Drinking Trajectories and Factors in Koreans

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the drinking culture in Korea by sex, age, household type, occupation, and income level to identify demographic groups with prominent drinking behaviors and factors affecting their drinking. Furthermore, we evaluated recent changes, including those due to COVID-19, in drinking behavior, using data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study from 2010 to 2020. Panel analysis was performed to reveal the effects of material deprivation, depression, and sociodemographic factors on drinking behavior. We used the AUDIT 3 scale including frequency of drinking, average amount of drinking, and frequency of excessive drinking. The two characteristics of Korean drinking are consistent with the claim of the ecological system theory that humans, as social beings, drink to facilitate social communication or promote problematic drinking when social communication is difficult. Drinking among Koreans is characterized by a pattern that alternates between social drinking and problem drinking. Our study recognizes drinking as a social problem that should be managed at social as well as national levels.

Do Drinking Norms, Motives, and Drinking Behaviors Differ by Age Group among Korean Women?

“…Injunctive norms are perceptions regarding which specific drinking behaviors are socially acceptable [ 19 ]. The regression analysis revealed that injunctive norms were the second most important factor associated with the frequency and quantity of alcohol use for all age groups.…”

“…Descriptive norms refer to the perceptions of the drinking frequency and quantity of others. Injunctive norms refer to the perceived approval of drinking and represent perceived moral rules [ 18 , 19 ]. Injunctive norms and drinking motives could differ by a county’s drinking culture [ 5 ].…”

“…In recent years, young women have begun to drink at an earlier age and consume more alcohol than women in previous generations. Women’s alcohol-use-related problems have risen with the increase in the number of young women drinkers [ 18 , 19 ]. Women who have problems with alcohol are reluctant to seek help for their alcohol use owing to severe discrimination and stigma toward heavy drinking among women in South Korea [ 4 , 14 ].…”

Status of Workers’ Health Behavior and the Association between Occupational Characteristics and Health Behavior

“…Our data on the age-related prevalence of current smoking and heavy drinking were similar to those previously reported. In general, the prevalence of current smoking and heavy drinking is considerably higher in young adulthood and decreases in elderly people [ 38 , 39 ]. Older individuals are more likely to participate in healthy lifestyle behaviors because of their higher probability of morbidity and mortality [ 40 ].…”

Burden of Cancer Due to Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Consumption in Korea

“…Drinking is a social behavior influenced by various environmental factors such as availability, public policies, and acceptance of alcohol use. In Korea, drinking is characterized by a pattern of going back and forth between social drinking and problem drinking [ 7 ]. Owing to Korea’s remarkable economic growth that brought about widespread social changes, gender became an important variable affecting smoking patterns.…”