Among those reporting little or no heavy drinking, we found pronounced black-white differences in the odds of alcohol-related problems (see left side of table 3). The crude ORs indicated that black drinkers have a threefold greater risk for social consequences, and fivefold greater risk for dependence symptoms. This elevated risk remained after adjusting for both heavy drinking factor score and demographic characteristics (Model 3 AORs=3.52 and 5.73 for consequences and dependence symptoms, respectively). Among “moderate” heavy drinkers, blacks again appeared to be at greater risk for alcohol dependence symptoms (AOR=4.72, Model 3). Their risk for social consequences, while elevated, was not significantly different from that of whites (AOR=1.47, Model 3). At the highest level of heavy drinking, black-white differences in both social consequences and dependence symptoms were statistically nonsignificant.
