178051 Relative influences of church denominations toward drinking alcohol among Korean American females living in California

Monday, October 27, 2008

D. Eastern Kang Sim , Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
C. Richard Hofstetter , Political Science & Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Veronica Irvin , Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health, San Diego State Univeristy, San Diego, CA
John W. Ayers, MA , Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, San Diego, CA
Haeryun Park , Department of Food and Nutrition, Myungji University, Seoul, South Korea
Hee-Young Paik , Department of Food and Nutrition, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Background: Korean American women report the highest rate of alcohol consumption among AAPI females. Churches offer a well-established social, cultural, and educational center for Koreans in U.S. and are the focal points of life for Korean American in U.S. unlike other immigrants from East Asia.

Objective: This study presents the relative influences of religiosity, religious preference, and proscription as predictors of drinking versus abstaining and the moderation of alcohol consumption among adult Korean American women in California.

Methods: Data were drawn from telephone interviews (N=591) with adult women from a probability sample of Koreans residing in California and who had residential telephones. Logistic regression was used for analysis. Dependent variables are drinker and abstainer, and all independent variables have been dichotomized.

Results: More than 86% of our population considered religion as an important part of their lives, and more than 85% of our population claimed themselves to be either protestant or Catholics. 59.3% of study population consumed at least one drink of alcohol on a typical day. For religiosity testing, Koreans who believe the Bible is actual word of God were less likely to consume alcohol. Among religion denominations, Catholics and Baptists drank significantly more alcohol than any other denomination. Although atheists showed a drink more alcohol, Catholics drank more than atheists.

Conclusion: Certain denominations of Korean churches may serve as optimal locations to conduct alcohol interventions.

Learning Objectives:
“By the end of the session, the participant will be able to understand the relationship between religiosity and alcohol consumption among Korean Americans and the differences observed between religion preferences (denomination).”

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Religion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a lead person to investigate this specific topic.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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