A family study of homeland Korean alcohol use

Survey data were obtained from 199 homeland Korean families consisting of 199 sets of parents, and 300 college-age sons (162) and daughters (138). Data were obtained regarding quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption by users and of judgments of what constituted "normal" and "problem" alcohol use, flushing status, symptoms experienced following alcohol use, reasons for drinking given by users, and reasons for abstaining given by abstainers. Fathers and sons differed little in use status, but daughters were abstainers far less often than their mothers. Female users drank a good deal less than males, fathers and sons differed slightly, while daughters drank considerably more than their mothers. Own use was substantially correlated with judgments of the nature of normal use and far less related judgements of problem use. There was a significant difference in fast versus slow skin flushing. with a higher proportion of females being fast flushers. Fast flushers drank less than slow flushers and also judged lower amounts of consumption as being "normal." Fast flushers experienced more physical symptoms than slow flushers; persons who drank more experienced fewer symptoms. Males more than females, slow flushers more than fast flushers, and heavy more than light users of alcohol are more likely to endorse a variety of reasons for drinking. Reasons for not drinking differ little across family membership groups. Contemporary homeland Koreans drink less than would have been expected on the basis of prior research, even though there is a substantial generational difference among females, with daughters being less frequently abstainers and drinking more, and more often than their mothers.