Table 2 shows racial/ethnic differences in the candidate mediators under study. This Table establishes that Black and Latino male drinkers were, vs. Whites, higher on social disadvantage: lower on income, education, employment, and neighborhood SES, and higher on racial/ethnic stigma and unfair treatment. Cultural and demographic factors also differed, with both Blacks and Latinos showing more conservative drinking norms, a younger age distribution, and (especially for Blacks) lower likelihood of being married. Additional analyses (not shown) reveal that, when controlling for heavy drinking, all of the same factors that differentiated Blacks and Latinos were risk factors for dependence and consequences, excepting conservative drinking norms: Problem counts were higher at the same level of drinking for those reporting lower income, lower education, part-time work or unemployment (vs. employment), lower neighborhood SES, higher racial/ethnic stigma, higher unfair treatment, younger age, single (vs. married) status, and unexpectedly, more permissive norms (all p’s < 0.05).
