Beyond the Ethnic Enclave: Establishing Coethnic Neighborhood Effects on Heavy Episodic Drinking By Nativity Status

Introduction: Extant work suggests that residence in areas with high coethnic density (i.e., neighborhoods with residents of the same ethnicity) protects against risky health behaviors such as heavy episodic drinking (HED). Social processes within these coethnic neighborhoods such as social cohesion may attenuate these risks. However, it is unknown if effects of coethnic density vary by nativity status (i.e., US and foreign-born), given the immigrant paradox, or that US-born individuals experience more health risks compared to their foreign-born counterparts. Hence, the primary aim of the current study is to assess whether coethnic density would be more protective for US-born individuals relative to foreign-born.

Methods: We use pooled data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), years 2011-2015, for a secondary data analysis. The analytic sample was limited to emerging adults (aged 18-29) and Latino and Asian respondents. Respondents were linked with Census tract contextual files from the American Community Survey based on their identified ethnicities (e.g., Mexican, Korean) to generate percentage coethnic density within their respective neighborhoods. Of the sample (N≈5263), 28% were foreign-born and 69% were Latino. Respondents reported on whether they engaged in HED in the past year (i.e., 4 and 5 drinks for women and men, respectively). Data were weighted to account for the complex survey design in logistic regression models. Neighborhood controls include perceived social cohesion and safety, percentage poverty, and population density.

Results: Preliminary findings showed that, while US-born respondents who lived in areas with high coethnic density had lower risk of reporting HED in the past year, foreign-born respondents who lived in these areas had higher risk of reporting HED in the past year.

Conclusions: Results highlight that coethnic density may operate differently for individuals who identify with various social demographic profiles (i.e., nativity, age group). Specifically, incorporating the socioecological context may lend more insight into the ways in which risky drinking behaviors manifest within certain communities. This is an important consideration in studies of health disparities among racial/ethnic minority populations. Next steps include examining moderating effects of neighborhood poverty and population density with coethnic density and then identifying mechanisms within coethnic neighborhoods for targeted prevention strategies.