Relationship between drinking risk and preferences for helping resources among emerging adults living in disadvantaged communities in the Southeastern United States

AbstractCompared to campus-based alcohol interventions for college students, services for emerging adult (EA) risky drinkers who reside off-campus in disadvantaged communities are not well established. This web survey assessed drinking practices, problems, and preferences for professional and lay helping resources spanning digital and in-person formats among community-dwelling EAs to guide services for them and determine whether drinking risk levels varied by preferences for help. Digital respondent-driven sampling recruited EA risky drinkers from disadvantaged communities (N = 356;M age  = 23.6 years, 64.0% women, 77.4% employed, 64.9% residing in impoverished areas above the US average, 53.5% income< $20k/year). A web survey assessed participants ’ drinking practices and problems, including alcohol use disorder symptoms, and help-seeking preferences for smartphone apps; online help; in-person help from doctors, clinics, teachers, and school programs; mutual help groups; and help from friends and family. Preferences were related to particip ant drinking risks using generalized linear modeling. Modeling results showed that risk levels were related to help-seeking preferences. EAs reporting more negative consequences preferred smartphone apps and help from friends, whereas EAs reporting fewer negative consequences and drinking days prefe rred professional in-person help (Ps  <  0.05). Although>90% fulfilled alcohol use disorder diagnostic criteria,<4...
Source: Alcohol and Alcoholism - Category: Addiction Source Type: research