# Alcohol and Tobacco Use and Desistance Among Asian Americans: A Lifecourse Examination of Critical Periods and Subgroup Disparities

> **NIH NIH R21** · PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE · 2020 · $230,431

## Abstract

This grant application responds to the program announcement for studies of Epidemiology and Prevention in
Alcohol Research (PA-18-391) calling for exploratory and developmental research issued by the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The application proposes a secondary analysis of data from the
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine when and why Asian
Americans engage in heavy alcohol and tobacco use and co-use across the lifecourse (from ages 12-43). In
addition to exploring patterns of alcohol and tobacco co-use, we will extend the investigation of alcohol
and tobacco use into adulthood with a focus on risk and resiliency factors relevant to the Asian American
experience. First, the study will provide descriptions of longitudinal trends of elevated and sustained alcohol and
tobacco use and co-use from adolescence to adulthood. Then, we will identify risk and resiliency predictors at
multiple levels (i.e., individual, family, interpersonal, and neighborhood) for Asian Americans that are associated
with sustained alcohol and tobacco use and co-use over time. We innovate by employing time-varying effect
modeling to determine specific ages and developmental periods for informing preventive interventions, setting
us apart from extant developmental research. The third analyses will use moderated mediation to address how
contextual risks may influence behavior by ascertaining whether depression helps to explain associations of risk
exposures on alcohol and tobacco use and co-use. We will examine whether protective factors at multiple levels
buffer the deleterious effects of the contexts with which individuals interact. Finally, we replicate key analyses
to: 1) compare Asian Americans to major US racial/ethnic groups (non-Hispanics Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks)
to determine whether mechanisms are unique to this population or common across groups, and 2) assess for
Asian American subgroup differences (by gender, nativity, and ethnicity) to address within-group heterogeneity
in alcohol and tobacco use patterns.
 The objectives of this project are directly relevant to the NIH’s current strategic plan to generate knowledge
for intervention development to reduce health disparities related to alcohol and tobacco. This exploratory study
will inform prevention science by permitting the identification of specific contexts and mechanisms within certain
developmental periods relevant to sustained alcohol and tobacco use and co-use among Asian Americans. The
study will also build on prior research by extending the lifecourse examination of heavy alcohol and tobacco use
into adulthood and by focusing on co-use in Asian Americans. As noted in the program announcement, this
research is critical for establishing a knowledge base in developing culturally relevant preventive interventions
to address use and misuse in diverse communities. Future projects will be designed to help translate the study
findings i...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9979614
- **Project number:** 1R21AA027882-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Christina Tam
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $230,431
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-10 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9979614

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9979614, Alcohol and Tobacco Use and Desistance Among Asian Americans: A Lifecourse Examination of Critical Periods and Subgroup Disparities (1R21AA027882-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9979614. Licensed CC0.

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