Co-Occurring Alcohol, Drug, and Other Psychiatric Disorders Among Mexican-Origin People in the United States

Abstract

We examined co-occurrence of (comorbid) alcohol, drug, and non-substance use psychiatric disorders in a population sample of Mexican-origin adults from rural and urban areas of central California. Co-occurring lifetime rates of alcohol or other drug disorders with non-substance use psychiatric disorders, or both, were 8.3% for men and 5.5% for women and were 12.3% for the US born and 3.5% for immigrants. Alcohol abuse or dependence with co-occurring psychiatric disorders is a primary disorder among Mexican-origin adult males (7.5% lifetime prevalence). US-born men and women are almost equally likely to have co-occurring disorders involving substances. Cobormidity is expected to increase in the Mexican-origin population owing to acculturation effects of both sexes.