Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
05:40
The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
Assessing the Association Between Discrimination and Alcohol Use by Gender Among Latino/a Immigrant Parents: A
Miracle A Macias Burgos1, Tara G Bautista2, Steven D Barger3
1University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. miraclem@arizona.edu.
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
|July 22, 2026
Summary
Psychological symptoms mediate the link between perceived discrimination and alcohol use in Latino adults. This association is stronger for men, suggesting targeted interventions for Latino immigrant men addressing discrimination-related mental health impacts.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Latino adults in the US exhibit higher alcohol use than non-Hispanic White adults.
- Perceived discrimination is linked to alcohol consumption in this demographic, with psychological symptoms potentially mediating this relationship.
- Gender differences in alcohol use and mental health suggest gender may moderate the discrimination-alcohol use association.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine if psychological symptoms mediate the association between perceived discrimination and alcohol use among Latino immigrant parents.
- To determine if gender moderates these direct and indirect associations.
- To inform culturally relevant interventions for this population.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional survey data from 893 Latino immigrant parents in the US.
- Assessment of psychological symptomatology (anxiety, depression, stress) and alcohol misuse.
- Confirmatory factor analysis to create a latent psychological symptomatology construct.
- Mediated-moderation model to analyze the relationships.
Main Results:
- Psychological symptoms fully explained the link between discrimination and alcohol use for men (β = 0.23, p < .01).
- Psychological symptoms partially explained the link between discrimination and alcohol use for women (β = 0.19, p < .01).
- Gender moderated the indirect effect of perceived discrimination on alcohol use via psychological symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Psychological symptoms are a key pathway linking discrimination to alcohol use in Latino immigrant parents.
- Latino immigrant men may particularly benefit from interventions addressing psychological distress stemming from discrimination.
- Findings highlight the importance of considering gender and discrimination in alcohol use prevention and treatment for Latino populations.
Related Concept Videos
02:55Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who are...
02:16Surveys
Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.
01:16Hypothesis Test for Test of Independence
The test of independence is a chi-square-based test used to determine whether two variables or factors are independent or dependent. This hypothesis test is used to examine the independence of the variables. One can construct two qualitative survey questions or experiments based on the variables in a contingency table. The goal is to see if the two variables are unrelated (independent) or related (dependent). The null and alternative hypotheses for this test are:
H0: The two variables (factors)...
H0: The two variables (factors)...
01:50Cross-Sectional Research
In cross-sectional research, a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time. If they were interested in people's dietary habits, the researcher might directly compare different groups of people by age. Instead of following a group of people for 20 years to see how their dietary habits changed from decade to decade, the researcher would study a group of 20-year-old individuals and compare them to a group of 30-year-old individuals and a group of 40-year-old...
01:21Introduction to Test of Independence
In statistics, the term independence means that one can directly obtain the probability of any event involving both variables by multiplying their individual probabilities. Tests of independence are chi-square tests involving the use of a contingency table of observed (data) values.
The test statistic for a test of independence is similar to that of a goodness-of-fit test:
The test statistic for a test of independence is similar to that of a goodness-of-fit test: