Study Finds Racial Differences in How Young Girls Are Raised That Impacts Alcohol Abuse Later in Life

A new study by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine finds that African American girls are typically raised in an environment that shields them from alcohol abuse but White American girls are often raised in an environment that tends to increase the chances that they will abuse alcohol.

The authors of the study state the African American families may have more conservative views on alcohol use by girls. The authors wrote that higher levels of church attendance among Black girls and strong parental disapproval of alcohol use among Black girls may be contributing factors.

Carolyn E. Sartor, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and the lead author of the study, stated, “Environmental influences shared by family members such as parenting and neighborhood do not contribute significantly to problem alcohol use in African American adolescents and young women, but they do play a substantial role in those of European descent.”

Dr. Sartor is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. She holds a master’s degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Palo Alto University in California.

The article was published on the website of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. It may be accessed here.