Men of Mexican ethnicity, alcohol use, and help-seeking: "I can quit on my own."

INTRODUCTION: Hispanics report higher rates of problematic alcohol use compared to non-Hispanic Whites while also reporting lower rates of alcohol treatment utilization compared to non-Hispanics. The study employs Anderson's Behavioral Model of Healthcare Utilization Model to guide the exploration of alcohol use, help-seeking and healthcare utilization. METHODS: The present qualitative study explored help-seeking and alcohol treatment utilization for Hispanic men of Mexican ethnicity. A total of 27 participants (Mage = 35.7, SD = 10.82) completed a semi-structured interview that explored the treatment experiences and underlying psychological mechanisms that shaped their help-seeking. RESULTS: Through a thematic content analysis, the following themes emerged: 1) perceiving need with subthemes of familismo, role as protector and provider, and positive face; 2) predisposing beliefs on help-seeking; and 3) treatment experiences and elements of patient satisfaction with subthemes of monetized treatment, respect, and perceiving professional stigma. CONCLUSIONS: The findings in this article may assist in improving strategies for increasing alcohol treatment utilization among men of Mexican ethnicity. By exploring beliefs, values, and experiences health researchers can develop culturally informed intervention strategies.

Drinking motives, cultural orientations, and alcohol use among Hispanic college students at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Hispanic college students at the U.S.-Mexico border are at higher risk for alcohol use and negative drinking consequences relative to their counterparts in non-border areas. Hispanic students at the U.S.-Mexico border (N = 219, Mage = 20.14; 71.2% women) completed an online survey. U.S. orientation was negatively associated with alcohol consumption. Enhancement motives predicted alcohol consumption, whereas coping and conformity motives predicted negative drinking-related consequences. Cultural orientations did not moderate the relations between social motives and alcohol use outcomes. Results highlight the need to consider alcohol-related cognition and to better contextualize U.S. and heritage cultural orientations among Hispanics in the U.S.-Mexico areas.

Society of Behavioral Medicine Position Statement: Congress should protect immigrants seeking health care.

According to the Migration Policy Institute (2019), as of 2017 the USA was home to approximately 44 million immigrants, the largest number of immigrants in the world. Most of these immigrants relocate from Mexico, India, China, the Philippines, El Salvador, Vietnam, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Since 2017, there have been increased reports of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) interventions toward immigrants, especially at and near previously delineated "safe areas" such as medical facilities, as immigrants sought health care. Currently, health care providers are reporting delays and reductions in health care seeking by immigrants. This increases risks of untreated health problems for the immigrants themselves as well as their communities. To protect the health of immigrants, and the general public, the Society of Behavioral Medicine joins the American College of Physicians (2011) and the American Medical Association (2017) in recommending that Congress impose restrictions on ICE interventions in or around medical facilities.

A psychometric evaluation of the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 among internet samples of adult drinkers.

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are most commonly defined as behaviors that are used while drinking to reduce alcohol use and/or limit alcohol-related problems. Few studies have examined and quantified PBS use among non-college student populations. The purpose of the present two studies was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 (PBSS-20; Treloar, Martens, & McCarthy, 2015) among internet samples of adult drinkers. In the first study, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis of the PBSS-20 with a sample (n = 360) of adult drinkers who were recruited from Mechanical Turk. We then conducted a second study that recruited adult drinkers from Mechanical Turk and randomly split the data in half. With the first split-half sample (n = 339), we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis of the PBSS-20 and assessed the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the subscales. With the second split-half sample (n = 338), we tested measurement invariance across gender. The results support a three-factor structure of the PBSS-20 that is similar to what has been found among college students. However, six items were dropped and two Serious Harm Reduction items loaded best onto the Manner of Drinking factor. Furthermore, two subscales demonstrated adequate internal consistency and all three subscale were negatively associated with alcohol-related outcomes. Similar to college students, there was lack of measurement invariance across gender. We discuss the implications of the present findings in extending research on PBS to the more general population of U.S. adult drinkers.

Blood is thicker than booze: Examining the role of familism and gender in alcohol use and related consequences among Hispanic college students.

The present study evaluated cultural, ethnic, and gender differences in drinking and alcohol-related problems among Hispanic students. Familism protects against negative outcomes in Hispanic populations, thus we expected familism to buffer against alcohol problems. Participants (N = 623; 53% female) completed a battery of measures. Results suggested that familism was protective against drinking. Furthermore, alcohol use mediated the association between familism and alcohol-related problems. In sum, understanding that culture plays an important role in people's behaviors and identifying protective factors is critical to inform culturally sensitive prevention and intervention efforts.

Efficacy of personalized normative feedback as a brief intervention for college student gambling: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Social influences on gambling among adolescents and adults have been well documented and may be particularly evident among college students, who have higher rates of problem and pathological gambling relative to the general population. Personalized normative feedback (PNF) is a brief intervention designed to correct misperceptions regarding the prevalence of problematic behavior by showing individuals engaging in such behaviors that their own behavior is atypical with respect to actual norms. The current randomized controlled trial evaluated a computer-delivered PNF intervention for problem gambling college students. METHOD: Following a baseline assessment, 252 college student gamblers scoring 2+ on the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) were randomly assigned to receive PNF or attention-control feedback. Follow-up assessments were completed 3 and 6 months postintervention. RESULTS: Results indicated significant intervention effects in reducing perceived norms for quantities lost and won, and in reducing actual quantity lost and gambling problems at the 3-month follow-up. All intervention effects except reduced gambling problems remained at the 6-month follow-up. Mediation results indicated that changes in perceived norms at 3 months mediated the intervention effects. Further, the intervention effects were moderated by self-identification with other student gamblers, suggesting that PNF worked better at reducing gambling for those who more strongly identified with other student gamblers. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the use of PNF as a stand-alone brief intervention for at-risk gambling students. Extending this approach more broadly may provide an accessible, empirically supported gambling prevention option for universities and related institutions.

Remote versus in-lab computer-delivered personalized normative feedback interventions for college student drinking.

OBJECTIVE: Computer-based interventions aimed at reducing college student drinking have shown positive effects. The authors compare differences in effects of computer-based personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions based on delivery modality (in-person vs. remotely) across six previously evaluated studies with similar content. METHOD: Three studies included evaluations of a computer-based PNF intervention in which baseline and intervention procedures took place inside a laboratory setting; three separate studies included evaluations of the same intervention in which participants completed the procedures remotely over the Web. Thus, we tested for differences in intervention efficacy by delivery modality. Outcomes included drinks per week, drinking-related consequences, and the putative intervention mechanism, perceived drinking norms. RESULTS: Evidence from hierarchical linear models indicated that computer-based interventions are less effective at reducing drinking and related consequences when delivered remotely than when delivered in person. CONCLUSION: The advantages of interventions delivered remotely are not without cost. Suggestions for why remote computer-based interventions may be less effective are discussed.

Self-identification as a moderator of the relationship between gambling-related perceived norms and gambling behavior.

This research was designed to evaluate social influences and perceived social norms on gambling behavior among undergraduate students. Furthermore, this research was designed to replicate and extend previous research demonstrating that young adults overestimate the prevalence of gambling among peers, and that the magnitude of overestimation is positively associated with own use (Larimer and Neighbors, Psychol Addict Behav 17:235-243, 2003). We expected that; (1) gambling college students would identify more strongly with other gambling students compared to other students in general; (2) identification with other gambling students would predict gambling behaviors over and above perceived prevalence of gambling; and (3) identification with other gambling students would moderate the association between perceived social norms and gambling behavior. Participants included 1,486 undergraduate students who completed measures assessing gambling quantity and frequency, gambling-related perceived descriptive norms, and identification with groups. Results revealed that perceived norms for gambling were associated with gambling and revealed that students identified more strongly with other students than either gamblers or student gamblers. However, gambling behavior was more strongly associated with identification with gambling students than students in general. There was consistent support for the perspective that social identity moderates the association between perceived norms for gambling and gambling behavior. This research builds on previous examinations of social influences related to gambling and suggests that it may be important to consider the overall prevalence of a given behavior before considering norms-based intervention approaches. Interventions utilizing social norms for gambling may be advised to consider references other than just the typical student.