The current study represents a new thrust in alcohol disparities research in several respects. First, it focuses on identifying factors that may contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in alcohol problems at equivalent levels of alcohol consumption, which few studies have described and none explained. Second, our study empirically evaluates contributions for multiple contextual factors to these disparities. The complex, multifaceted nature of racial/ethnic stratification in the U.S. requires a holistic approach recognizing that minorities are typically exposed to multiple forms of disadvantage as well as sharing distinct cultural norms and practices. Assessing the combined contribution of these factors is important to making appropriate policy and programmatic recommendations. A third innovation is the use of propensity score (PS) weighting. In some studies, PS methods have yielded results largely in agreement with traditional regressions (e.g., Stürmer et al., 2006). However, regression-based methods are not optimal for explaining racial/ethnic disparities where it cannot be established that relationships between covariates and outcomes are invariant across race/ethnicity. Regression-based methods also rely on other assumptions that may not be tenable (e.g., linear or polynomial associations between covariates and outcomes; Rubin, 1997).
