Publication Date

1-9-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology (MA)

Committee Chair

Terrazas-Carrillo, Elizabeth

Abstract

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), about 60% of the college population had engaged in alcohol use and even more so, 2 out of 3 reported they had engaged in binge drinking in the past month. Binge drinking is measured as “consuming 5 or more drinks on the same occasion at least once in the past 30 days” (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2011). Several factors such as trauma exposure has been demonstrated to increase college students’ risk of engaging in alcohol consumption. Research on alcohol consumption on the US-Mexico border is limited. Hence, the purpose of this literature review was to investigate how factors unique to the Hispanic community such as familismo, acculturation, and trauma exposure in the US-Mexico border predict excessive alcohol consumption. Factors such as familismo and acculturation have been demonstrated to act as either a protective factor or risk factor depending on the presence of such cultural levels. Furthermore, trauma exposure such as witnessing physical assaults increases the likelihood of an individual’s excessive alcohol consumption. The present study investigated the cultural correlates of familismo and acculturation as well as trauma exposure and short-term and long-term binge drinking behavior in relation to excessive alcohol consumption.

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