Acculturative stress and alcohol use among Latinx recruited from a primary care clinic: Moderations by emotion dysregulation.

Abstract

Among Latinx in the United States, alcohol is the most widely abused substance and is associated with a range of negative consequences. Acculturative stress is one factor that is relevant regarding Latinx substance use although more work is needed in this area. In theory, those with more adaptive emotion regulation capabilities may be better able to buffer against the adverse effects of acculturative stress on alcohol use because the person has more and better strategies to deal with life stress. Thus, the current study sought to examine the moderating role of dysregulation in the association of acculturative stress and alcohol use among Latinx in primary care. Latinx adults (N ϭ 94; M age ϭ 38.5 years, SD ϭ 10.8; 86.6% female) recruited from a Federally Qualified Health Center provided self-reported ratings of acculturative stress, emotion dysregulation, and alcohol use. All measures were in Spanish. Covariates included sex, marital status, age, years in the United States, negative affectivity, and clinic visit reason (patient vs. person accompanying patient). There was a statistically significant interaction of acculturative stress and emotion dysregulation (␤ ϭ 1.65, t ϭ 2.29, p ϭ .025) on alcohol use, which accounted for 4.8% of additional variance over and above covariates and the nonsignificant main effects. Simple slope analyses revealed that acculturative stress was associated with alcohol use among those with high (␤ ϭ 0.28, t ϭ 2.04, p ϭ .045), but not low (␤ ϭ Ϫ0.28, t ϭ Ϫ1.26, p ϭ .210) levels of emotion dysregulation. The current results indicate that emotion dysregulation moderates the association between acculturative stress and alcohol use among Latinx in primary care. Public Policy Relevance StatementFor Latinx individuals attending primary care centers, inability to regulate emotions may put them at risk for alcohol use in the face of stressors such as acculturative stress. Additional work is needed to evaluate and potentially improve emotion regulation to buffer against these potentially harmful outcomes.

The role of emotion dysregulation in the association between substance use stigma and depressive symptoms among trauma-exposed, substance-using individuals.

“…Of note, our findings, alongside a rich body of research linking a wide array of stressors (e.g., acculturation [Paulus et al, 2019], childhood adversity [Weiss et al, 2013], domestic violence [Weiss et al, 2018]) to emotion dysregulation, suggest that emotion dysregulation may constitute a vulnerability factor for negative consequences of stress, including stigma-related sequelae. More research is needed to elucidate the relative impact of stigma on emotion dysregulation in the context of other general life stressors.…”

Acculturative Stress and the Effects on Health and Health Behaviors in Hispanic Immigrants: A Systematic Review

“…Of the 32 articles, 23 referred to the participants as “Latino” (Bakhshaie et al, 2018; Castillo et al, 2015; Corona et al, 2017; Ertl et al, 2018; Gutierrez-Vazquez et al, 2018; Hill et al, 2019; Leong et al, 2013; Maldonado et al, 2018; Mayorga et al, 2018; Panchang et al, 2016; Paulus et al, 2019; Ramos et al, 2015; Rivera et al, 2015; Rogers-Sirin, 2013; Salgado et al, 2012; Sanchez et al, 2016; Savage & Mezuk, 2014; Schachter et al, 2012; Torres et al, 2012; Viana et al, 2020; Waldman et al, 2019; Zvolensky et al, 2018, 2020). There were two studies that referred to the sample population as “Hispanic” (Cervantes et al, 2013; Zvolensky et al, 2016).…”

“…Of the reviewed articles, 81.2% investigated the interaction of acculturative stress on mental health (Bakhshaie et al, 2018; Capielo et al, 2015; Castillo et al, 2015; Cervantes et al, 2013, 2019; Corona et al, 2017; Gutierrez-Vazquez et al, 2018; Hill et al, 2019; Kiang et al, 2010; Leong et al, 2013; Maldonado et al, 2018; Mayorga et al, 2018; Panchang et al, 2016; Paulus et al, 2019; Perreira et al, 2019; Ramos et al, 2015; Rivera et al, 2015; Rogers-Sirin, 2013; Salgado et al, 2012; Schachter et al, 2012; Torres et al, 2012; Viana et al, 2020; Zvolensky et al, 2016, 2018, 2020). Most of these studies found that increased acculturative stress led to increased depression, anxiety, and psychological stress (Capielo et al, 2015; Castillo et al, 2015; Cervantes et al, 2013, 2019; Corona et al, 2017; Gutierrez-Vazquez et al, 2018; Hill et al, 2019; Kiang et al, 2010; Leong et al, 2013; Maldonado et al, 2018; Mayorga et al, 2018; Muñoz et al, 2019; Paulus et al, 2019; Perreira et al, 2019; Rogers-Sirin, 2013; Torres et al, 2012; Zvolensky et al, 2016, 2018, 2020), while another study indicated that acculturative stress was an indirect effect on anxiety and mood disorders (Bakhshaie et al, 2018). An additional article indicated that emotion dysregulation was impacted by acculturative stress (Paulus et al, 2019).…”

“…Alcohol use was analyzed in five articles (Ertl et al, 2018; Paulus et al, 2019; Perreira et al, 2019; Sanchez et al, 2016; Savage & Mezuk, 2014). Of the five articles, three agreed that increased acculturative stress indicated increased frequency of alcohol use (Ertl et al, 2018; Paulus et al, 2019; Perreira et al, 2019).…”

International Students’ Mental Health Care in China: A Systematic Review

“…Acculturative stress is defined as the process of confronting challenges in cross-cultural exchange settings [ 7 ], which is one of the multiple adaptation problems for international students [ 21 ]. This stress leads to various problems, including alcohol addiction, emotional eating and sleeping obstruction [ 22 , 23 , 24 ]. International students are ideal samples to investigate this issue, which is even more obvious in China since this country has students from both developed countries and developing countries.…”