Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115989

Edward Adlaf, PhD¹, Dohn S. Kim, PhD¹, Shinji Shimizu, PhD², and Samuel Noh, PhD¹. (1) Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada, 416-535-8501, dohn_kim@camh.net, (2) Nara Women’s University, Kitauoyahigashi-machi, Nara 630-8506, Japan

This study compares alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems between two representative samples of adults, 20-70 years of age, of Ontario, Canada and Japan. Alcohol related outcomes were measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Data for Ontarian adults were derived from the 2001 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor in Ontario (n=2,247). Japanese data were from the 2001 National Representative Sample Survey in Japan (n=2,254), which was conducted as part the Gender, Alcohol, and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS). As expected, in both countries, men scored significantly higher on the AUDIT than did women (p<.001). The mean of AUDIT score was significantly higher for Japanese sample compared to the Ontario sample (p<.001). A significant sample-by-age interaction showed that the cross-national difference was limited to middle- and older-aged adults, and among male samples. Nominal differences were noted among females and young adults (20-35 year of age). Further analyses suggested that the differences between Canada and Japan were restricted to alcohol consumption. Difference in the rates of alcohol-related problems between the two samples was not significant, across all gender and age groups. The findings of this study present evidence supporting the salience of cultural norms and contexts as moderators of the link between alcohol consumption and the development of alcohol problems. It appears that something of Asian (Japanese) culture buffers the impact of excessive drinking on alcohol problems.

Learning Objectives:

• Culture and Ethnicity in alcohol drinking and alcohol dependency; Cross-cultural research; Theory of Alcohol Related Disorders; Cultural Perspectives of Public Health Intervention of Alcohol Drinking

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Culture

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.