title: Commentary on Caetano, Mills, and Vaeth (2012): the role of context on alcohol consumption among Mexican Americans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In this commentary, we discuss a study by Caetano and colleagues (2012) that examines alcohol consumption and binge drinking behavior among U.S.-Mexico border and non-border Mexican Americans using data from the Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  We discuss how Caetano and colleagues (2012) addressed 3 gaps in our understanding of drinking behaviors among Hispanics: (1) effects of living near the U.S.-Mexico border, (2) gender differences in drinking behaviors, and (3) alcohol-related outcomes among young women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings suggest that Mexican American men and women living along the U.S.-Mexico border reported higher levels of drinking than their U.S. metropolitan counterparts (Caetano et al., 2012).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study represents an important contribution to the dearth of studies investigating disparities in alcohol-related consequences among Hispanic young adults living along the U.S.-Mexico border. Future research needs to examine why contextual factors of the U.S.-Mexico border generate differential effects in the Mexican American population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, Institute for Child Health Policy, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. mmmm@ufl.edu
authors.forename: Mildred M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Maldonado-Molina
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delcher
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*