Hispanic Hazardous Drinkers: Evaluating Microaggressions

This is an application for a Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) to support the academic career development of the applicant. The candidate's long-term goal is to become an independent clinical investigator and leader in the theoretical understanding, treatment, and intervention of hazardous drinking and anxiety among Hispanic persons. The applicant has conducted research on transdiagnostic processes (predominantly anxiety sensitivity) and their association to health behavior research (predominately focused on smoking) among non-Hispanic White individuals. More recently, the applicant has engaged in research focused on alcohol use among Hispanic individuals as well as stress experienced due to cultural heritage as it relates to smoking behaviors among Hispanic persons. Thus, the applicant proposes to build on her past and more recent research experience, as well as her clinical training, in mental health and follows a logical, but novel, progression from prior research and training experiences to development of a new area of expertise in the design and evaluation of alcohol- and anxiety-related processes among Hispanic persons who may be impacted by stress experienced due to cultural heritage. Mentorship will be provided by a group of exemplar senior investigators and will foster the candidate's development in this new area of research. The applicant proposes a comprehensive training plan that includes development in five areas: (1) theoretical and empirical knowledge relevant to stress experienced due to cultural heritage in the context of hazardous drinking and anxiety among Hispanic adults, (2) advanced longitudinal research design through Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA), (3) experiential avoidance (EA) as a transdiagnostic mechanism,(4) advanced analytic training, and (5) advanced research skills in research dissemination, leadership, and grantsmanship. Through this funding mechanism, the candidate’s proposed study aims to: (1) examine the influence of microaggressions (MAs) – brief, subtle forms of everyday discrimination due to racial/ethnic status – on alcohol use motivation and hazardous drinking, (2) examine the influence of MAs on anxiety experience, (3) explore the mechanisms underlying these relations by evaluating the indirect effects of MAs on alcohol- and anxiety-related processes via EA, and (4) explore moderators of alcohol- and anxiety-related processes, including cultural-specific constructs. Moreover, we seek to elucidate if MAs are distinct from, and more impactful than, non-discriminatory daily stressors and overt race-related stressors on the proposed outcomes. This proposal is conceptualized as a prototypical example of translational research that can explicate mechanisms from a multi-method framework to enhance our understanding of complex stress experienced due to cultural heritage and hazardous drinking and anxiety relations and serve as a catalyst for future work in this emerging domain among a health disparities group. The knowledge and experience gained from this proposal will equip the candidate with a unique set of skills to advance knowledge in this important area.