This is the first nationwide study in the Black and Hispanic populations of drinking attitudes and patterns, alcohol-related problems and community attitudes to and experiences with problematic drinking. Interviews will be completed with 1500 Black and 1500 Hispanic respondents, in a probability design representative of the adult Black and Hispanic populations of the 48 conterminous states. The study will be coordinated with a nationwide probability sample of the adult U.S. population, supported by an existing National Alcohol Research Center grant. Coordination of the two studies means that findings in the Black and Hispanic populations can be compared with findings in the general adult U.S. pupulation, and results in substantial savings in fieldwork costs for the present study. The first objective of the study is a description of distributions and interrelations in the Black and Hispanic populations of rates of heavy drinking and of alcohol-related problems, of the cultural positioning of alcohol in terms of who may drink how much with whom and in what situations, of norms for and practices by family, friends, and the larger community when drinking behavior becomes objectionable, and of attitudes and experiences concerning formal interventions by community agencies. Special attention will be paid to subdivisions within the two study populations: among Blacks, to those living in the rural South, the urban South, and the urban North; among Hispanics, to Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, West Coast Mexican-Americans, and Mexican-Americans living in the Southwest. The second objective is an analysis, comparing patterns in the Black population, the Hispanic population, and the general White population -- with special attention to Whites living in similar circumstances and locations to the Black and Hispanic populations. Preliminary studies suggest that the ethnic differences in rates of heavy drinking and of alcohol-related problems are related to differences by age in duration of heavy drinking, which in turn reflect differences in the cultural norms and sanctions against heavy drinking and problematic drinking. The third objective is an explanatory analysis of patterns of variation within each of the two ethnic study populations. A variety of explanatory factory adduced by the existing literature -- such as acculturation for Mexican-Americans and religiosity for Blacks -- will be measured and analyzed, to test for their potential explanatory power in explaining cultural specificities in Black and Hispanic drinking practices and problems.
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