Ecological Momentary Assessment of Racial Microaggressions and Alcohol Use in African American Young Adults

Revised Abstract Section

African Americans report experiencing stressful events as frequently as daily. Although the link between stressors and drinking behaviors has been documented, the timing and modifiers of the effects remain largely unknown. In the proposed study, we will assess stressors as antecedents to alcohol use among African American young adults via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to capture the association at a granular level during the peak developmental period of risk for heavy alcohol use. The study is built on two core premises: (1) More accurate understanding of African American young adults’ daily, real world experiences with stressors and their impact on drinking behaviors is critical to inform an R01 level, ecological momentary intervention to reduce alcohol use among this group; and (2) the effectiveness of such an intervention hinges on its usability and acceptability in the target population.

To address Aim 1, establishment of the EMA design, we will recruit via social media 100 African American adults aged 18 to 25 who engage in regular alcohol use to complete surveys assessing the nature and frequency of stressors and alcohol use. Thirty survey participants (10 each from the lowest, middle, and highest thirds of the stressor frequency distribution) will take part in usability testing to refine EMA design, including sampling periods, number of items, and frequency of prompts, and to establish the minimum frequency of stressful experiences for valid use of the EMA. In Aim 2, we will recruit a new sample of 100 participants to complete a 21-day intensive, repeated, and brief smartphone-based EMA study to track alcohol use and instances of stressful events. We will investigate both the within- and between-subject effects of stressors on alcohol use behaviors utilizing multilevel-modeling approaches to detect lagged (e.g., next day) as well as same day effects.

For Exploratory Aim 3, we will investigate buffering and exacerbating effects of potential protective factors assessed in Aim 2 baseline surveys (e.g., adaptive coping strategies) and risk factors, (e.g., history of trauma) on alcohol use reported via EMAs. Achieving the study’s goal of identifying how stressors lead to drinking behaviors will uncover novel targets to spur the development of innovative focused prevention and intervention strategies for hazardous alcohol use among African American young adults, in keeping with NIAAA’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026 of promoting health.

Grant Number: 5R21MD017454-02
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Patricia Cavazos-Rehg