Effects of racial discrimination on stress, negative emotions, and alcohol craving: A registered report of a virtual reality experiment.

OBJECTIVES: Racial discrimination experiences contribute to health disparities and can influence individuals' health. Yet, pathways by which discrimination-related experiences affect alcohol craving remain understudied using experimental designs. Additionally, limited research has examined possible differential effects of "major" discrimination and microaggression experiences in everyday life on alcohol craving. This between-groups experiment examined causal effects of everyday racial discrimination on stress, negative emotions, and alcohol craving. We also tested indirect pathways by which discrimination-related experiences were linked to alcohol craving via stress and negative emotions. METHOD: People of color and Indigenous peoples participated in the study (N = 184; Mage = 23.90; 47.8% women; 48.9% community adults). Participants were randomized to one of four experimental conditions, in which they experienced in virtual environments either "major" discrimination, microinsult, microinvalidation, or daily hassles unrelated to race/racism. Participants' levels of stress, negative emotions, and alcohol craving were assessed immediately before and after experimental simulations. RESULTS: Compared to daily hassles unrelated to race/racism, simulated racial discrimination elicited greater stress and negative emotions. Daily hassles caused greater alcohol craving among those who endorsed higher levels of coping motives for drinking. We observed minimal differences in stress and negative emotions across the three racial discrimination conditions, and found no evidence supporting indirect links between racial discrimination and alcohol craving via stress and negative emotions. CONCLUSION: Everyday racial discrimination-regardless of intensity level-is more stressful than daily hassles unrelated to race/racism. Future research should examine cumulative effects of racial discrimination, and understanding individual difference factors that moderate its immediate and delayed effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Advancing knowledge on the health consequences of discrimination: The potential of virtual reality.

OBJECTIVES: Racism and discrimination drive racial and ethnic health disparities, and are robust markers for a host of health outcomes in People of Color and Indigenous Peoples (POCI). A comprehensive understanding of possible causal pathways by which racism and discrimination lead to POCI's health disadvantages is a critical step toward reducing disparities and promoting health equity. Experimental methods can help researchers delineate these causal pathways. In this manuscript, we illustrate how virtual reality (VR) can be used by researchers in experimental studies to advance discrimination science. METHOD: We summarize current findings on the health effects of discrimination. We describe common methodological approaches that have been employed in discrimination science and discuss some of their limitations. Arguments for the potential benefits of using VR to advance discrimination science are provided. RESULTS: VR has the potential to facilitate ecologically valid experiments that examine individuals' responses to racism and discrimination-related experiences in real-time. CONCLUSIONS: VR offers scientists an innovative method that can be used in experimental studies to help delineate how racism and discrimination might lead to health problems in POCI. Still, VR is new to discrimination science; thus, research is necessary to empirically delineate the advantages and possible disadvantages of using VR in studies on discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Linking Big Five Personality Domains and Facets to Alcohol (Mis)Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

AIMS: The goal of this investigation was to synthesize (un)published studies linking Big Five personality domains and facets to a range of alcohol use outcomes. Meta-analyses were conducted to quantify the unique associations between alcohol use outcomes and each Big Five personality domains over and above other domains. Within each domain, meta-analyses also were conducted to examine the unique contribution of each personality facet in predicting alcohol use outcomes. METHODS: Systematic literature reviews were performed in PsycINFO and PubMed using keywords related to alcohol use and personality. Peer-reviewed and unpublished studies were screened and coded for the meta-analyses. A total of 80 independent samples were subjected to correlated effects meta-regressions. RESULTS: Over and above other Big Five personality domains, both conscientiousness and agreeableness were negatively correlated with alcohol consumption, risky/hazardous drinking and negative drinking-related consequences. Facet-level analyses indicated that deliberation and dutifulness were uniquely associated with alcohol (mis)use over and above other conscientiousness facets, and compliance and straightforwardness were uniquely associated with alcohol (mis)use over and above other agreeableness facets. Extraversion-namely excitement seeking-was correlated with alcohol consumption, whereas neuroticism-namely impulsiveness and angry hostility-was correlated with negative drinking-related consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Personality characteristics are robust correlates of alcohol (mis)use. Examining relevant narrowband traits can inform mechanisms by which personality affects drinking behaviors and related problems, and ways to enhance clinical interventions for alcohol use disorder. Gaps in this literature and future research directions are discussed.

Ethnic/Racial Differences in Alcohol Use: Does Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy Matter?

Introduction: College students-including those of Hispanic backgrounds-are at risk for hazardous drinking. Research has shown robust group differences between Hispanic and White individuals in alcohol use outcomes. The ability to resist alcohol consumption can be leveraged to reduce hazardous drinking; however, little research has examined Hispanic-White differences and whether drinking refusal self-efficacy accounts for group differences in hazardous drinking. Considering Hispanic individuals make up the largest ethnic/racial minority group in the United States, it is important to identify malleable psychological factors that prevent and reduce drinking problems. Method: Hispanic and White college students at two predominantly White institutions (N = 389; 58.6% women, Mage= 20.22) completed measures assessing drinking refusal self-efficacy, hazardous drinking, and negative drinking consequences. Results: Hispanic students reported lower levels of hazardous drinking, alcohol-related problems, and drinking refusal self-efficacy than White students. Drinking refusal self-efficacy was found to partially explain Hispanic-White differences in the levels of hazardous drinking and drinking-related problems. Specifically, drinking refusal self-efficacy was associated with alcohol use outcomes only among White students and not Hispanic students. Conclusion: The correspondence between drinking refusal self-efficacy and actual behaviors to turn down drinks, ethnic/racial distinctiveness in ratings of self-efficacy and cultural orientations, and situational contexts that surround drinking should be examined in future research.

Open science and multicultural research: Some data, considerations, and recommendations.

OBJECTIVES: There are two potentially useful but nonintersecting efforts to help ensure that psychological science produces valid and credible information and contributes to the understanding of diverse human experiences. Whereas North American ethnic minority psychology research/cultural diversity science (EM/D) emphasizes cultural competency to yield contextualized psychological understanding of understudied and underserved minority populations, current open science (OS) approaches emphasize material and data sharing, and statistical proficiency to maximize the replicability of mainstream findings. To illuminate the extent of and explore reasons for this bifurcation, and OS's potential impact on EM/D, we conducted three studies. METHOD AND RESULTS: In Study 1, we reviewed editorial/publishing policies and empirical articles appearing in four major EM/D journals on the incentives for and use of OS. Journals varied in OS-related policies; 32 of 823 empirical articles incorporated any OS practices. Study 2 was a national mixed-methods survey of EM/D scholars' (N = 141) and journal editors' (N = 16) views about and experiences with OS practices. Emerged themes included beliefs about the impact of OS on scientific quality, possible professional disadvantages for EM/D scholars, and concerns about the welfare of and ethical risks posed for communities of color. In Study 3, we explored community research participants' beliefs about data sharing and credibility of science/scientists (N = 1,104). Participants were receptive of data sharing and viewed psychological science favorably. CONCLUSIONS: We provide data-driven recommendations for researchers to assemble the best tools for approaching the knowledge-production process with transparency, humility, and cultural competency. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Acculturation profiles and alcohol use among Hispanic Americans.

Hazardous alcohol use among Hispanics makes for a critical public health issue that warrants empirical examination. Whereas research shows positive associations between alcohol-related outcomes and acculturation, it is unclear how enculturation and acculturation x enculturation are linked to alcohol use. Hispanic American undergraduate and graduate students (N = 348, 61.8% women, Mage = 21.82, 83.3% undergraduates) completed questionnaires assessing their levels of acculturation, enculturation, and alcohol use. Enculturation was negatively associated with social drinking-related consequences. Acculturation was positively associated with alcohol consumption, and enculturation buffered this association. Findings highlight the utility of considering acculturation profiles in understanding Hispanic alcohol use.

College alcohol belief and alcohol use: Testing moderations by cultural orientations and ethnicity.

Alcohol is considered an integral part of the college life; students who hold stronger college alcohol beliefs typically consume more alcohol and experience more negative drinking consequences. Asian Americans are increasingly at risk for hazardous alcohol use, yet little research has focused on whether college alcohol beliefs are conceptualized similarly in this group and whether individuals' cultural orientations moderate the relations between college alcohol beliefs and alcohol involvement. Asian American (N = 439; Mage = 22.77, 42.6% women) and Euro American (N = 161; Mage = 21.04; 41.6% women) undergraduate students were recruited to test measurement invariance of the College Life Alcohol Salience Scale and the Stephenson Multigroup Acculturation Scale. We examined the relations between college alcohol beliefs and alcohol involvement, and the degree to which cultural orientations and ethnicity moderated these relations. Scores from a 14-item College Life Alcohol Salience Scale and a 26-item Stephenson Multigroup Acculturation Scale demonstrated scalar invariance across Asian and Euro American groups. Bivariate correlations showed robust associations between college alcohol beliefs and alcohol involvement. Among Asian and Euro Americans who were not immersed in their ethnic heritage society, students were at greater odds of being a drinker when they endorsed stronger college alcohol beliefs, and drinkers consumed more alcohol when they endorsed lower college alcohol beliefs. Interventions aimed to prevent alcohol use and misuse can assess and target students' college alcohol beliefs and promote greater connectedness to their ethnic heritage cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Acculturation and alcohol use outcomes: Incremental roles of bicultural orientations among Asian American undergraduate and graduate students.

OBJECTIVES: There has been a steep increase in alcohol involvement and alcohol use disorder among Asian Americans in recent decades. Cultural orientations have been shown to be robust correlates of alcohol use. Yet, the literature is limited in illuminating within-group differences in the complex relations among acculturation, enculturation, bicultural orientations, and alcohol use. Most alcohol research has focused on undergraduate students; little is known about the roles of cultural orientations in graduate student drinking outcomes. METHOD: Asian American undergraduate (N = 357, 60.1% women, Mage = 20.32) and graduate students (N = 230, 30.4% women, Mage = 24.76) completed survey questionnaires assessing their levels of acculturation and enculturation, and alcohol consumption and drinking-related consequences. RESULTS: Accounting for acculturation, enculturation was not associated with alcohol use outcomes. Acculturation was positively associated with alcohol consumption among undergraduates, and was negatively associated with various alcohol use outcomes among graduate students. Bicultural orientations indicated by Acculturation × Enculturation predicted alcohol use above and beyond acculturation and enculturation alone, and gender moderated these relations. Among undergraduates, women who scored lower on acculturation and enculturation reported more personal drinking-related consequences. Among graduate students, men who scored lower on enculturation reported more social drinking-related consequences, whereas women who scored higher on acculturation and enculturation reported lower levels of social consequences. CONCLUSION: These results can be interpreted in the contexts of social norms and stress theory, and highlight the possible protective roles of ethnic society immersion in alcohol misuse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

College alcohol beliefs: Measurement invariance, mean differences, and correlations with alcohol use outcomes across sociodemographic groups.

Undergraduate students who believe that alcohol plays a central role in college life are prone to drink more frequently, in larger quantity, and experience more drinking problems. The College Life Alcohol Salience Scale (CLASS) measures individuals' college-related alcohol beliefs but has been used predominantly in Euro American and freshman student samples. Emerging research suggests mean differences in college alcohol beliefs by gender and years in college, and measurement nonequivalence across nations. It remains unclear whether the CLASS functions the same way across segments of the U.S. college population, whether students across sociodemographic groups differ in their college alcohol beliefs, and the extent to which these beliefs predict their drinking-related outcomes. This study included 1,148 undergraduates student (Mage = 19.95; 65.0% women; 44.9%, 19.9%, 10.3%, and 16.7% Euro, Asian, African, and Latinx Americans, respectively). Most students lived on campus (69.9%) and were not affiliated with the Greek system (65.7%). Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported scalar invariance of the CLASS scores across gender, years in college, and campus residence. Scale data achieved metric invariance and partial scalar invariance for ethnicity and Greek membership status. Associations between college alcohol beliefs and alcohol consumption, and drinking problems, were equivalent across sociodemographic categories, but differences in latent mean scores were found across gender, ethnicity, and Greek affiliations. Clinical utility of the CLASS and implications for considering college alcohol beliefs as a risk factor for hazardous alcohol use are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Pregaming among Latina/o emerging adults: Do acculturation and gender matter?

Among ethnic minority groups, Latina/o emerging adults are most likely to engage in pregaming, a risky drinking practice. This study examined how U.S. acculturation and enculturation are associated with pregaming and the extent to which gender moderates this relation in a sample of 312 Latina/o emerging adults (18 - 25 years of age). Results indicated that men consumed more alcohol when pregaming than women, but there were no gender differences in pregaming frequency. Results also showed that lower levels of U.S. acculturation were associated with greater alcohol consumption while pregaming for men, but not women. Gender did not moderate the association between acculturation and pregaming frequency. This study highlights the need to account for gender when examining sociocultural determinants of high risk drinking behaviors such as pregaming among Latina/o emerging adults.

A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of the Associations Between Acculturation and Alcohol Use Outcomes Among Hispanic Americans.

Acculturation has been studied as one key sociocultural determinant that helps explain ethnic disparities in alcohol use outcomes among Hispanic Americans. Primary studies and other systematic reviews have found between-study inconsistencies regarding the extent to which acculturation is associated with alcohol use outcomes among Hispanic Americans. To better examine whether acculturation is distinctly linked to drinker status, drinking frequency, volume, intensity, binge drinking, and hazardous alcohol use/drinking problems, and to identify individual and methodological factors that moderate these associations, we conducted a comprehensive research synthesis. A systematic review was conducted on research pertaining to the associations between acculturation and alcohol use among Hispanics. We included 88 independent study samples (N = 68,282) coded from 68 manuscripts published in 1987 to 2017. Standard and robust variance estimation (RVE) meta-analyses were conducted to calculate the correlations between acculturation and overall alcohol use. We also conducted a series of analyses to examine the weighted mean correlations between acculturation and 6 specific drinking outcomes. We found a statistically significant correlation between acculturation and overall alcohol use (r = 0.09, p < 0.001). Acculturation was associated with drinker status (r = 0.10, p < 0.001), drinking intensity (r = 0.09, p = 0.001), binge drinking (r = 0.05, p = 0.006), and hazardous alcohol use/drinking problems (r = 0.06, p = 0.006), but not drinking frequency (r = 0.02, p = 0.56) or volume (r = 0.01, p = 0.73). Gender, acculturation dimension, acculturation domain, age group, and sampling settings were found to explain between-study variability in some of these associations. Findings show small relations between acculturation and various alcohol use outcomes, but the effects are relatively more robust among Hispanic women, adults, and when studies measured U.S. cultural orientation, linguistic acculturation, and behavioral practices.

Greater than the sum of its parts: Development of a measure of collectivism among Asians.

OBJECTIVES: Collectivism can contextualize subjective cultural experiences, yet operationalization and measurement approaches for understanding this construct among Asians and Asian Americans have been discrepant. Inconsistency has resulted from diverse levels of analyses, unidimensional versus multidimensional approaches to organizing related subconstructs, and different degrees of cultural specificity of existing instruments. The Brief Collectivism Questionnaire (BCQ) was developed to address these limitations in assessing general collectivism in Asian cultures, while capturing its diverse attitudinal and behavioral manifestations, using a bifactor framework. METHOD: Data were collected from 2 samples of Asian American and Asian international students (N1 = 267: Mage = 20.4, 48.7% women; N2 = 375: Mage = 19.0, 55.6% women). The structure underlying collectivism was examined in exploratory (Study 1) and confirmatory (Study 2) factor analyses. Correlational and hierarchical multiple regression analyses tested the BCQ's validity, particularly the extent to which broadband collectivism and content-specific subdomains overlapped with existing measures of the construct (Study 3). RESULTS: A bifactor structure with 1 general factor of collectivism and 3 specific factors (Prosocial Motivations, Maintaining Harmony, and Concern for Face) demonstrated the best fit for the data and supported the conceptual framework. The BCQ showed adequate internal consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and concurrent and incremental validity predicting depression and openness toward treatment seeking. CONCLUSIONS: The BCQ appears to be a multidimensional, psychometrically sound measure that assesses broadband and narrowband contents of collectivism among Asians. The bifactor structure integrates diverse conceptualizations of individual-level collectivism, and clarifies how this construct is related to adjustment outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record

Do spouses matter? Discrimination, social support, and psychological distress among Asian Americans.

OBJECTIVE: Perceived discrimination poses risks for psychological distress among Asian Americans, but the differential impact of general unfair treatment and racial discrimination has not been examined. Although social support from distal sources reduces discrimination-related distress either directly or as a buffer, the unique roles of spousal support have remained understudied. Nativity status was examined as another moderator of these relationships to resolve previous inconsistent findings regarding its relationship to the discrimination-distress link. METHOD: Data were from 1,626 U.S.- and foreign-born Asian American adults (Mage = 42.17 years; n = 1,142 married/cohabiting) in the nationally representative National Latino and Asian American Study, who reported on experiences of unfair treatment, racial discrimination, social supports from spouses, family, friends, and neighborhood, and psychological distress. RESULTS: Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that both unfair treatment and racial discrimination predicted psychological distress, and spousal support predicted distress above and beyond distal forms of social support in the context of perceived discrimination. Moderation analyses revealed that spousal support buffered against negative psychological consequences of unfair treatment, but not racial discrimination. Spousal support was not differentially protective as a function of nativity; however, U.S.-born respondents reacted with greater distress to unfair treatment than their foreign-born counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological effects of both general and race-based discrimination, and the unique contributions of distinct sources of social support, are important to understanding adjustment and cultural transition among Asian Americans. Nativity differentially influences effects of unfair treatment. Implications for future research are discussed.

Development and validation of the Chinese-language version of the eating pathology symptoms inventory.

OBJECTIVE: Eating disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent among individuals from non-Western countries, yet few non-English-language measures of eating pathology exist. The current study sought to develop and validate a Chinese version of the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory(1) with cross-cultural equivalence. METHOD: The Chinese version of the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (CEPSI) was translated and back-translated by native Chinese speakers, and administered to a pilot sample of native Chinese speaking students (N = 45) from a Midwestern university in the United States. The measure was revised based on participant's feedback, and administrated to a large sample of native Chinese speakers recruited from a Midwestern community (N = 195; 49.2% women) to test the factor structure and convergent and discriminant validity of the measure. RESULTS: As hypothesized, the CEPSI had a robust eight-factor structure, and demonstrated evidence for acceptable internal consistency (median coefficient alphas were 0.80 for men and 0.79 for women, and alpha values ranged from 0.36 to 0.85 in men and 0.70 to 0.89 in women), and good convergent validity (correlations with relevant translated scales from the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire and the Eating Attitudes Test-26 ranged from 0.22 to 0.58) and discriminate validity (correlations with a translated version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression Scale ranged from .12 to .30). DISCUSSION: Results indicate that the CEPSI has high potential value as a new self-report measure of eating pathology that can be used in future research and clinical settings to assess eating disorder-related psychopathology among Chinese speaking individuals.

Harmonizing Assessments of Everyday Racial Discrimination Experiences: The Multigroup Everyday Racial Discrimination Scale (MERDS).

Reliable and valid assessment of direct racial discrimination experiences in everyday life is critical to understanding one key determinant of ethnoracial minority health and health disparities. To address psychometric limitations of existing instruments and to harmonize the assessment of everyday racial discrimination, the new Multigroup Everyday Racial Discrimination Scale (MERDS) was developed and validated. This investigation included 1,355 college and graduate students of color (Mage = 21.54, 56.0% women). Factor analyses were performed to provide evidence for structural validity of everyday racial discrimination scores. Item response theory modeling was used to investigate item difficulty relative to the level of everyday racial discrimination, and measurement error conditioned on the construct. MERDS scores were reliable, supported construct unidimensionality, and distinguished individuals who reported low to very high frequency of everyday racial discrimination. Results on the associations with racial identity and psychopathology symptoms, and utility of the scale are discussed.

Interpersonal Violence, Racial Discrimination, and Mental Health Symptoms Among Adolescents of Color in the Juvenile-Justice System.

The current study examined how interpersonal racial discrimination experiences operate together with other forms of interpersonal violence to contribute to mental health symptoms among justice-involved adolescents of color. Participants were 118 justice-involved adolescents of color aged 14 to 17 (M = 15.77, SD = 1.08; 52.5% male; 77.1% Black/African American) and their mothers. At baseline, adolescents reported on experiences of interpersonal racial discrimination, harsh parenting, teen dating violence, and exposure to interparental physical intimate partner violence. At baseline and the 3-month follow-up assessment, adolescents reported on trauma symptoms, and adolescents and their mothers reported on the adolescents' externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Multivariate multilevel modeling results indicated that interpersonal racial discrimination experiences contributed additively to adolescent mental health symptoms at both the baseline and 3-month follow-up assessments, after accounting for exposure to other forms of interpersonal violence. The current findings highlight the importance of considering adolescents' experiences of interpersonal racial discrimination, together with other forms of interpersonal violence, in work focused on understanding the mental health symptoms of justice-involved adolescents of color.

Comparing Drinking Game Motives, Behaviors, and Consequences Among Varsity Athletes, Recreational Athletes, and Non-Student-Athletes: A Multisite University Study.

OBJECTIVE: Among college students, student-athletes are at increased risk for heavy alcohol consumption, participation in risky drinking practices (e.g., playing drinking games [DG]), and adverse alcohol-related consequences relative to non-student-athletes. Within the student-athlete population, level of sports participation (e.g., recreational or varsity sports) can affect alcohol use behaviors and consequences, but our understanding of the extent to which level of sports participation influences engagement in DG is limited. Thus, in the present study, we examined differences in frequency of participation in DG, typical drink consumption while playing DG, negative DG consequences, and motives for playing DG among varsity, recreational, and non-student-athletes. METHOD: College students (n = 7,901 across 12 U.S. colleges/universities) completed questionnaires on alcohol use attitudes, behaviors, and consequences. RESULTS: Student-athletes (recreational or varsity sports) were more likely to have participated in DG within the past month than non-student-athletes. Among students who reported past-month DG play, recreational athletes played more often and endorsed more enhancement/thrills motives for playing DG than non-student-athletes, and student-athletes (recreational or varsity) endorsed higher levels of competition motives for playing DG than non-student-athletes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings shed light on some risky drinking patterns and motives of recreational athletes who are often overlooked and under-resourced in health research and clinical practice. Recreational and varsity student-athletes could benefit from alcohol screening and prevention efforts, which can include provision of competitive and alcohol-free social activities and promotion of alcohol protective behavioral strategies to help reduce recreational athletes' risk for harm while playing DG.

Self-efficacy in romantic relationships: prediction of relationship attitudes and outcomes.

Three studies examine discriminant and predictive validity of a self-report measure of self -efficacy in romantic relationships (Self-Efficacy in Romantic Relationships; SERR). Study 1 indicates SERR scores predict relationship anxiety and expectations of relationship success when general self-efficacy, self-esteem, social desirability, and efficacy beliefs about relating to specific relationship partners are considered. Study 2 indicates SERR scores predict later relationship satisfaction and commitment when relationship type and length are considered. Study 3 indicates that SERR scores predict later relationship outcomes when other self-efficacy indicators are considered. The SERR assesses broad feelings of relationship self-efficacy, independent of specific relationships or partners.