Women's Alcohol Use and Alcoholism in Korea

Abstract

Recently South Korean society has experienced an increase in alcohol use related problems, as well as alcohol use among women. The purpose of this paper is to describe the cultural context of and to summarize the current state of knowledge of women's drinking in South Korea. Subscribing to Confucian principles, traditional Korean society has allowed drinking for men, but not for women. However, as society has changed, contemporary women drink at a younger age and consume larger amounts of alcohol than their prior generations. The current trends suggest an urgent need for research on the etiology and trajectory of women's alcohol use among various populations and the need to develop intervention programs tailored to the specific needs of women.

Keywords:

• alcohol use
• alcoholism
• gender difference
• Korea
• women

Notes

²The reader is referred to Hills's criteria for causation which was developed in order to help assist researchers and clinicians determine if risk factors were causes of a particular disease or outcomes or merely associated (Hill, [1965]. The environment and disease: associations or causation? Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 58, 295–300.) (Chief Editor's note.)

¹The journal's style utilizes the category substance abuse as a diagnostic category. Substances are used or misused; living organisms are and can be abused. Chief Editor's note.