Table 1 displays racial/ethnic differences in specific dependence criteria and consequence types stratified by heavy drinking level. This Table confirms overall higher rates of dependence and alcohol-related consequences among Black and Latino (vs. White) male drinkers, particularly at no/low heavy drinking but also (for dependence) at moderate heavy drinking. Further, the column for no/low heavy drinking indicates substantially higher problem rates for Black male drinkers essentially across dependence criteria and consequence types, excepting two dependence criteria that were not significant at p < 0.001. Differences between Latino and White men in specific dependence criteria and consequence types tended to be smaller in magnitude and nonsignificant using p < 0.001, though rate differentials were in the expected direction. Broadly, the pattern of results suggests that racial/ethnic differences in alcohol-related problems at lower levels of heavy drinking are not attributable to social problems exclusively, but also emerge for biological effects of drinking (e,g., tolerance, withdrawal).
