abuse or parental violence in the family of origin a more important antecedent factor in the causal modeling of current intra-family violence? Does aggression in adolescence presage alcohol-linked aggression in the current family? 6. What are the inter-relationships between parental drinking and violence in the family of origin, alcohol expectancies, and current drinking and violence patterns? The proposed study will provide the basis for a future longitudinal study, identify at-risk groups, and will also make a theoretical contribution to a sociocultural theory of problem drinking and marriage.
| Jasinski, J L; Kantor, G K (2001) Pregnancy, stress and wife assault: ethnic differences in prevalence, severity, and onset in a national sample. Violence Vict 16:219-32 |
| West, C M; Kantor, G K; Jasinski, J L (1998) Sociodemographic predictors and cultural barriers to help-seeking behavior by Latina and Anglo American battered women. Violence Vict 13:361-75 |
| Kantor, G K (1997) Alcohol and spouse abuse ethnic differences. Recent Dev Alcohol 13:57-79 |
| Kantor, G K; Asdigian, N (1997) When women are under the influence. Does drinking or drug use by women provoke beatings by men? Recent Dev Alcohol 13:315-36 |
| Kantor, G K; Jasinski, J L; Aldarondo, E (1994) Sociocultural status and incidence of marital violence in Hispanic families. Violence Vict 9:207-22 |
