Buddhism and Adolescent Alcohol Use in Thailand

A sample of 2019 Thai secondary school students in grades equivalent to U.S. 10 through 12 completed a 43-item alcohol expectancy questionnaire in June 2000. Factor analysis revealed four factors: (a) positive expectancies, (b) negative expectancies, (c) sex and power expectancies, and (d) religious expectancies. Practicing Buddhists were less likely to drink than nonpracticing Buddhists and had fewer positive and more negative expectancies about alcohol. Among students who did drink, Buddhist beliefs did not appear to influence whether or not they were binge drinkers. Buddhist beliefs may influence decisions to drink but not decisions related to drinking patterns

Buddhism and Adolescent Alcohol Use in Thailand

A sample of 2019 Thai secondary school students in grades equivalent to U.S. 10 through 12 completed a 43-item alcohol expectancy questionnaire in June 2000. Factor analysis revealed four factors: (a) positive expectancies, (b) negative expectancies, (c) sex and power expectancies, and (d) religious expectancies. Practicing Buddhists were less likely to drink than nonpracticing Buddhists and had fewer positive and more negative expectancies about alcohol. Among students who did drink, Buddhist beliefs did not appear to influence whether or not they were binge drinkers. Buddhist beliefs may influence decisions to drink but not decisions related to drinking patterns

Alcohol Use among a Sample of Thai Adolescents

Beverage alcohol use is common in almost all societies and has been for thousands of years. Societies that use alcohol have rituals and traditions that tend to regulate alcohol\u27s negative effects and enhance its pleasurable effects. Modern alcohol production and marketing methods have tended to break down these traditional controls and encourage irresponsible use. In many western countries, irresponsible use of alcohol is associated with crime, violence, and disease. In particular, for adolescents, alcohol use is linked to automobile crashes, injuries, and deaths. Alcohol use is associated with so many deaths and injuries that most western countries now consider alcohol use a major public health problem

Alcohol use and alcohol expectancies among upper-level secondary school students in Chonburi Province and Pattaya City, Thailand

This study explored alcohol drinking behavior and alcohol expectancies among students in grades 10 to 12 in Thailand. The alcohol expectancy instrument was similar to those used in the U.S. Survey results showed that 32.4% of the total students were non-drinking, had not consumed alcohol in the past 12 months, and 67.7% were drinkers. Ages of first drink for this group were 11 to 14 years old. Overall, male students drank alcohol more often and in greater quantity than females. Thai beer was the alcohol of choice for males and wine the alcohol of choice for females. Mother\u27s drinking patterns may have an effect on their son\u27s drinking status, but not on their daughter\u27s. Father\u27s drinking patterns did not appear to influence sons or daughters drinking patterns. Six expectancy factors were extracted and named as follows: (1) Social, physical and mental pleasure, (2) careless concern, (3) sexual attraction and enhancement, (4) aggression, (5) power and general positive transformation, and (6) a practice against Buddhism. There was a significant relationship between alcohol expectancy scores and drinking behavior. The results suggested that among these subjects the higher their age at first drink and the fewer the number of days drinking in the past 30 days and in the past 12 months, the higher were the scores on Expectancy 2—careless concern and on Expectancy 6—alcohol drinking as a practice against Buddhism and the lower were the scores on Expectancy 3—sexual attraction and enhancement. Discriminant analysis showed that 78.3% were correctly classified for their drinking status. When compared to the original drinking status, these 6 alcohol expectancies classified drinking status correctly 77.1% and non-drinking status correctly 72.2%

Alcohol Expectancies among a Sample of Thai High School Students

The objective of this study was to identify and describe the alcohol-related expectancies of a sample of Thai high school students. A convenience sample of 2,227 high school students in Chon Buri province completed an alcohol expectancy questionnaire. The initial factor analysis was done with data from 875 questionnaires and identified four factors. The four factors were cross-validated on two separate sets of 676 questionnaires. A relationship was found between expectancies and drinking behaviors. High school students who drank alcohol had significantly greater positive expectancies for alcohol and greater expectancies that alcohol would enhance sexual performance and power. Students who did not drink had significantly greater negative expectancies for alcohol and a greater expectancy that Buddhism viewed alcohol use negatively. Frequent drinkers and students who drank alcohol in large quantities had significantly greater positive expectancies for alcohol and were more likely to believe that alcohol enhanced sex and power than infrequent drinkers and students who drank smaller quantities of alcohol. The alcohol expectancies found in this sample of Thai high school students were similar to alcohol expectancies found for adolescents in the USA, with the exception of the expectancy regarding Buddhism