Neighborhood poverty also can be a stressor that increases alcohol use and problems (or, as an alternative explanation, heavy drinkers may select into certain neighborhoods). In one longitudinal study of young adults, there was a strong effect of cumulative exposure to neighborhood poverty over 20 years on heavy alcohol use, but acute exposure to neighborhood poverty also increased heavy alcohol use102. African Americans are more likely than Whites to live in poor neighborhoods103,104. Stronger associations of neighborhood disadvantage with alcohol use and alcohol problems have been noted for African Americans than for Whites or Latinos/Hispanics1,101, with neighborhood disadvantage associated with less heavy drinking by White adult drinkers, but more heavy drinking by African American drinkers and marginally more heavy drinking by Latino/Hispanic drinkers1. In addition to neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, neighborhood disorder is associated with many substance use outcomes105, including heavy drinking106,107. Thus, indicators of socioeconomic status encompass multiple levels of exposure across the lifecourse, including both acute and chronic disadvantage.
