Ethnic Density Effect on Alcohol-related Hospitalizations Among Chinese Enclaves and Ethnoburbs in California, 2007-2011

Overview

Journal Drug Alcohol Depend

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2022 Jan 25

PMID 35077958

Authors

Meme Wang-Schweig

Paul J Gruenewald

Andrew Gaidus

William R Ponicki

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Research suggests there is an 'ethnic density effect' whereby racial/ethnic minority populations appear healthier when they reside in neighborhoods with greater numbers of people from the same ethnic group. The purpose of this study is to test whether this effect is observed for residents in Chinese enclaves (immigrant neighborhoods in urban areas) and ethnoburbs (immigrant neighborhoods in suburban areas) for measures on alcohol abuse and dependence.

Methods: ZIP code areas of California that represented Chinese enclaves and ethnoburbs were identified and mapped. Spatial regression models were used to compare neighborhood-level effects, including the ethnic density of Chinese enclaves and ethnoburbs on observed rates of alcohol-related hospitalizations compared to the rest of California. Analyses used Bayesian Space-Time Misalignment Poisson models on the annual number of alcohol-related hospitalizations per ZIP code for the years 2007-2011 (n = 8488 space-by-time units).

Results: Ethnic density effect appeared for residents of ZIP code areas with greater proportions of Chinese Americans (RR=0.986, 95% CI: 0.982, 0.990). After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, residents of ZIP code areas representing Chinese enclaves had lower risks for alcohol-related hospitalizations (RR=0.766, 95% CI: 0.630, 0.927); hospitalizations among residents of Chinese ethnoburbs no longer differed from the rest of the state. Compared to Chinese enclaves, Chinese ethnoburbs had a lower poverty rate (p < .001), a greater English fluency rate (p = .002), and similar proportions of residents who were Chinese and foreign-born.

Conclusion: Despite the socioeconomic advantages of living in Chinese ethnoburbs, populations living in these neighborhoods experience more problems related to alcohol abuse and dependence.

Citing Articles

Cultural context index: A geospatial measure of social determinants of health in the United States.

Beauchamp A, Shen G, Hussain S, Adam A, Highfield L, Zhang K SSM Popul Health. 2024; 25:101591.

PMID: 38283545 PMC: 10820261. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101591.

References

Becares L, Dewey M, Das-Munshi J . Ethnic density effects for adult mental health: systematic review and meta-analysis of international studies. Psychol Med. 2017; 48(12):2054-2072. PMC: 6076993. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291717003580. View

Schofield P, Thygesen M, Das-Munshi J, Becares L, Cantor-Graae E, Pedersen C . Ethnic density, urbanicity and psychosis risk for migrant groups - A population cohort study. Schizophr Res. 2017; 190:82-87. PMC: 5735221. DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2017.03.032. View

Vaeth P, Caetano R, Rodriguez L . The Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS): the association between acculturation, birthplace and alcohol consumption across Hispanic national groups. Addict Behav. 2012; 37(9):1029-37. PMC: 3795416. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.04.015. View

Tam C, Lui C, Karriker-Jaffe K . Intersections Of Neighborhood Co-Ethnic Density and Nativity Status On Heavy Drinking In a General Population Sample Of US Latinos and Asians. Alcohol Alcohol. 2020; 56(1):74-81. PMC: 7768619. DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agaa108. View

Westrick A, De La Rosa M, Sanchez M, Colon-Burgos J, Rojas P, Cano M . Associations of Objective and Perceived Neighborhood Ethnic Density on Hazardous Alcohol Use among Latinx Emerging Adults. Subst Use Misuse. 2021; 56(3):339-344. PMC: 7891859. DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2020.1840588. View

Jackson A, Browning C, Krivo L, Kwan M, Washington H . The Role of Immigrant Concentration Within and Beyond Residential Neighborhoods in Adolescent Alcohol Use. J Youth Adolesc. 2015; 45(1):17-34. PMC: 5476366. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-015-0333-x. View

Zingmond D, Parikh P, Louie R, Lichtensztajn D, Ponce N, Hasnain-Wynia R . Improving Hospital Reporting of Patient Race and Ethnicity--Approaches to Data Auditing. Health Serv Res. 2015; 50 Suppl 1:1372-89. PMC: 4545337. DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.12324. View

Mair C, Sumetsky N, Gruenewald P, Lee J . Microecological Relationships Between Area Income, Off-Premise Alcohol Outlet Density, Drinking Patterns, and Alcohol Use Disorders: The East Bay Neighborhoods Study. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2020; 44(8):1636-1645. PMC: 7745502. DOI: 10.1111/acer.14387. View

Tseng M, Walton E, Handorf E, Fang C . Ethnic density, social support, and loneliness among Chinese immigrants in Philadelphia. Wellbeing Space Soc. 2021; 2. PMC: 8423378. DOI: 10.1016/j.wss.2021.100050. View

10.

Vaeth P, Wang-Schweig M, Caetano R . Drinking, Alcohol Use Disorder, and Treatment Access and Utilization Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Groups. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016; 41(1):6-19. PMC: 5205547. DOI: 10.1111/acer.13285. View

11.

Frank R, Cerda M, Rendon M . Barrios and burbs: residential context and health-risk behaviors among Angeleno adolescents. J Health Soc Behav. 2007; 48(3):283-300. DOI: 10.1177/002214650704800306. View

12.

Pickett K, Wilkinson R . People like us: ethnic group density effects on health. Ethn Health. 2008; 13(4):321-34. DOI: 10.1080/13557850701882928. View

13.

Yang T, Lei L, Kurtulus A . Neighborhood ethnic density and self-rated health: Investigating the mechanisms through social capital and health behaviors. Health Place. 2018; 53:193-202. PMC: 6172945. DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.08.011. View

14.

Lui P, Zamboanga B . Acculturation and alcohol use among Asian Americans: A meta-analytic review. Psychol Addict Behav. 2018; 32(2):173-186. DOI: 10.1037/adb0000340. View

15.

Shell A, Peek M, Eschbach K . Neighborhood Hispanic composition and depressive symptoms among Mexican-descent residents of Texas City, Texas. Soc Sci Med. 2013; 99:56-63. PMC: 3904495. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.10.006. View

16.

Gomez S, Lichtensztajn D, Parikh P, Hasnain-Wynia R, Ponce N, Zingmond D . Hospital practices in the collection of patient race, ethnicity, and language data: a statewide survey, California, 2011. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2014; 25(3):1384-96. DOI: 10.1353/hpu.2014.0126. View

17.

Sampson R . The neighborhood context of well-being. Perspect Biol Med. 2003; 46(3 Suppl):S53-64. View

18.

Shaw R, Pickett K, Wilkinson R . Ethnic density effects on birth outcomes and maternal smoking during pregnancy in the US linked birth and infant death data set. Am J Public Health. 2010; 100(4):707-13. PMC: 2836344. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.167114. View

19.

Lord D, Washington S, Ivan J . Poisson, Poisson-gamma and zero-inflated regression models of motor vehicle crashes: balancing statistical fit and theory. Accid Anal Prev. 2004; 37(1):35-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2004.02.004. View

20.

Alba R, Deane G, Denton N, Disha I, McKenzie B, Napierala J . The role of immigrant enclaves for Latino residential inequalities. J Ethn Migr Stud. 2014; 40(1):1-20. PMC: 3927941. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2013.831549. View