Immigration stress,exposure to traumatic life experiences,and problem drinking among first-generation immigrant Latino couples

Abstract

This study explored the actor and partner effects of immigration stress and its different dimensions on problem drinking above and beyond the effects of exposure to traumatic life experiences in immigrant Latino couples. The study was guided by Lazarus and Folkman’s stress theory and Bodenmann’s systemic–transactional stress model for couples and used data collected from 104 couples living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The main results from the path model analysis indicated that men’s problem drinking was significantly and positively associated with their exposure to traumatic life experiences but not with their overall immigration stress and each of its different dimensions. By contrast, women’s problem drinking was not significantly related to their exposure to traumatic life experiences, but it was associated positively with their overall immigration stress and, specifically, stress from language and occupational challenges and missing their family. Women’s problem drinking was also related but in a negative direction with men’s overall immigration stress, and specifically, acculturation-related dimensions of immigration stress (stress from legal, novelty, and occupational challenges). These findings are interpreted in the context of sex differences in coping and the cultural values of the Latino population. Limitations, research, and clinical implications of the findings are also discussed.