Examining parental permissiveness toward drinking and perceived ethnic discrimination as risk factors for drinking outcomes among Latinx college students

Highlights

• Addresses ethnic minority health disparity in college alcohol research.

• Latinx college students at risk for heavy drinking and consequences.

• Students with permissive parents and ethnic discrimination at higher risk.

• Significant interaction between parent permissiveness and discrimination.

Abstract

Background

Despite almost 1 in 5 college students being Latinx, research examining risk factors for college alcohol misuse and consequences to inform prevention efforts for Latinx is limited. The current study attempts to address a health disparity among Latinx college students by examining the effects of parental permissiveness of underage drinking and perceived ethnic discrimination on drinking outcomes.

Methods

Latinx students from three large and geographically diverse public universities (N = 215; 73% female) completed measures during the fall of their first (T1) and second (T2) years. Analyses used moderated regression with bootstrapping to obtain asymmetrical 95% confidence intervals. Parental permissiveness of underage drinking and perceived ethnic discrimination were assessed as predictors at T1. Drinking outcomes were assessed at T2 as typical weekly drinking, peak blood alcohol content (BAC), and alcohol-related consequences.

Results

T1 permissiveness was significantly positively associated with T2 peak BAC. T1 discrimination significantly moderated the association between T1 permissiveness and T2 peak BAC as well as T2 consequences. The effects of T1 permissiveness on T2 peak BAC and T2 consequences were stronger among Latinx who experienced above-average levels of T1 discrimination.

Conclusions

Results suggest that among Latinx parental permissiveness of underage drinking and perceived ethnic discrimination are risk factors for peak BAC and alcohol-related consequences. The positive associations between parental permissiveness and peak BAC/consequences were stronger among Latinx students who experienced high levels of ethnic discrimination. Efforts to address these risk factors in future culturally sensitive parent-based interventions for Latinx college students are warranted.

Introduction

College student risky alcohol use remains prevalent and a national public health concern. Thousands of college students are impacted by alcohol in detrimental ways each year, including death, serious injury, and physical and sexual assault (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2019, Survey, 2018). Beyond the immediate risks, alcohol misuse during college exacerbates long-term adverse consequences such as post-graduation unemployment, increased likelihood for later alcohol dependence, and irreversible damage to the still-developing brain (Bamberger et al., 2018, Hultgren et al., 2019, White, 2003). Alcohol-related lifestyle habits are formed during emerging adulthood making college a critical developmental period for alcohol intervention efforts (Jordan and Andersen, 2017, Wood et al., 2017).

United States epidemiologic data show Latinx individuals have high prevalence rates of past-year alcohol consumption, heavy episodic drinking, and alcohol use disorders (Lui & Zamboanga, 2019). Research examining differences in college student drinking by race and ethnicity show that Latinx students drink at similar rates to non-Latinx White students and more than non-Latinx Black students (Christie-Mizell et al., 2015, Corbin et al., 2008, O’Malley and Johnston, 2002). Other studies show that Latinx students typically drink less than non-Latinx White students (LaBrie, Atkins, Neighbors, Mirza, & Larimer, 2012; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2013), but when Latinx students do drink it is in a high-risk manner that involves heavy episodic drinking and elevated alcohol-related problems (Mulia et al., 2008, Mulia et al., 2009, Venegas et al., 2012). Altogether, research has demonstrated that Latinx college students are at risk for hazardous alcohol use and consequences making it a critical public health concern that warrants empirical examination (Lui and Zamboanga, 2019, Mulia et al., 2008, Mulia et al., 2009, Venegas et al., 2012).

College campuses in the United States are becoming increasingly diverse with the percentage of enrolled Latinx students having increased from 4% to 18% from 1976 to 2016 (U.S. Department of Education, 2019). Despite almost 1 in 5 students being Latinx, research examining reasons why Latinx college students drink is limited. A considerable body of research has examined the effects of parental permissiveness toward underage drinking in college, but limited theory-driven published reports examine whether any of the effects generalize to Latinx students. There is evidence that parental warmth and parental control act as protective factors against adolescent Latinx alcohol use (Mogro-Wilson, 2008), but these findings are not specific to permissiveness of alcohol use among underage college students. Cross-sectional research with first-year underage Latinx college students has demonstrated a positive association between maternal permissiveness and drinking and consequences (Varvil-Weld, Turrisi, Hospital, Mallett, & Bamaca-Colbert, 2014), indicating that parental influences may also be relevant for underage Latinx student drinking behaviors. However, further examination of parental influences on drinking (including fathers’ reports, longitudinal reports, and interactive effects across domains) is necessary to determine how prevention efforts can be optimized for underage Latinx college students.

Parental permissiveness towards drinking is defined as a type of parenting style where parents either have rules that allow their underage teens to drink alcohol or have approving attitudes of underage alcohol use (Rulison et al., 2016, Varvil-Weld et al., 2012). Descriptive research examining parental approval toward their underage teens drinking shows that the majority of parents generally disapprove of their teen engaging in heavy episodic drinking and experiencing consequences (NSDUH, 2018). Other reports reveal that parents think it is normative for underage individuals to engage in some manner of alcohol consumption (Friese, Grube, Moore, & Jennings, 2012) and think it is okay if their teen drinks in moderation (Donovan and Molina, 2008, Kypri et al., 2007). Finally, LaBrie, Hummer, Lac, Ehret, and Kenney (2011) observed that parents’ own permissiveness toward underage drinking tends to be positively associated with their perceptions that other parents also allow their underage teens to drink.

Parental permissiveness of alcohol has been identified as a reliable predictor of adolescent and young adult alcohol misuse and consequences across a wide range of studies focused on different research questions and developmental periods (Calhoun et al., 2018, Koning et al., 2010, Koning et al., 2012, Livingston et al., 2010, Mallett et al., 2019, Patock-Peckham et al., 2011, Patock-Peckham and Morgan-Lopez, 2006, Rulison et al., 2016, Van der Vorst et al., 2005, Varvil-Weld et al., 2012, Varvil-Weld et al., 2013). Research examining the effects of parental permissiveness toward underage college student drinking on student drinking and consequences, show that permissiveness is associated with greater student harms. For example, Livingston et al. (2010) found that students whose parents allowed them to drink during meals or with friends in high school reported more frequent heavy episodic drinking in college than students whose parents did not allow these practices. Varvil-Weld et al. (2012) observed that students experienced significantly greater problematic alcohol-related consequences when their parents allowed them to drink before they were 21 compared to students whose parents did not allow them to drink prior to 21. Rulison et al. (2016) discovered that during the transition to college, parents influence students’ drinking behaviors both directly through communication as well as indirectly by shaping students’ values and who they select as friends. Recent longitudinal studies provide evidence that parental permissiveness of drinking increases from the beginning to end of college and is a significant predictor of college student drinking and consequences at both time points (Calhoun et al., 2018, Mallett et al., 2019).

Lastly, interventions that encourage parents to adopt non-permissive rules toward underage drinking have been shown to reduce students’ risky drinking and consequences during adolescence (e.g., Koning et al., 2010, Koning et al., 2012) and college (Turrisi et al., 2010, Turrisi et al., 2013). Together, these studies provide evidence about the importance of parental permissiveness toward underage drinking as a potential risk factor for elevated student drinking and consequences.

Minority stress models have emphasized the detrimental effects of stress stemming from minority group membership, discrimination, and intercultural contact (Meyer, 1995, Meyer et al., 2008, Thoits, 1995). Minority stress has been linked to negative behavioral and health outcomes, like alcohol consumption and high-risk drinking behaviors (Mulia et al., 2008, Mulia and Zemore, 2012). General life stress can combine with minority-related stress to exacerbate a life stage, such as the transition from high school to college that carries its own unique stressors (Mays, Cochran, & Barnes, 2007).

Ethnic discrimination is common among Latinx living in the U.S., and anti-immigrant sentiment towards Latinx has been increasing with recent debate over immigration policy in the U.S. (Almeida et al., 2016, Benjamins and Whitman, 2014). In national surveys, 58% of Latinx reported experiences of discrimination, and 82% felt racial discrimination was an issue that prevents them from succeeding in America (Pew Hispanic Center, 2006, Pew Research Center, 2019). Past cross-sectional studies have shown that perceived ethnic discrimination is associated with unhealthy drinking among Latinx individuals even after controlling for age, education, income, and nativity (Lo and Cheng, 2012, Ornelas et al., 2011, Ornelas and Hong, 2012, Pearson et al., 2009, Verissimo et al., 2014). Cross-sectional research also suggests that perceived ethnic discrimination is a stressor that is associated with alcohol-related consequences (Brondolo et al., 2011, Myers, 2009). However, less is known about how perceived ethnic discrimination affects Latinx college student drinking and consequences longitudinally.

Prior work has established the link between minority stress and alcohol use (Mulia et al., 2008, Mulia and Zemore, 2012), as well as the link between parental permissiveness of alcohol use and underage alcohol use (Calhoun et al., 2018, Mallett et al., 2019, Varvil-Weld et al., 2014). However, these two risk factors have not been examined as an interaction to determine whether their synergistic effects exacerbate underage alcohol use among Latinx college students. The minority stress model theorizes that Latinx students may engage in risky drinking behaviors to cope with chronic exposure to discriminatory stress (Lo and Cheng, 2012, Ornelas et al., 2011, Ornelas and Hong, 2012, Pearson et al., 2009, Verissimo et al., 2014). If Latinx parents are permissive of underage drinking, their teen may implicitly perceive that drinking is an acceptable coping method in response to discriminatory behaviors. This may be especially salient for Latinx individuals due to cultural values that place emphasis on the family, such as familismo and respeto (Antshel, 2002, Cuéllar et al., 1995, Freeman et al., 2002, Halgunseth et al., 2006, Marin and Marin, 1991, Unger et al., 2002). The cultural values of familismo and respeto may be incorporated into parental rules regarding underage alcohol use and affect their teen’s drinking behaviors in college especially at high risk times (e.g., when teen faces discrimination). To address this gap, the current study examined perceived ethnic discrimination as a moderator of the association between parental permissiveness of alcohol use and Latinx college student drinking outcomes.

The current study attempts to address a health disparity among Latinx college students by examining how perceived ethnic discrimination is associated with risky alcohol use, as well as how it interacts with parental permissiveness of drinking to affect drinking outcomes. The study utilized a longitudinal sample of Latinx students across two waves from three major universities located in the northwest, northeast, and southeast U.S. Aim 1 examined the association between parental permissiveness toward drinking and students’ drinking and consequences. Based on published reports on the positive association between parental permissiveness and college students’ drinking (Calhoun et al., 2018, Mallett et al., 2019, Rulison et al., 2016), it was hypothesized that parental permissiveness would be predictive of increased risky drinking and consequences.

Aim 2 examined the association between perceived ethnic discrimination and students’ drinking and consequences. Evidence suggests that individuals who experience more discriminatory stress are more likely to engage in high-risk drinking behaviors (Mulia et al., 2008, Mulia and Zemore, 2012, Verissimo et al., 2014). Thus, we hypothesized that discrimination would be predictive of increased drinking and consequences.

Aim 3 examined discrimination as a moderator of the association between permissiveness and drinking outcomes. There are currently no published reports that examine the effect of the interaction of permissiveness and discrimination on risky alcohol use among Latinx students. However, it is posited that students will have varying degrees of permissive parents and discriminatory stress, resulting in different patterns (e.g., low permissiveness/high discrimination or high permissiveness/low discrimination). We hypothesized that Latinx students who report high levels of discrimination and have highly permissive parents would drink significantly more and experience significantly more consequences than students who report low levels of discrimination and have less permissive parents.