Native American/American Indian (NA/AI) and Multiracial (those who claim more than one racial group) people report notably high alcohol use compared to other racial groups in the United States. However, NA/AI and Multiracial college students also report differences in their motivations for drinking alcohol. Therefore, it remains unclear if Multiracial NA/AI individuals are at different risk for alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences, and if there are distinct patterns of risk factors for alcohol consumption in these understudied populations. Given that college-aged students are at particularly high risk for alcohol use, we used the AlcoholEdu for CollegeTM survey in an exploratory study to compare the association between initial drinking age, college location (urban versus rural), and alcohol use motivations and consequences between monoracial NA/AI (N = 2,359) and Multiracial NA/AI college-aged students (N = 6,263). Overall, monoracial NA/AI students reported higher incidences of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems such as blacking out and missing class, compared to Multiracial NA/AI students. Risk factors, including earlier drinking age, impacted monoracial NA/AI students more than Multiracial NA/AI students, leading to higher rates of missing class and impaired driving. Despite similar levels of Internal Coping motivations for drinking (e.g., to feel more confident or sure of yourself), monoracial NA/AI students reported drinking more than Multiracial students and experiencing higher rates negative drinking-related outcomes. These results suggest that Multiracial NA/AI students may draw on protective factors not accessible to monoracial NA/AI students, highlighting the need for tailored interventions for students at highest risk.
Life stress, sense of belonging and sleep in American Indian college students