Distress Tolerance Study:

(STUDY CLOSED)

Rates of alcohol abuse have increased five-fold among Asian Americans in the past decade alone. Recent studies have identified high-risk drinking-trajectory classes, in which subgroups of U.S.-born Asian Americans engage in heavy episodic drinking at comparable rates to that of other high-risk racial groups. About 30–50% of individuals of Northeast Asian descent possess the alcohol-metabolizing enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase gene variant ALDH2*2, which impairs acetaldehyde removal and results in adverse physiological reactions to alcohol, including facial flushing, increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and nausea. However, some high-risk Asian American young adults are “pushing through” this physiological sensitivity to alcohol and engaging in risky drinking. Given that recent research has identified substantially elevated risk for problematic drinking and negative alcohol consequences among Asian American men compared to Asian American women,  two theoretically relevant factors that may help explain the “pushing through” phenomenon for these men are (1) endorsement of masculine norms, or the beliefs, expectations and values of what it means to be a man, and (2) physical and psychological distress tolerance (DT), or the behavioral persistence towards a goal despite the presence of physical and/or psychological discomfort. This research aims to explore the intersection between ALDH2*2, physical DT, gender socialization, and problematic drinking among Asian American young adult men.