Testing Sampson and Laub's life course theory: age, race/ethnicity, and drunkenness

This study examines racial/ethnic differences in drunkenness in early to mi ddle adulthood, a period during which the literature suggests that heavy dr inking patterns diverge markedly for Whites, African Americans, and Hispani cs. Using the 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, a nationally re presentative sample of the household population in the United States, diffe rences in past-year times drunk for 18- to 39-year-old Whites, African Amer icans, and Hispanics are explored. A test of Sampson and Laub's (1990, 1993 ) life course theory is conducted to examine whether racial/ethnic differen ces in frequency of drunkenness associated with age remain once adult socia l bond measures are held constant. Although group differences in adult soci al bonds are evidenced, and such bonds are associated with fewer times drun k, the results indicate that the life course theory is unable to explain ra cial/ethnic differences in drunkenness associated with age. Whites' "age ou t" of drunkenness, while African Americans and Hispanics do not. The instit ution of marriage and other background variables also interact with race/et hnicity in predicting frequency of drunkenness. The implications of these f indings for the applicability of Sampson and Laub's theory for explaining d rinking patterns of members of all racial/ethnic groups are discussed.