ReviewPsychological bulletin2014
Less drinking, yet more problems: understanding African American drinking and related problems.
Review in Psychological bulletin, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 246 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
246 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 355 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association between macro-level structural discrimination and alcohol outcomes: A systematic review.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic meta-epidemiologic review on nonabstinence-inclusive interventions for substance use: inclusion of race/ethnicity and sex assigned at birth/gender.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2024Pooled it
- Culturally sensitive prevention programs for substance use among adolescents of color: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Clinical psychology review · 2023Pooled it
- The Etiologic, Theory-Based, Ontogenetic Hierarchical Framework of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Translational Systematic Review of Reviews.Psychological bulletin · 2021Pooled it
- Culturally adapted evidence-based treatments for adults with substance use problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Pooled it
- Racial discrimination and alcohol use and negative drinking consequences among Black Americans: a meta-analytical review.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2019Pooled it
- The effect of laboratory manipulations of negative affect on alcohol craving and use: A meta-analysis.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2018Pooled it
- Secondary analysis of a combined harm-reduction treatment and extended-release naltrexone randomized clinical trial for alcohol use disorder: Differences across race, ethnicity and sex assigned at birth.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Trial
- Relationship intervention moderates the association between substance use and biological aging among Black adults.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025Trial
- Alcohol-related consequences and the intention to seek care in treatment naïve women and men with severe alcohol use disorder.Addictive behaviors · 2022Trial
- Age varying polygenic effects on alcohol use in African Americans and European Americans from adolescence to adulthood.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Family-centered alcohol use prevention for African American adolescents: A randomized clinical trial.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2019Trial
- The Efficacy of an Event-Specific, Text Message, Personalized Drinking Feedback Intervention.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2019Trial
- Adherence to American Cancer Society and American Institute of Cancer Research dietary guidelines in overweight African American breast cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2019Trial
- Preventive parenting intervention during childhood and young black adults' unhealthful behaviors: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2019Trial
- A Randomized Trial of a Personalized Feedback Intervention for Nonstudent Emerging Adult At-Risk Drinkers.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2018Trial
- Advancing models of PTSD-AUD comorbidity: protocol for a multimethod framework using genetics and ecological momentary assessment.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- The Association of School Racial Segregation with Health Among U.S. Youths: A Nationwide Longitudinal Study.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Individualized assignment to short-term alcohol abstinence: A proof-of-concept human laboratory study using psychopathology dimensions.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Article
186 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Researchers have found that, compared to European Americans, African Americans report later initiation of drinking, lower rates of use, and lower levels of use across almost all age groups. Nevertheless, African Americans also have higher levels of alcohol problems than European Americans. After reviewing current data regarding these trends, we provide a theory to understand this apparent paradox as well as to understand variability in risk among African Americans. Certain factors appear to operate as both protective factors against heavy use and risk factors for negative consequences from use. For example, African American culture is characterized by norms against heavy alcohol use or intoxication, which protects against heavy use but also provides within-group social disapproval when use does occur. African Americans are more likely to encounter legal problems from drinking than European Americans, even at the same levels of consumption, perhaps thus resulting in reduced consumption but more problems from consumption. There appears to be one particular group of African Americans, low-income African American men, who are at the highest risk for alcoholism and related problems. We theorize that this effect is due to the complex interaction of residential discrimination, racism, age of drinking, and lack of available standard life reinforcers (e.g., stable employment and financial stability). Further empirical research will be needed to test our theories and otherwise move this important field forward. A focus on within-group variation in drinking patterns and problems is necessary. We suggest several new avenues of inquiry.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.