Education Matters: Longitudinal Pathways to Midlife Heavy Drinking in a National Cohort of Black Americans

Abstract

Aims To estimate longitudinal pathways from childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) to educational attainment and midlife heavy drinking in Black Americans in order to identify potential points of early intervention to reduce risk for alcohol-related problems in adulthood. Design, Setting, Participants Data are from 1,299 Black Americans in the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, followed from 1979 (ages 15-19) through 2012. Given gender differences in factors related to education and alcohol outcomes, gender-stratified path models were analyzed. Measurements Youth socioeconomic indicators included parental education (approximating childhood SEP) and adolescent poverty duration. Education-related measures included high-poverty school, perceived school safety, academic problems, suspension from school, educational expectations, and educational attainment. Adulthood measures included repeated unemployment, poverty duration, and mean frequency of heavy drinking (6+ drinks/day) in young adulthood and midlife. Covariates included age, dual-parent household, marital status, early drinking onset, and family history of alcohol problems. Findings For both genders, two main pathways originating from low childhood SEP flowed to educational attainment through (1) educational expectations and (2) suspension, and from educational attainment to midlife heavy drinking (total indirect effect = 0.131 (95% confidence interval [CI]: .072-.197) for women, and 0.080 (.035-.139) for men). For both genders, adolescent poverty (standardized βs >.135), academic problems (βs >.220), and school suspension (βs >.165) were significantly (ps <.05) related to lower educational expectations. In adulthood, educational attainment was indirectly protective against midlife heavy drinking through its significant effects (ps <.05) on young adult heavy drinking for both genders (βs < -.200) and economic hardships for women (βs < -.290). Conclusions Low childhood socioeconomic position among Black Americans appears to be associated with subsequent, adverse socioeconomic and school experiences that lead to lower educational attainment and, ultimately, greater heavy drinking at midlife. Interventions that mitigate these earlier, adverse experiences might have indirect effects on midlife heavy drinking.