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Updated: May 25, 2026
06:15
A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Decomposing associations between acculturation and drinking in Mexican Americans
Britain A Mills1, Raul Caetano
1University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas, TX 75390-9128, USA. britain.mills@utsouthwestern.edu
Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research
|February 10, 2012
Summary
Acculturation to the U.S. influences Hispanic drinking, with drinking motives partially explaining this link, especially for women. Sociocultural models better explain these drinking behaviors than stress models.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Acculturation to the United States is a significant factor influencing Hispanic drinking patterns.
- Previous research has explored sociocultural and general stress theories to explain this relationship.
- This study addresses limitations by examining a wider range of cognitive mediators and acculturative stress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the explanatory power of sociocultural theory and general stress theory regarding acculturation and drinking in Mexican Americans.
- To investigate the role of cognitive mediators such as norms, drinking motives, and alcohol expectancies.
- To explore potential nonlinear effects of acculturation and acculturative stress, particularly among men.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 2,595 Mexican Americans (1,351 current drinkers) in a study of U.S. drinking behavior.
- Employed hierarchical linear regression to assess mediators (norms, motives, expectancies, stress) in acculturation-drinking relationships.
- Modeled quadratic effects to examine nonlinear trends in acculturation and acculturative stress.
Main Results:
- Acculturation's impact on drinking was stronger in women than men.
- Among women, drinking motives were the primary mediator of acculturation's effect on drinking volume and heavy drinking days.
- For men, acculturation indirectly influenced drinking via norms, but overall acculturation effects were attenuated or negative, with acculturation stress not mediating the association.
Conclusions:
- Drinking motives partially explain the acculturation-drinking link, supporting sociocultural models over stress models.
- Alcohol outcome expectancies and stress play a minimal role in the linear acculturation-drinking association.
- Inconsistent mediation, not nonlinearities, better explains the weakened acculturation-drinking association observed in men.
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