Alcohol Misuse and Distress Tolerance: Looking Past the Monolith of Asian American
By: Gail Anne Manalastas
Department: Psychology
Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Matsumoto
Increased alcoholic consumption and misuse is a cause for concern, as such behaviors are associated with various behavioral, health, and safety risks. Previous research has reported an increase in alcoholic consumption among Asian Americans. Despite this, there is little information regarding the prevalence of alcohol misuse among Asian Americans. In addition, Asians are often aggregated into one homogenous population, which can mask true rates of alcohol misuse among different subgroups. Alcohol misuse has also been linked to distress tolerance, the perceived ability of an individual to withstand negative emotional states. Specifically, lower levels of distress tolerance have been associated with higher levels of alcohol misuse. To date, only one study has examined ethnicity in relation to distress tolerance and alcohol in a sample of Caucasians and African Americans. However, there is no research examining the role of distress tolerance in alcohol misuse specifically among Asian Americans. The present study aims to examine whether ethnicity moderates the association between distress tolerance and alcohol misuse among Asian American subgroups. It was hypothesized that Filipinos would report the lowest levels of distress tolerance and highest levels of alcohol misuse compared to Chinese participants. Participants volunteered to take an online survey through San Francisco State University’s SONA system. Participants were eligible if they identified as Asian American, and reported the ethnic subgroup(s) that they belong to. Two Asian American subgroups were included in this study: Chinese and Filipino. To assess self-reported distress tolerance, participants completed the Distress Tolerance Scale. Alcohol consumption, behaviors, and alcohol-related problems were measured via self-report through the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Results showed that ethnicity significantly moderated the association between distress tolerance and alcohol misuse, Δ R2 = .935, Δ F(2, 60) = 285.774, p <.001. The current Asian monolith is extremely harmful, contributing to masked rates of alcohol misuse and dangerous health ramifications. There is a strong need to examine and identify the true rates of alcohol misuse among these subgroups so that better-suited preventative measures may be implemented. Study limitations and future directions will be discussed.