• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.145-149
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• 2007

Objectives : This study characterized the extent to which youth depressive symptoms, parental alcohol problems, and parental drinking account for differences in alcohol-related problems among a large sample of adolescent females. Methods : The stratified sample consists of 2077 adolescent females from twelve female-only high schools located in a large metropolitan city in the Republic of Korea. Students completed a questionnaire about alcohol use and alcohol problems, their parents' alcohol problems, and a number of risk and protective factors. Data were analyzed using tobit regression analyses to better characterize the associations among variables. Results : Almost two-thirds of students who consume alcohol had experienced at least one to two alcohol-related problems in their lives and 54.6% reported at least one current symptom of depression, with nearly one-third reporting two depressive symptoms. Two-thirds of the students indicated that at least one parent had an alcohol-related problem, and that approximately 29% had experienced several problems. Results of tobit regression analyses indicate that youth alcohol-related problems are positively associated with depressive symptoms (p<0.01) and parent drinking problems (p<0.05). Parental drinking is no longer significant when the variable parental attention is added to the model. Decomposition of the tobit parameters shows that for every unit of increase in depressive symptoms and in parent drinking problems, the probability of a youth experiencing alcohol problems increases by 6% and 1%, respectively. For every unit of increase in parental attention, the probability of youth experiencing drinking problems decreases by 5%. Conclusions : This study presents evidence that alcohol-related problems and depressive symptoms are highly prevalent among adolescent females. Although a comprehensive public health approach is needed to address drinking and mental health problems, different interventions are needed to target factors associated with initiation of alcohol problems and those associated with increased alcohol problems among those who already began experiencing such problems.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.577-588
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• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate the changes in alcohol consumption of male university students in Daegu, Korea and their drink-related behavior. The study focused on these changes over a decade using self-administered questionnaire surveys and health examinations that were carried out at a university campus in 1999 and in 2009. In both years more than 85% of students responded that they drank alcohol. However, significant increases in the frequency and amount of alcohol consumption were found (p<.001). The main influence on students' drinking behavior was friends/peers in both years. The most frequently preferred alcohol of respondents was so-ju (a traditional Korean liquor) in both years. However, the most frequently preferred type of food to accompany drinking had significantly changed (p<.01). Other changes including the increase of drinking speed and smoking during drinking were found to have significantly changed (p<.05) while significant difference regarding the decrease in food intake during drinking was not found. No significant difference in the amount of alcohol consumed was noted between underage drinkers and drinkers of above the legal drinking age. Heavy drinkers in the 2009 population had significantly higher systolic blood pressure than non-drinkers and moderate drinkers (p<.01). This study also indicates that there may be a rise in heavy drinking and/or binge drinking among drinkers including underage students. The results of this study suggest that alcohol-blood pressure associations are considered to be of concern even in young adults. This study also suggests the need for special alcohol prevention programs or campaigns to intervene in the behavior of students.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.4619-4628
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between alcohol use and drinking problems among college students. Data were collected by structured questionnaires from 400 college students by convenient sampling methods from September 26 to October 14, 2011. Data were analyzed by SPSS/WIN 15.0 program. The results were as follows: According to the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), subjects were classified into four groups such as 40.2% of no problem, 36.7% of drinking problem, 6.8% of high risk drinking problem and 16.3% of alcohol dependence. The alcohol use and drinking problems were significant difference for gender, age, type of residence, age of first drinking, cause of drinking, frequency and amount of drinking. The alcohol use was correlated with drinking problems: social function impairment(r=.601, p<.01), behavior problem(r=.579, p<.01), family and interpersonal impairment(r=.637, p<.01). The influencing factors of drinking problems were alcohol use(${\beta}$=.640, p=.000). This study concludes that it is necessary to establish alcohol use policies on campus and develop temperance education program to reduce alcohol consumption and drinking problems.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.348-359
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between frequency of alcohol drinking and blood mercury concentration in Korea. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that used data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Among them, 3,174 persons were selected for the final study. Results: The concentration of mercury in the blood increased as the frequency of drinking soju or beer increased. Similarly, in the multiple-linear regression analysis model, the frequency of soju drinking was identified as an independent variable showing a statistically significant positive linearity (p<0.001). After controlling for confounding factors, comparing those drinking 'more than twice a week' with those who almost do not drink alcohol, the adjusted ORs for exposure to high concentrations of mercury were 3.24 (95% CI, 2.10-4.99) for drinking soju and 2.07 (95% CI, 1.33-3.22) for drinking beer. The interaction effect between 'soju drinking' and 'spicy pollack and seafood stew' was not statistically significant (p=0.098) for evaluating the interaction effect between the two variables. Conclusions: The concentration of mercury in the blood increased as the frequency of drinking of soju or beer increased. The higher the frequency of alcohol drinking, the more likely is the blood mercury to be included in the high-concentration group. The results of this study can be used as important scientific evidence for the field of environmental health related to alcohol drinking and blood heavy metal exposure in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.38
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• pp.153-179
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• 1999

Despite the enforcement of minimum legal drinking age of 18 years of age since 1997, alcohol experimentation among Korean youth is believed to be greater than ever before. The use of alcohol jeopardizes physical, mental, and social development during a person's formative years, thereby endangering successful transitions from adolescent to adulthood. Even infrequent use of alcohol may result in intoxication and acute consequences, especially among youth, who may have low tolerance due to their smaller body size and may lack experience with the effects of alcohol. Using self-report questionnaire data collected from 1,697 highschool students nation-wide, the drinking behavior among Korean high school students and the relation between adolescents' alcohol expectancy and adolescent alcohol use patterns were examined. Results indicated that gender and the type of school(academic or vocational) were significant effects on the drinking behavior(drinking frequency, experience of drunkenness, the amount of alcohol consumed, experience of binge drinking and that of problems due to drinking). Male students than female students, and students of vocational schools rather than those of academic high schools reported more alcohol experimentation. Also, positive alcohol expectancy proved to have a significant relation with alcohol use among high-school students. That is, students who reported to think alcohol would have a positive effect on socializing, aggressiveness, relaxation of tensions, and enforcing sexual ability tended to drink more, to experience more binge drinking and more drinking problems. Variables of gender and the type of school also were found to have significant effects on alcohol expectancy. Males and students of vocational school held ideas of positive outcomes on drinking than others. Implications for further study on developing prevention programs are presented.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.115-132
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to provide baseline information on the risk-taking health behavior of alcohol consumption in four ethnic groups, Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, residing in the State of Hawaii. Secondary data from the State-based Health Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, designed by the Center for Disease Control, were used. The total sample analyzed for this study contained 6,068 persons. Univariate and logistic regression analysis were performed in order to determine sociodemographic profiles and the predictor variables to produce the findings of this study. The percentage distribution of six sociodemographic factors by race was very similar in all alcohol consumption factors, acute drinking, chronic drinking, and drinking and driving. In this study there were significant ethnic differences in alcohol consumption factors except drinking and driving.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.44
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• pp.91-116
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• 2001

The purposes of this study were to compare middle school students' alcohol expectancies with high school students' alcohol expectancies and to identify factors (family history of alcohol problems, television advertisements, age, gender, drinking experience, alcohol prevention education) related to their alcohol expectancies. A total of 1,164 middle school students in seven metropolitan areas in Korea participated in this study. The major finding of this study was that the respondents scored higher on negative alcohol expectancies than high school adolescents. As found in previous studies, factors related to adolescents' alcohol expectancies were also significantly related to respondents' alcohol expectancies in this study. Respondents who had family histories of alcohol problems, had drinking experiences, and were older expect drinking in a more positive manner. This study also found that alcohol advertising affected respondents' alcohol expectancies. However, this study found that current substance abuse prevention programs did not affect respondents' alcohol expectancies at all. This finding may suggest that some changes on current prevention programs should be needed in order to be more effective. Finally the result on the relationship gender and alcohol expectancies in this study was different from previous studies. Female respondents expected drinking more positively than male counterparts. This study suggests that further studies on this issue are necessary.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.307-315
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing the alcohol drinking behavior in female university students. Methods: The subjects were 298 female university students at three universities in J Province and G city. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS/PC+ 15.0. Results: The variables that affected the drinking behavior of female university students were smoking status, pocket money, coping strategy of problem solving, positive expectancy of alcohol drinking and negative expectancy of alcohol drinking. These factors could explain 30.4% of the drinking behavior. Stress did not affect the drinking behavior of subjects. Conclusion: Drinking behavior of the subjects was slightly higher than average for all women. In order to decrease the drinking behavior, the development of drinking reduction programs is needed and it can lead healthy life for female university students.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.327-335
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors related in an urban resident's drinking state and drinking problem. Methods: The data was collected from Oct. 2008 to Sep. 2009. Data were collected by questionaire from 359 urban resident over 20 years old and drinking experience residing. The instruments for this study were the alcohol use disorder identification test(AUDIT), the related factors of alcohol drinking. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, hierarchical multiple regression with the SPSS 18.0 program. Results: The problem drinking were 35.7% on AUDIT. (a) Male had significant effect on drinking problem; (b) If you drank alcohol for the first time prior to high school graduation had significant effect on drinking problem; (c) Permanent rental or unlicensed residential had significant effect on drinking problem; (d) Experience in drunk driving had significant effect on drinking problem. Conclusion: It is nessary to education at early childhood for the prevention of drinking problems and regular management for high risk.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.867-879
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• 2017

This study investigated the factors affecting problematic drinking amongst the male university students of the Changwon area (n=367). The participants were divided into 3 groups, and undertook the self-report questionnaire survey. Based on the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) guidelines, problematic drinking were rated as 'no problem' (28.8%), 'at-risk drinking' (41.7%), and 'alcohol abuse' (29.5%). Our study revealed that students living alone, indulged in more club activities, and drank more than 3 cans of carbonated drinks a day; this was significantly high on the AUDIT score (p<0.05). Participation in education was significantly higher (p<0.05), but intention to reduce the monthly alcohol consumption was significantly lower (p<0.001) in the alcohol abuse group. Recognition level of drinking cultures, drinking habits, AUDIT, and nicotine dependence were significantly higher in the alcohol abuse group (p<0.001). Recognition level of drinking cultures and nicotine dependence by the FTND (Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence) positively correlated with problematic drinking, whereas dietary guidelines and self-esteem showed a negative correlation with problematic drinking (p<0.05). Based on the results of multiple linear regression analysis, the factors affecting problematic drinking were recognition level of drinking cultures (${\beta}=0.47$, p<0.001) and nicotine dependence (${\beta}=0.23$, p<0.001). We conclude that implementation of health education for university students, would aid in rectifying the incorrect perception of drinking. Furthermore, both drinking and smoking should be considered simultaneously.