Previous research links poor mental health status with increased levels of alcohol use. Social and environmental factors have also been cited as contributors to increased alcohol use. As alcohol use is preventable, the current study sought to understand the moderating role of neighborhood disorder on the relationship between psychoticism and alcohol use, in an effort to improve health outcomes for African Americans. It was hypothesized that higher levels of psychoticism would predict higher levels of alcohol use and that relationship would be stronger in the context of more neighborhood disorder. Participants of this study included African American women, ages 18-59, with a reported suicide attempt within the last year. Measures included the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (used to measure levels of psychoticism), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (used to measure alcohol use), and the Community Disorder Scale (used to measure perceived neighborhood disorder). Only the Paranoid Ideation and Psychoticism subscales were used to measure levels of psychoticism, as these subscales specifically measure symptoms of psychosis. Preliminary results indicate a significant positive relationship between psychoticism and paranoid ideation. Additional preliminary results indicate significant positive relationships between alcohol use and paranoid ideation as well as alcohol use and psychoticism. Further results regarding the moderating role of neighborhood disorder will be discussed during the presentation.
