Immigrant College Students' Alcohol Use across Days, Semesters, and Generations

Montana State University - Bozeman, Bozeman MT

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Abstract

Abstract Over 5 million college students in the US are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants. Research has shown that immigrant adolescents consume less alcohol and misuse alcohol less frequently than non-immigrants. However, it is unclear if college students? alcohol use changes when they are exposed to a college context that promotes hazardous heavy drinking. College student alcohol misuse can have immediate debilitating consequences and long-term repercussions for health, productivity, and well-being. Thus, it is critical to identify the risk and protective factors leveraged by immigrant students confronting a pro-drinking environment and document problematic increases in alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences. The proposed project will use secondary survey data from the University Life Study (ULS) to identify personal and environmental risk and protective factors that explain fluctuations and trajectories in alcohol use among college students of different immigrant generations. A sample of students diverse with regard to race/ethnicity and immigrant generation attending a college in the Northeastern US (N=744) were followed longitudinally for 7 semesters. A measurement burst design was used such that each semester students completed a ?burst? of 14 daily web surveys resulting in >55,000 person-days of data. With these unique data, the project will document normative patterns of alcohol use across immigrant generations as well as illuminate dynamic characteristics that impact alcohol use across days and college semesters. Two specific aims will be addressed. The first aim is to distinguish the longitudinal course and daily fluctuations of alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences for college students of different immigrant generations. The second aim is to identify dynamic risk and protective factors that explain generational differences, longitudinal change, and daily fluctuations in alcohol use and abstinence among immigrant students. To achieve these specific aims, multi-level modeling approaches will be used in order to examine characteristics of days (level 1), semesters (level 2), and individuals (level 3) associated with a greater likelihood of alcohol misuse. The long-term goal of this project is to uncover novel explanations for disparities in alcohol use across immigrant generations in order to design more effective interventions that help to protect students from the broader culture of dangerous drinking that is pervasive on many college campuses.