Latent classes of alcohol problems in Mauritian men: Results from the Joint Child Health Project

The purpose of this study was to identify latent classes of alcohol problems and their sociodemographic correlates in the east African nation of Mauritius.

Participants were from the Joint Child Health Project, a longitudinal study of a 1969-1970 birth cohort of 1795 individuals. In mid-adulthood (M = 37 years), all available participants (n = 1206; 67% of the original cohort) were assessed for demographic characteristics, and lifetime drinkers were assessed for alcohol-related problems. Given the low endorsement of problems by women, only male lifetime drinkers (n = 520) were included in the latent class analyses.

Analyses indicated the best-fitting model contained four classes of drinkers: Non-problematic (66%), Moderate (16%), Hazardous (11%) and Severe (6%). Lower education and occupation were associated with Moderate and Severe problem classes, whereas higher education and occupation were associated with the Hazardous class. Being Hindu, Tamil and Creole were differentially predictive of class membership, but being Muslim was not.

Our findings provide evidence of a distinct Hazardous drinking class that has unique demographic correlates and may represent a cluster of problems that is more bound by cultural factors. We also found problem classes on a severity continuum from none to moderate to severe problems. This study highlights the importance of examining societal, subgroup and person-level factors to produce a more nuanced understanding of distinct classes of alcohol-related problems. [Luczak SE, Prescott CA, Venables PH. Latent classes of alcohol problems in Mauritian men: Results from the Joint Child Health Project.