ETHNIC ADAPTATIONS TO OCCUPATIONAL STRAIN - WORK-RELATED STRESS, DRINKING, AND WIFE ASSAULT AMONG ANGLO AND HISPANIC HUSBANDS

Previous research has established that both work stress and drinking a re associated with increased risks for wife assaults. However, prior s tudies have not considered whether these relationships vary by ethnici ty. This study used data from the 1992 National Alcohol and Family Vio lence Survey (NAFVS), a national household survey of 1,970 families in cluding and oversample of Hispanic families, to examine relationships among several types of stressors associated with the workplace, heavy drinking, and wife assaults. The results show that Anglo and Hispanic husbands each experienced different types of work stress. In addition, Anglo and Hispanic husbands coped with those stressors differently. A mong Hispanic husbands, all work stressors examined were associated wi th increased levels of both drinking and violence. In contrast, those same work stressors were associated with elevated levels of drinking, but not violence, among Anglos.