Variables associated with DUI offender status among whites and Mexican Americans

Objective: Arrests of Hispanics have been found to be overrepresented among arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) in California. Va riables associated with offender status (first vs multiple) among Mexican-A merican and white DUI arrestees are analyzed to test the hypothesis that ac culturation will be related to DUI among Mexican Americans while risk-takin g dispositional variables will be related to DUI among whites. Method: A sa mple of 249 Mexican-American clients (with an oversampling of foreign-born) and 250 white clients were interviewed in all five DUI treatment programs in one northern California county. Results: In univariate analysis, risk ta king/impulsivity and sensation seeking were positively associated with mult iple offender status among Mexican Americans, but not among whites. Multipl e logistic regression found age as the only significant predictor of offend er status in either ethnic group; however, path models found significant in direct effects on offender status of attitudes regarding DUI arrest through alcohol consumption, with those reporting having little chance of being ar rested for DUI if stopped being less likely to report consuming five or mor e drinks at a sitting at least weekly, and with Mexican Americans being mor e likely than whites to believe they will not be arrested and to consider t hat DUI is not a problem. Conclusions: The data suggest that there are sign ificant ethnic differences in attitudes and norms toward DUI that are relat ed to frequency of drinking large amounts at one sitting, and future resear ch is needed to determine how these variables along with dispositional and acculturation variables may be associated with DUI offender status.