Notably, among those who did not attend AA, blacks had higher odds of being abstinent compared to whites. Our post-hoc analyses shed some light on these findings. We found that among those who did not attend AA, blacks had fewer heavy drinkers in their social networks over time compared to whites. As previously described, research has demonstrated a strong link between social networks and alcohol use (Bond et al., 2003; Delucchi and Kaskutas, 2010; Delucchi et al., 2004; Humphreys et al., 1999; Kaskutas et al., 2002; Matzger et al., 2004; Timko et al., 2005; Weisner et al., 2003a; Weisner et al., 2003b). The fewer heavy drinkers in the social networks of the black participants may in part be attributed to religiosity and the proscriptive attitudes regarding alcohol found in religious denominations with which many black persons are affiliated and whose services they frequently attend.
