Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 16, Issue 6, 2014, Pages 1303-1306

Immigrant Arab Americans and Alcohol Use: Longitudinal Study (Article)

Arfken C.L.* , Broadbridge C.L. , Jamil H. , Arnetz B.B.
  • a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, 3901 Chrysler Drive, Detroit, MI 48201, United States
  • b Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
  • c Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
  • d Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States, Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States

Abstract

English proficiency is associated with alcohol use in some immigrants groups, but little is known about its association among Arab Americans. Ethnographic work suggests gender, religion, education, and age influence prevalence of alcohol use among Arab Americans. Two years prospective study of recent Iraqi refugees and non-Iraqi Arab immigrants in Michigan using bilingual surveys and interviewers. At Time 1, prevalence of lifetime alcohol use was 20.5 % with males, Christians, better educated, older, and those with greater proficiency in English more likely to report ever drank. At Time 2, lifetime prevalence of drinking had increased to 34.0 %. In analysis of male new drinkers, risk factors were Christian, older age and greater proficiency in English. This study confirms drinking among recent immigrant Arab Americans varies by subgroups and suggests English proficiency may contribute to the increase in prevalence over time. © 2013, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Alcohol Arab Americans Women Acculturation

Index Keywords

prospective study longitudinal study refugee Alcohol Drinking drinking behavior Michigan Prospective Studies human epidemiology Refugees Longitudinal Studies Middle East statistics and numerical data Iraq Arab ethnology Arabs Humans migrant psychology male Emigrants and Immigrants Acculturation female cultural factor adult
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84912054526&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-013-9960-z&partnerID=40&md5=35d0296f90cafe270c8a1ed28ec03f9d
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-013-9960-z
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English