TY - JOUR
T1 - Depressive Symptoms and Drinking to Cope in Relation to Alcohol Use Outcomes among White and Black/African American College Students
AU - the Spit for Science Working Group
AU - Taylor, Nicole L.
AU - Su, Jinni
AU - Dick, Danielle M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Spit for Science has been supported by Virginia Commonwealth University, P20 AA017828, R37AA011408, K02AA018755, P50 AA022537, and K01AA024152 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and UL1RR031990 from the National Center for Research Resources and National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research. This research was also supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54DA036105 and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the NIH or the FDA. Data from this study are available to qualified researchers via dbGaP (phs001754.v2.p1). We would like to thank the Spit for Science participants for making this study a success, as well as the many University faculty, students, and staff who contributed to the design and implementation of the project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Objective: Prior research shows that Black/African American adults experience more negative alcohol use consequences than White adults, despite lower alcohol consumption. Research also shows that Black/African Americans experience higher rates of depression, which can increase risk for alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) through drinking to cope. We examined associations between depressive symptoms and drinking to cope with alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms among White and Black/African American college students. Methods: Participants completed an online survey during the fall and spring semester of their first year of college (N = 2,168, 62.8% female, 75.8% White). Path analyses were conducted to examine whether depressive symptoms and drinking to cope mediated the association between race/ethnicity and alcohol use outcomes, and whether race/ethnicity moderated the associations between depressive symptoms, drinking to cope, and alcohol use outcomes. Results: Results indicated that Black/African Americans had lower levels of depressive symptoms, which were associated with lower drinking to cope, and in turn associated with lower alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms. Multigroup analysis indicated that the pattern of associations between depressive symptoms, drinking to cope, and alcohol use outcomes were largely similar between White and Black/African American college students and between males and females, except that the association between depressive symptoms and drinking to cope appeared to be stronger for Whites than for Black/African American students. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms and drinking to cope are risk factors in relation to alcohol use outcomes among White and Black/African American college students and partially account for the link between race/ethnicity and alcohol use outcomes. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2034871.
AB - Objective: Prior research shows that Black/African American adults experience more negative alcohol use consequences than White adults, despite lower alcohol consumption. Research also shows that Black/African Americans experience higher rates of depression, which can increase risk for alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) through drinking to cope. We examined associations between depressive symptoms and drinking to cope with alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms among White and Black/African American college students. Methods: Participants completed an online survey during the fall and spring semester of their first year of college (N = 2,168, 62.8% female, 75.8% White). Path analyses were conducted to examine whether depressive symptoms and drinking to cope mediated the association between race/ethnicity and alcohol use outcomes, and whether race/ethnicity moderated the associations between depressive symptoms, drinking to cope, and alcohol use outcomes. Results: Results indicated that Black/African Americans had lower levels of depressive symptoms, which were associated with lower drinking to cope, and in turn associated with lower alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms. Multigroup analysis indicated that the pattern of associations between depressive symptoms, drinking to cope, and alcohol use outcomes were largely similar between White and Black/African American college students and between males and females, except that the association between depressive symptoms and drinking to cope appeared to be stronger for Whites than for Black/African American students. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms and drinking to cope are risk factors in relation to alcohol use outcomes among White and Black/African American college students and partially account for the link between race/ethnicity and alcohol use outcomes. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2034871.
KW - Depression
KW - alcohol use
KW - alcohol use disorder
KW - college
KW - drinking to cope
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128159962&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85128159962&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10826084.2022.2034871
DO - 10.1080/10826084.2022.2034871
M3 - Article
C2 - 35156525
AN - SCOPUS:85128159962
SN - 1082-6084
VL - 57
SP - 708
EP - 718
JO - Substance Use and Misuse
JF - Substance Use and Misuse
IS - 5
ER -