NIAAA-R21

Drinking and Driving Among Recent Latino Immigrants

CRUSADA houses a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) R21 grant, collaboratively administered and investigated with Dr. Eduardo Romano, Pacific Institute For Research and Evaluation (PIRE). The grant is titled Drinking and Driving Among Recent Latino Immigrants (R21AA022202; PIs: De La Rosa, Romano)

This NIAAA-R21 Grant has the following Specific Aims:

  • Aim 1. To examine current (post-immigration) risk perceptions associated with drinking and driving (risk of crash involvement, risk and of being arrested) among recent Latino immigrants ages 21-38; as well as their impact on the awareness and understanding of the designated driver –DD- concept. We will examine the impact of immigration status (undocumented vs. documented), acculturation, as well as pre-immigration driving behaviors on both the traffic-related risk perceptions and the knowledge of the DD concept.
  • Aim2. To examine the relative contribution of pre-immigration factors (cultural, family cohesion and social capital assets, alcohol and substance use, and driving behavior) and post-immigration factors (alcohol and substance use, driving behavior, and acculturation-stress). As with Aim 1, we will examine if prevalence of drinking and driving is affected by immigration status (undocumented vs. documented).
  • Aim3. To estimate the prevalence of drugged-driving among Latino immigrants ages 21-38 who had lived in the U.S. 36 months or less. Because drugged-driving is a more complex activity that drinking and driving (i.e., many drugs, each of different pharmacokinetic and impairing effects), for which almost no information on the target population is available (i.e., the amount of drugged-driving among recent immigrants is unknown, even if it occurs at all). In this exploratory effort we will limit ourselves to estimate pre- and post-immigration prevalence estimates for illicit drugs in general, and marijuana in particular.

For each aim, we will investigate the influence of demographics factors (age, gender, marital status, education, income, reason for immigrating to the United States ) upon the outcome measures; while adjusting our estimates by the participants’ driving experience with and attitudes toward other risk-taking driving behaviors (speeding, red light running, seat belt non-use). The findings of this study will not only be informative per se, but also provide the foundation for more comprehensive future research efforts.