Our preliminary regressions suggested roles for lower individual SES, greater prejudice and unfair treatment, and younger age in mediating the elevated rates of alcohol problems among Black and Latino (vs. White) men at no/low heavy drinking. Regressions also supported a role for higher likelihood of being single in Black-White disparities, and a role for higher neighborhood disadvantage in relation to Latino-White disparities. Further, when Blacks and Latinos were weighted to Whites on SES variables, perceived prejudice and unfair treatment, age, and marital status, effects of race/ethnicity on dependence counts were reduced to nonsignificance, while racial/ethnic disparities in consequence counts were much attenuated. Results thus suggest that the moderating effects of race/ethnicity on the relationship between alcohol use and problems may be attributable to associations between race/ethnicity and these social and demographic factors, though race/ethnicity does not necessarily “cause” any or all of them (e.g., age).
