Up to this point, we have reviewed the literature examining group differences in drinking patterns. Of course, it is certainly true that risk levels vary within African Americans. In order to pursue a comprehensive theory of African American drinking, it is important to consider group-level processes like those considered above and also processes that contribute to individual differences in drinking behavior among African Americans. In the next section of the paper, we propose a risk model that we believe helps explain variability in drinking behavior among African Americans, in the hope that it leads to a greater focus on this aspect of African American drinking. Although this part of our model concerns individual differences, it also helps explain the apparent paradox between lower levels of drinking and higher levels of problems for African Americans.
