Alcohol use and related consequences for monoracial and multiracial Native American/American Indian college students.

Abstract

Native American/American Indian (NA/AI) and Multiracial people (those who claim multiple racial identities) report notably high alcohol use compared to other racial groups in the United States. Nearly half of the NA/AI population is also Multiracial, yet NA/AI and Multiracial college students report different motivations for drinking alcohol. Therefore, it remains unclear if NA/AI individuals who are also Multiracial are at different risk for alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences, and if there are distinct patterns of risk factors in these understudied populations. Because college-aged students are at risk for high levels of alcohol use, this exploratory study used the AlcoholEdu for College™ survey to compare the association between initial drinking age, college location (urban vs. rural), and alcohol use motivations and consequences between monoracial NA/AI (N = 2,363) and Multiracial NA/AI collegeaged students (N = 6,172). Monoracial NA/AI students reported higher incidences of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems such as blacking out and missing class, compared to Multiracial NA/AI students. Risk factors like earlier age of drinking onset were more strongly associated with negative consequences for monoracial NA/AI students compared to Multiracial NA/AI students. Despite similar levels of Internal Coping motivations for drinking (e.g., to feel more confident or sure of yourself), monoracial NA/AI students reported drinking more than Multiracial students and experienced more negative drinking-related outcomes. These results suggest Multiracial NA/AI students may draw on protective factors not accessible to monoracial NA/AI students, highlighting the need for interventions tailored to students at highest risk. Public Health SignificanceThis study suggests that monoracial and Multiracial Native American/American Indian college students differ in their motivations to drink alcohol and their experience of negative drinking-related outcomes. The relationship between established risk factors, such as age at alcohol use onset, and drinking outcomes varied, indicating that alcohol-related prevention and intervention efforts should be tailored to specific racial groups to be most effective.

Alcohol use in multiracial American youth compared with monoracial youth: A meta‐analysis

“…Results were somewhat less consistent when comparing monoracial and multiracial American Indian/Alaska Native youth. Specifically, while monoracial American Indian/Alaska Native versus multiracial American Indian/Alaska Native racial differences in age of alcohol initiation among a college sample was inconclusive [35], there was generally younger age of alcohol initiation among multiracial youth in a separate high school sample [40].…”

“…Multiracial youth, namely those involved with the justice system, did not endorse more alcohol consequences than Black, White or Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish origin youth [37]. However, within a non‐justice‐involved sample, multiracial youth endorsed lower alcohol‐related consequences than monoracial youth ( b = −0.29, t (2921) = −8.71 p < 0.01 [35]).…”

“…For these domains, a systematic review was conducted. A total of six additional studies (not included in the meta-analysis) were included in the systematic review [35][36][37][38][39][40].…”

Intersection of minority health, health disparities, and social determinants of health with psychopharmacology and substance use.

“…By leveraging basic behavioral science principles, the authors provide an indirect way of assessing aspects of racially based self-concept that may be difficult to measure directly due to social desirability, as well as how such assessments relate to substance use outcomes among Black young adults. Next, demonstrating how intersectionality of identities can overlap with distinct risk and protective factors, Albuja et al (2021) disaggregate correlates of increased alcohol involvement among Monoracial and Multiracial Native American/American Indian college students.…”