Alcohol use outcomes and moderating risk and protective factors associated with reported incidents of discrimination among asian americans

Incidents of discrimination against Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have continued to rise during the COVID pandemic. Previous research supports the relationship between discrimination and alcohol-related problems, possibly putting this population at greater risk. The goals of the current study were to do the following: 1) Characterize the relationship between alcohol use and reported incidents of discrimination for AAPIs, 2) identify group-level differences in experiences between East Asians and other Asian Americans (i.e., Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islanders), and 3) identify culturally relevant risk or protective factors that moderate the relationship between incidents of discrimination and alcohol use. Participants were 102 participants who identified racially as Asian American (Mean age = 33.2 years (±10.5 SD), 56.7% male, and 56.9% East Asian). Participants completed an online survey including measures of demographics, alcohol use, mental health, culturally relevant factors, racial discrimination, and random responding checks. A series of moderation regression analyses was conducted in SPSS using the PROCESS macro. After controlling for age, gender and generational status (e.g., being a first-generation immigrant), higher discrimination frequency was related to more alcohol use (B = 7.30, p 0.065). Reporting experiencing more discrimination events and having poorer collective self-esteem related to more alcohol use (B = -0.478, p = 0.024). There was a significant interaction between acculturative stress and discrimination frequency (B = 0.312, p < 0.001), such that at one standard deviation above the mean on acculturative stress, there was a significant positive relationship between discrimination frequency and alcohol use (B = 5.46, p < 0.001), but at one standard deviation below the mean on acculturative stress the relationship was significant and negative (B = -5.15, p = 0.03) and there was no relationship at the mean level acculturative stress (B = -0.63, p = 0.69). Our findings support previous literature that suggest discrimination is related to more alcohol use. Additionally, we identified acculturative stress and collective self-esteem as potential risk and protective factors for alcohol use in Asian Americans, respectively. Although overall, AAPIs are at lower risk for alcohol abuse, these factors may help us identify subgroups who are at higher risk.