Racial Discrimination, Distress, Coping Motives, and Alcohol-Related Problems Among U.S.-Born Asian American Young Adults

There is evidence that alcohol use and problem drinking are increasing among Asian Americans. This trend appears to be salient for U.S.-born Asian Americans in particular. Some studies suggest that U.S.-born Asian Americans engage in similar rates of alcohol use compared to other racial groups. Therefore, it is critical to identify the mechanisms of risk and factors associated with alcohol-related problems among this health disparities group. Racial discrimination is considered to be a highly stressful life experience and is significantly associated with alcohol use among ethnic minorities in general. We investigated the role of psychological distress and the drinking to cope motive as underlying mediators between racial discrimination and alcohol-related problems among 1,432 U.S.-born Asian American young adult college students from Southern California. Asian American students reported high rates of psychological distress and instances of racial discrimination. The final structural equation model provided strong fit to the data, and the variables in the model accounted for 44% of the variance in alcohol-related problems. Controlling for alcohol use, Greek fraternity and sorority status, and gender, racial discrimination was significantly associated with alcohol-related problems. Drinking to cope and psychological distress partially mediated the discrimination and alcohol-related problems association. Racial discrimination appears to be an important risk factor for alcohol-related problems among Asian American young adults. This study was a novel investigation into how psychological distress and drinking to cope mechanisms help explain and provide specificity to the racial discrimination and alcohol-related problems association among Asian Americans. What is the public significance of this article? U.S.-born Asian American young adults reported frequent incidences of racial discrimination, and significant psychological distress. Racial discrimination and distress increased the risk of reporting alcohol-related problems.