# Ecological Momentary Assessment of Racial Microaggressions and Alcohol Use in African American Young Adults

> **NIH NIH R21** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $229,680

## Abstract

Project Summary
African American adults are disproportionately exposed to stressors, such as racial discrimination, that
increase risk for problem drinking and are more likely than White adults to experience alcohol-related illness,
injuries, and negative social consequences. African Americans report experiencing everyday race-related
discriminatory events involving intentional acts of racism or subtle degrading, excluding, or negating acts,
known as racial microaggressions, as frequently as daily. Although the link between racial discrimination and
drinking behaviors has been documented, the timing and modifiers of the effects remain largely unknown. In
the proposed study, we will assess racial microaggressions as antecedents to alcohol use among African
American young adults via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to capture the association at a granular
level during the peak developmental period of risk for heavy alcohol use. The study is built on two core
premises: (1) More accurate understanding of African American young adults’ daily, real world experiences
with racial microaggressions and their impact on drinking behaviors is critical to inform an R01 level,
ecological momentary intervention to reduce alcohol use among this high-risk group; and (2) the effectiveness
of such an intervention hinges on its usability and acceptability in the target population. To address Aim 1,
establishment of the EMA design, we will recruit via social media [100] African American adults aged 18 to 25
who engage in regular alcohol use to complete surveys assessing the nature and frequency of racial
microaggressions and alcohol use. Thirty survey participants (10 each from the lowest, middle, and highest
thirds of the racial microaggression frequency distribution) will take part in usability testing to refine EMA
design, including sampling periods, number of items, and frequency of prompts, and to establish the minimum
frequency of racial microaggression experiences for valid use of the EMA. [In Aim 2, we will recruit a new
sample of 100 participants] to complete a 21-day intensive, repeated, and brief smartphone-based EMA study
to track alcohol use and instances of racial microaggressions. We will investigate both the within- and between-
subject effects of racial microaggressions on alcohol use behaviors utilizing multilevel-modeling approaches to
detect lagged (e.g., next day) as well as same day effects. For Exploratory Aim 3, we will investigate buffering
and exacerbating effects of potential protective factors [assessed in Aim 2 baseline surveys] (e.g., adaptive
coping strategies, racial socialization) and risk factors, (e.g., history of trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage) on
alcohol use reported via EMAs. Achieving the study’s goal of identifying how racial microaggressions lead to
drinking behaviors will uncover novel targets to spur the development of innovative focused prevention and
intervention strategies for hazardous alcohol use among African A...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10592594
- **Project number:** 1R21MD017454-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Patricia A Cavazos-Rehg
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $229,680
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-27 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10592594

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10592594, Ecological Momentary Assessment of Racial Microaggressions and Alcohol Use in African American Young Adults (1R21MD017454-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10592594. Licensed CC0.

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