PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Health Education

Study One Abstract Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the social determinants of recent alcohol use (past 30 days) and episodic heavy drinking among African American young adults aged 18 to 25 years.Methods: A secondary data analysis of the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) was performed in this study. African American young adults (n = 2,573) completed the survey. Approval to conduct this study was granted by the university'sinstitutional review board. Results: Results indicated that 51.9% of African American young adults reported recent alcohol use and 27.3 % reported episodic heavy drinking. Those at highest risk for recent alcohol use were male, had less than a high school diploma, had a family income of less than $20,000, had worked in the past 12 months, lived in a large metropolitan area, had good/fair/poor self-reported health status, and had used alcohol, tobacco and marijuana before age 21. Discussion: These results should be considered when developing public health efforts to prevent alcohol abuse among African American young adults. Study Two Abstract Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the social determinants of recent alcohol use (past 30 days) and episodic heavy drinking among Hispanic young adults aged 18 to 25 years.Methods: A secondary data analysis of the 2012 NSDUH was performed in this study. Hispanic young adults (n = 3,452) completed the survey. Approval to conduct this study was granted by the university'sinstitutional review board. Results: Results indicated that 51.8% Hispanic young adults reported recent alcohol use and 35.0 % reported episodic heavy drinking. Those at highest risk for recent alcohol use were male, had some college or more, had a family income of $20,000 or more, had worked in the past 12 months, lived in a large metropolitan area, had excellent/very good self-reported health status, and had used alcohol, tobacco and marijuana before age 21. Discussio (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Keith King Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Ashley Merianos Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rebecca Vidourek Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Education

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2018, Sociology

Research has shown that endorsing masculine traits is more likely to be associated with alcohol-related behaviors, such as HED, with men being more likely to be at risk than women. While literature has examined gender orientation and alcohol use, less discussion has focused on androgyny as a correlate for HED. This research investigates whether androgyny has an association with heavy episodic drinking (HED) for college students. Doing gender (West and Zimmerman 1987) can be described as a performance for presenting gender based on sex, which involves distinct set of values, norms, and gestures that fall under masculinity or femininity. Using secondary data (N=690) from a sample of undergraduates attending a mid-western state university, results shows that androgyny was negatively associated with HED for all models, when controlling for various variables. University administrators should strive to establish androgynous workshops for students to reduce alcohol related behaviors on college campuses.

Committee: Robert Peralta (Committee Chair); Kristen Marcussen (Committee Member); Juan Xi (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2014, Sociology

The transition into young adulthood is an important period of change for adolescents during which young individuals enter into adult roles that impact their future trajectories (Arnett 2000). It is also during this developmental period that involvement in alcohol use and crime/delinquency reach their peak (Casswell, Pledger & Pratap 2002; Gottfredson & Hirschi 1990; Hirschi & Gottfredson 1983; Johnston et al. 2013; Lauritsen 1998; SAMHSA 2012) and have been found to be associated with one another (Barnwell, Borders & Earlywine 2006; Bonomo et al. 2001; Felson et al. 2008; Ford 2005; Parker & McCaffree 2013; Schulenberg et al. 1996; Wechsler et al. 1994). Alcohol use and its covariates are often studied cross-sectionally and have yet to be studied over time with a focus on the emerging adulthood period. Thus, the patterning of heavy alcohol use in connection with its covariates is yet to be fully understood. Here, Sampson and Laub's Life Course Theory of Crime (Laub & Sampson 2003; Sampson & Laub 1993) and the life course perspective are used as a lens to examine the relationship between alcohol use and its covariates during emerging adulthood. This dissertation addresses major gaps in the literature by examining violence, non-violent crime and delinquency, sex and gender role orientation, social support, and life transitions in conjunction with heavy alcohol use during the transition from adolescence into young adulthood. Life course theoretical perspectives of alcohol use are expanded by incorporating sex and gender orientation parameters which have largely been absent from Sampson and Laub's theory. Alcohol use trajectories were estimated with group-based trajectory modeling in secondary analysis using four waves of the public-use National Longitudinal of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data. Four distinct alcohol use trajectory groups were identified: infrequent heavy drinkers, increasing seldom heavy drinkers, seldom heavy drinkers, and increasing occasional heav (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Robert Peralta Dr. (Advisor); Cheryl Elman Dr. (Committee Member); Adrianne Frech Dr. (Committee Member); Richard Adams Dr. (Committee Member); Dawn Johnson Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2010, Sociology

Violence has traditionally been researched as an outcome of alcohol use in situations of intimate partner violence or interpersonal violence. The present thesis examines heavy episodic drinking as an outcome of being a victim of intimate partner violence or interpersonal violence. Using survey data collected from undergraduates attending a Midwest university (N=422), three measures of intimate partner violence (physical, sexual and verbal/emotional) and two measures of interpersonal violence (physical and sexual) and their relationship with heavy episodic drinking will be explored using a series of logistic regression models. I also analyze how this relationship is influenced by sex with interaction terms created between each type of victimization and sex and by using split-sex models. Forty-six percent of the sample engaged in frequent or occasional heavy episodic drinking, and thirty-sex percent of the sample reported being a victim of either intimate partner violence or interpersonal violence. Results indicate that heavy episodic drinking behaviors are associated with intimate partner violence victimization and interpersonal victimization. Further analysis suggests that the type of victimization experienced has a differential impact on drinking behavior depending on the sex of the victimized.

Committee: Robert L. Peralta Dr. (Advisor); Valerie J. Callanan PhD (Committee Member); Kathryn M. Feltey PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology