A family study of homeland Korean alcohol use

Drunkenness and its association with health risk behaviors among adolescents and young adults in three Asian cities: Hanoi, Shanghai, Taipei

PURPOSE

To assess the prevalence of drunkenness among adolescents in Hanoi, Shanghai, and Taipei and explore the association between heavy drinking and other health risk behaviors.

METHODS

The data are drawn from the Three-city Collaborative Study of Adolescent Health, conducted in Hanoi, Shanghai, and Taipei in 2006. A sample of 17,016 adolescents and young adults, aged 15-24 years, was selected by multistage sampling. Descriptive analysis was used to estimate the proportion of drunkenness and other health risk behaviors. Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate relationships between drunkenness and risky health behaviors.

RESULTS

The proportions of the sample getting drunk during the past month were 6.36%, 4.53%, and 8.47% in Hanoi, Shanghai, and Taipei, respectively. More males than females reported drunkenness in all three cities, with the difference highest in Hanoi (11.08% vs. 1.14%) and lowest in Taipei (9.69% vs. 7.18%). Different levels of relationship between drunkenness and health risk behaviors, such as anxiety, suicidal ideation, smoking, gambling, fighting, drinking and driving, and having sexual intercourse, were found across the three cities; an exception was nonuse of contraception.

CONCLUSION

Drunkenness was positively associated with many health risk behaviors. It may serve as an indicator of other risky behaviors. Interventions to reduce drinking and drunkenness may contribute considerably to the prevention of other risk behaviors and to adolescent safety and well-being.

Exploring relationships between facets of self-esteem and drinking behavior among diverse groups of young adults

Theory and empirical evidence suggest that North American-based measures of self-esteem, which measure individualistic positive self-regard, may be less applicable to Eastern cultures. In the present exploratory study, we examined how different conceptualizations of self-esteem, as measured by the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and the Collective Self-esteem (CSE) Scale, predicted drinking behavior among three groups of American college students (N=326) with varying ethnicities: White, Korean, and Chinese/Taiwanese. Hierarchical negative binomial regression was employed to evaluate these relations. Ethnic identity was controlled for in all analyses. Findings indicated that while global self-esteem was positively associated with drinking for the whole sample, ethnicity moderated this relationship such that global self-esteem was related to drinking for White participants but not for their Chinese/Taiwanese counterparts. In addition, while CSE did not associate with drinking for the whole sample, effects emerged for specific ethnicities. Specifically, private CSE was associated with less drinking for Korean and Chinese/Taiwanese participants. Depending on specific Asian ethnicity, public CSE served as a risk (Korean participants) or a protective factor (Chinese/Taiwanese participants) for drinking. Findings suggest that above and beyond ethnic identity, differential relationships between facets of self-esteem and drinking behavior may exist among White, Korean, and Chinese/Taiwanese young adults. Intervention and prevention programs should develop strategies to help Chinese/Taiwanese and Korean American young adults cultivate protective factors within domains of CSE.

Drinking patterns among Korean adults: results of the 2009 Korean community health survey

Objectives

In Korea, the proportion of deaths due to alcohol is estimated at 8.9%, far exceeding the global estimate of 3.8%. Therefore, this study was performed to examine the factors associated with low-risk, moderate-risk, and high-risk drinking patterns in Korean adults and to identify target populations for prevention and control of alcohol-related diseases and deaths.

Methods

We analyzed data from 230 715 Korean adults aged 19 years and older who participated in the 2009 Korean Community Health Survey. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between socio-demographic and health-related factors and patterns of alcohol use.

Results

A substantially larger proportion of men than women engaged in high risk (21.2% vs. 3.4%) and moderate-risk alcohol use (15.5% vs. 8.2%). In both sexes, moderate- and high-risk uses were associated with younger age, higher income, being currently employed, smoking, being overweight/obese, and good self-rated health.

Conclusions

Given the large proportion of the population that is engaging in moderate- and high-risk drinking and given the social norms that support this behavior, public health policies and campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption targeting the entire population are indicated.

Cultural and social network predictors of drinking among Korean American women

This study estimated the association of cultural and social mechanisms with Korean American women's drinking behaviors. Data were drawn from telephone interviews with 591 Korean women selected from a random sample of households in California with Korean surnames during 2007. About 62% of eligible respondents completed the interview. Respondents reported any lifetime drinking (yes/no), drinking volume (typical number of drinks consumed on drinking days), level of acculturation, and described their social network by assessing who encouraged or discouraged drinking (drinking support) or drank (drinking models). Multivariable regressions were used for analyses. About 70% (95% confidence interval [95%CI]:, 67, 74) of Korean American women reported any lifetime drinking and current drinkers drank 1.18 (95%CI: 1.07, 1.28) drinks on drinking days. Acculturation was not significantly associated with any lifetime drinking or drinking volume, whereas models and support for drinking were statistically significantly associated with a higher probability of any lifetime drinking and drinking more on drinking days. Each additional encourager, or one or fewer discourager, for drinking in women's social networks was associated with a 2% (95%CI: 1, 3) higher probability of any lifetime drinking and drinking 0.25 (95%CI: -0.53, 1.18) more drinks on drinking days. Each additional drinker in women's networks was associated with a 4% (95%CI: 1, 8) higher probability of any lifetime drinking and drinking 0.26 (95%CI: -0.05, 0.60) more drinks on drinking days. Korean American women's drinking appears to be strongly related to their social networks, although how women take on traits of their new environment was not.

How Gender and Religion Influence Alcohol Use in Elderly Korean Immigrants

This study examined the effects of religion and gender on drinking behaviors among a sample of 148 older Korean immigrants living in a metropolitan area in Canada. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using standardized questions. The mean age of the participants was 74 years (range: 60-97 years). Logistic regression models were used to assess the effects of religion on drinking and heavier drinking and gender differences in correlates of current drinking and heavier drinking. Results revealed that being married and having lower religiosity were significant correlates that increased the odds of being a current drinker. Older Korean men tend to engage in heavier drinking behavior. Higher religiosity, not mere affiliation to Protestant churches, decreased the odds of heavier drinking for both men and women. The odds of heavier drinking increased for depressed men. Study limitations and implications are presented in a cultural context.

The evolution of drinking motivations among Korean women with alcohol dependence

Our purpose in conducting this study was to explore increases in alcohol problems among women in South Korea. Qualitative data were collected from 10 women in treatment for alcohol dependence using in-depth interviews. The grounded theory analysis revealed three phases of drinking behavior that were driven by certain motivations: (1) positive experiences, (2) coping with negative emotions, and (3) needing alcohol to function. The findings suggest that the increased occurrence of alcohol dependence among Korean women may be associated with shifting expectations about women's alcohol use and conflicts between their traditional and modern gender roles in the rapidly changing society.

Women's alcohol use and alcoholism in Korea

Recently South Korean society has experienced an increase in alcohol use related problems, as well as alcohol use among women. The purpose of this paper is to describe the cultural context of and to summarize the current state of knowledge of women's drinking in South Korea. Subscribing to Confucian principles, traditional Korean society has allowed drinking for men, but not for women. However, as society has changed, contemporary women drink at a younger age and consume larger amounts of alcohol than their prior generations. The current trends suggest an urgent need for research on the etiology and trajectory of women's alcohol use among various populations and the need to develop intervention programs tailored to the specific needs of women.

Differential effects of acculturation on drinking behavior in Chinese- and Korean-American college students

OBJECTIVE

Recent evidence suggests increasing rates of alcohol use and related disorders among Asian-American young adults. Relatively little research has focused on this group, and few studies have examined heterogeneity in drinking prevalence and correlates across Asian subgroups. This study examined interactive effects of ethnicity, acculturation, and gender on drinking behavior among Asian-American undergraduates.

METHOD

Participants were 112 Chinese Americans and 108 Korean Americans (mean age = 19.2 years, 61% female) who completed measures of alcohol use, acculturation, and demographic factors. Multivariate analyses examined drinking behavior (defined as quantity, frequency, and duration) as a function of ethnicity, gender, and acculturation.

RESULTS

Overall, Korean ethnicity predicted increased drinking, and acculturation predicted decreased drinking. However, acculturation interacted with ethnicity such that its influence was protective for Korean Americans and negligible for Chinese Americans.

CONCLUSIONS

Previous research implicates acculturation as a risk factor for drinking among Asian Americans, but the current findings suggest that protective effects may also exist. Results also indicate that Korean ethnicity is a risk factor particularly in the context of low acculturation. These findings illustrate the need to consider ethnic subgroup differences in drinking rates and in risk and protective factors for alcohol use among Asian Americans.