Alcohol Use Among Two Generations of Southeast Asians in the United States

ABSTRACT

This article assesses the drinking norms and practices of two generations of Southeast Asians in the East San Francisco Bay Area. Researchers included quantity and frequency measures of current alcohol use and binge drinking and open-ended questions on drinking norms and behaviors in a mixed-method study of tobacco use. The study generated data through in-person interviews with 164 respondents from two urban East Bay neighborhoods. The findings include normative drinking among women and underage youth, with binge drinking among underage youths particularly troubling. Preventive interventions for this population should consider community-level alcohol problems as well as individual alcohol use disorders.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• alcohol
• drinking
• immigrants
• Southeast Asian
• women

Research and manuscript preparation were made possible by University of California Office of the President Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program Grant 13RT 0058. Interviews and observations were conducted by Vanphone Anlavan, Tamar Antin, Ratha Chuon, Phoenix Jackson, Sean Kirkpatrick, Sang Saephan, Brian Soller, Vannaro Tep, Phaeng Toommaly, and Somchit “Ping Pong” Vilaisouk.