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. Variables associated with offender status (first vs multiple) among Mexican-American and white DUI arrestees are analyzed to test the hypothesis that acculturation will be related to DUI among Mexican Americans while risk-taking dispositional variables will be related to DUI among whites.

METHOD

A sample 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 taking/impulsivity and sensation seeking were positively associated with multiple offender status among Mexican Americans, but not among whites. Multiple logistic regression found age as the only significant predictor of offender status in either ethnic group; however, path models found significant indirect effects on offender status of attitudes regarding DUI arrest through alcohol consumption, with those reporting having little chance of being arrested for DUI if stopped being less likely to report consuming five or more drinks at a sitting at least weekly, and with Mexican Americans being more likely than whites to believe they will not be arrested and to consider that DUI is not a problem.

CONCLUSIONS

The data suggest that there are significant ethnic differences in attitudes and norms toward DUI that are related to frequency of drinking large amounts at one sitting, and future research is needed to determine how these variables along with dispositional and acculturation variables may be associated with DUI offender status.