At risk alcohol consumption with smoking by national background: Results from the Hispanic community health study/study of Latinos

Examining a Race-Sex Interaction Effect on Binge Drinking Among Afro-Latina/o Adults in the US

Latinx/es are often racially homogenized in alcohol use disparities research, leaving the behavioral and mental health status of Afro-Latinx/es unknown. Though Latina/o and Black adults consume less alcohol than non-Latina/o Whites, they may binge drink to cope with discrimination. Gendered racism uniquely and negatively affects Black women's psychological well-being and may increase their chances of engaging in risky drinking. This may be the case for Afro-Latina women, but no study has disaggregated alcohol use disparity outcomes among a nationally representative sample of Latina/o adults by race and sex. This study (1) examines the relationship between racial self-classification (White-Latina/os vs. Afro-Latina/os) and binge drinking in the past year and (2) tests whether sex (male vs. female) moderates the relationship between race and binge drinking. Secondary data that included a respondent sample of 9415 Latina/o adults was obtained and analyzed from the 2013-2018 National Health Interview Survey. Multivariate analyses included logistic regression models to assess the main effects of race, sex, and interaction effect of the two on binge drinking while controlling for sociodemographic variables. The probability of Afro-Latina/o adults binge drinking trends lower than White-Latina/os. Respondents' sex moderated the association between racial self-classification and binge drinking. We discuss racial identity salience, mujerismo, and gendered racism as possible protective and risk factors for Afro-Latina/os and Afro-Latina women to contextualize these findings.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Iron Deficiency and Anemia in Women of Reproductive Age in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

Background

Women of reproductive age are at elevated risk of iron deficiency (ID) and anemia; in the United States, those of Hispanic/Latino background are at especially high risk. Causes of ID and anemia and variations in risk within Hispanic/Latino women of reproductive age are not well described.

Objectives

To characterize ID and anemia and their risk factors/markers in Hispanic/Latina women.

Methods

Data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) were used. HCHS/SOL enrolled participants in 2008-2011 at 4 sites: Bronx, Chicago, Miami, and San Diego; 5386 were non-pregnant women ages 18-49 y. Primary outcomes were ID (ferritin <30 μg/L) and anemia (hemoglobin <12 g/dL). Predictors were background/heritage, Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics scores, years lived in the United States, and interview language, diet summarized in the Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010, sociodemographic covariates, and study site. Main analyses used survey log binomial regressions adjusted for age, site, and smoking.

Results

Almost half (42%) of participants were of Mexican background, 15% of Cuban background, and <15% each were of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Central American, or South American background. ID prevalence was 34.4% overall but differed by site-background pairings. The lowest and highest prevalence were 26% and 42% among women of Cuban background in Miami and women of Mexican background in Chicago, respectively. Anemia prevalence was 16% and ranged from 8.9% (Central American background/Miami) to 22% (Dominican background/Bronx). Acculturation, sociodemographic, and diet variables examined did not explain observed prevalence differences by site/background.

Conclusions

Prevalence of ID and anemia were high among HCHS/SOL women and differed by field center and background. These differences highlight the importance of characterizing nutritional risk by background within Hispanic/Latino women.

Emotional dysregulation among English-speaking Hispanic persons who smoke living in the United states

Hispanic/Latinx (hereafter Hispanic) individuals in the United States (US) experience serious tobacco-related disparities and factors contributing to such disparities need to be adequately identified and clinically addressed. Emotion dysregulation is a key transdiagnostic relevant to smoking. The present cross-sectional investigation sought to test if emotion dysregulation was related to more severe problems during smoking quit attempts (e.g., irritability, weight gain), perceptions of difficulty about quitting, as well as negative and positive beliefs about smoking abstinence in a sample of English-speaking Hispanic adults residing in the US who smoke. Participants included 332 Hispanic adults who engaged in daily cigarette smoking (35.46 years old, 37 % identified as female). Emotion dysregulation was significantly related to more severe problems when quitting and perceived barriers for quitting, as well as negative beliefs about smoking abstinence. Additionally, emotion dysregulation was significantly and negatively related to positive outcomes about smoking abstinence. The amount of change in the various smoking criterion variables accounted for by emotion dysregulation was small (sr2 range: 0.028-0.085), but evident in adjusted models that accounted for a wide range of factors (e.g., depression, drug use severity). Overall, this investigation found consistent empirical evidence that individual differences in emotion dysregulation in Hispanic individuals were associated with several clinically significant smoking processes, suggesting this construct may represent an important factor involved in the maintenance and relapse of smoking among this ethnic population.

Evaluating Alcohol Use Severity in Terms of Cigarette Smoking-Related Processes and Anxiety/Depression Among Adult Latinx Smokers

OBJECTIVE

Although empirical work focused on smoking-drinking comorbidity among Latinx persons is growing, no work has explored the relation between alcohol use severity in terms of co-occurring smoking processes and mental health. Therefore, the present investigation aimed to explore the prevalence and role of alcohol use severity in relation to clinically significant tobacco and mental health problems among English-speaking Latinx adults who smoke cigarettes.

METHODS

Participants included 338 English-speaking Latinx adults who smoked cigarettes daily (Mage = 35.5 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18-61; 37.3% female).

RESULTS

Results indicated that approximately 68% of male and 61% of female smokers scored above established clinical cutoffs for hazardous and harmful alcohol use and possible alcohol dependence. Moreover, alcohol use severity was associated with increased risk for cigarette dependence, perceived barriers for quitting, and more problematic symptoms when trying to quit. Alcohol use severity was also related to more severe anxiety and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the current findings suggest that intervening to reduce alcohol use severity may be important to improving smoking cessation and mental health among Latinx persons who smoke.

Alcohol use severity in relation to pain severity and interference among latinx adults with current pain who smoke cigarettes

Limited research has focused expressly on dual tobacco-alcohol use among the Latinx population. Latinx individuals who smoke represent a tobacco health disparities group and evince elevated rates of pain problems and symptoms. Prior research has consistently linked pain problems and severity to smoking and alcohol prevalence, maintenance, and behavior. Accordingly, the current study sought to build from the limited work that exists among Latinx persons who smoke and evaluate the role of alcohol use severity in terms of pain severity and interference. The current sample consisted of 228 adult Latinx daily cigarette smokers (Mage = 34.95 years; SD = 8.58; 39.0% female) who endorsed current pain. Results indicated that elevated alcohol use problems were associated with greater levels of pain severity (R2 = 0.06) and interference (R2 = 0.06). The present findings suggest that there may be utility in clinical screening for alcohol use problems among Latinx persons who smoke to offset pain problems among this high-risk group.

Dietary and Antioxidant Vitamins Limit the DNA Damage Mediated by Oxidative Stress in the Mother-Newborn Binomial

During pregnancy, appropriate nutritional support is necessary for the development of the foetus. Maternal nutrition might protect the foetus from toxic agents such as free radicals due to its antioxidant content. In this study, 90 mothers and their children were recruited. DNA damage mediated by oxidative stress (OS) was determined by the levels of 8-hidroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in the plasma of women and umbilical cord blood. The mothers and newborns were categorised into tertiles according to their 8-OHdG levels for further comparison. No relevant clinical differences were observed in each group. A strong correlation was observed in the mother−newborn binomial for 8-OHdG levels (Rho = 0.694, p < 0.001). In the binomial, a lower level of 8-OHdG was associated with higher consumption of calories, carbohydrates, lipids, and vitamin A (p < 0.05). In addition, the levels of 8-OHdG were only significantly lower in newborns from mothers with a higher consumption of vitamin A and E (p < 0.01). These findings were confirmed by a significant negative correlation between the 8-OHdG levels of newborns and the maternal consumption of vitamins A and E, but not C (Rho = −0.445 (p < 0.001), −0.281 (p = 0.007), and −0.120 (p = 0.257), respectively). Multiple regression analysis showed that the 8-OHdG levels in mothers and newborns inversely correlated with vitamin A (β = −1.26 (p = 0.016) and −2.17 (p < 0.001), respectively) and pregestational body mass index (β = −1.04 (p = 0.007) and −0.977 (p = 0.008), respectively). In conclusion, maternal consumption of vitamins A and E, but not C, might protect newborns from DNA damage mediated by OS.

Emotion dysregulation and hazardous drinking in relation to suicidal ideation among Spanish-speaking Latinx daily-smokers

OBJECTIVE

Suicidal ideation has increased among Latinx individuals in the last decade. Smoking increases the likelihood of suicidal ideation but work on Latinx smokers is minimal. Hazardous drinking and emotion dysregulation could be factors related to suicidal ideation among Latinx smokers, as has been evident in non-Latinx White samples. The current study sought to examine the main and interactive effects of emotion dysregulation and hazardous drinking in relation to suicidal ideation among Latinx daily-smokers.

METHODS

Participants were 371 Spanish-speaking daily-smokers (58.8% female; M_age = 33.3; SD_age = 9.8) recruited from the United States through Qualtrics. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test an interactive model of emotion dysregulation and hazardous alcohol consumption in relation to suicidal ideation; we also tested the effect of emotion dysregulation on suicidal ideation as a function of hazardous drinking status.

RESULTS

Results indicated that latent emotional dysregulation was associated with greater suicidal ideation (p < 0.001); however, hazardous drinking was not related to suicidal ideation (p = 0.186). The interactive term of emotional dysregulation and hazardous drinking was significantly related to suicidal ideation (p = 0.017). Specifically, greater emotion dysregulation was significantly related to suicidal ideation among Latinx smokers who engaged in hazardous drinking (p < 0.001) but not those who did not engage in hazardous drinking (p = 0.123).

CONCLUSIONS

The current findings suggest that smoking combined with hazardous drinking may be related to increased suicidal ideation among Latinx smokers. Findings are discussed in relation to the potential role of intervention strategies that focus on emotion dysregulation and hazardous drinking among Latinx current daily smokers to mitigate suicidal risk among this established health disparities population.

The copita question: Exploring alcohol consumption among Latina women

We explored whether Dominican women underreport alcohol consumption according to questionnaire wording and examined factors associated with their alcohol use through structured interviews in Spanish. We measured consumption with the word "alcohol" and with the common colloquialisms "copita/trago/vinito." We used logistic regressions to examine associations between alcohol consumption, demographics, and alcohol-related norms. Of 419 female participants, 411 completed alcohol-related questions. Most (n=343, 83.5%) were current drinkers and 88 (21%) reported having never consumed alcohol but also that they occasionally drink a "copita/trago/vinito." This indicates alcohol use is potentially underreported among Dominican women. Alcohol-related research should incorporate culturally sensitive language to improve accuracy.

The synergetic effect of alcohol consumption and cigarettes per day on smoking outcomes expectancies among Latinx adult smokers

The present study investigated alcohol consumption and cigarettes per day in relation to smoking outcome expectancies among Spanish-speaking Latinx daily smokers (N = 371). There was a significant interaction between alcohol consumption and number of cigarettes per day on positive smoking expectancies. Specifically, alcohol consumption has a stronger association with positive expectancies for smoking at lower rates of cigarettes per day. No such interaction was evident for negative consequence smoking expectancies. The current study highlights the potential importance of alcohol consumption and smoking rate for better understanding smoking outcome expectancies among Latinx smokers.