ADDITIVE EFFECTS OF LIFETIME ADVERSITIES ON RISK FOR
ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE IN ADOLESCENCE AND YOUNG ADULTHOOD
Donald A. Lloyd, Ph.D.
R. Jay Turner, Ph.D.
Florida State University
Prepared for presentation to the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association,
August 2003, Atlanta GA. This work was supported by a grant from The National Institute on
Drug Abuse to R. Jay Turner, number 5 RO1 DA 10772.
Abstract
Stress has been implicated in the development of alcoholism, possibly as a consequence of
maladaptive coping behavior. Lifetime rates of alcohol dependence disorder, as defined in DSM-
IV, and lifetime exposure to adversities from a 41-item checklist are reported in a
representative community sample of 1803 young adults (93 percent aged 19-21) in South
Florida. Rates of stress exposure were dramatically higher among African Americans than
Cubans, other Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Whites. Paradoxically, non-Hispanic whites had by
far the highest rate of alcohol dependence, while the African American rate was distinctly low.
The relationship between lifetime exposure to adverse experiences and alcohol addiction was
tested using a more comprehensive assessment of stressful experiences than prior studies.
Event history analysis revealed significant independent effects of distal and proximal stress
exposure on the risk for onset of alcohol dependence. Despite the strong cumulative impact of
lifetime stress exposure on such risk, this factor cannot assist in the understanding of the
ethnic group difference in rates of alcoholism.