IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p11865-d919678.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Drinking Expectancies among Chinese Young Adults: A Qualitative Study from Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Rufina H. W. Chan

    (The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China)

  • Dong Dong

    (The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
    Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518000, China)

  • Jean H. Kim

    (The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China)

Abstract

Background: Alcohol expectancies, i.e., the perceived consequences of drinking, have been reported to be important factor in predicting drinking behaviors. However, studies in the Asia region were largely limited to school-based samples. This study aimed to be the first to explore drinking expectancies among urban Chinese young adults. Methods: In 2020, eight focus group discussions were conducted with Hong Kong Chinese young adults aged 18–34 ( n = 53). The participants included heavy drinkers, light drinkers, and non-drinkers from a wide range of occupations and educational backgrounds. Thematic analysis was conducted to uncover common alcohol expectancies. Results: Six themes emerged from this study. Four themes that were commonly reported in the literature were the negative consequences of drinking, social bonding, confidence enhancement, and tension reduction. The study also uncovered two culturally relevant alcohol expectancies: health benefits and business drinking expectancies. In contrast to Western samples, Chinese young adults did not report drinking expectancies related to cognitive enhancement or increased sexual interest. Conclusion: Alcohol harm reduction strategies will need to address the positive drinking expectancies uncovered in this study. Future policy discussions in this emerging alcohol market region should consider greater scrutiny of the role of alcohol marketing in the propagation of positive drinking expectancies.

Suggested Citation

  • Rufina H. W. Chan & Dong Dong & Jean H. Kim, 2022. "Drinking Expectancies among Chinese Young Adults: A Qualitative Study from Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:11865-:d:919678
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/11865/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/11865/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yi Mou & Carolyn A. Lin, 2020. "Consuming Alcohol to Prepare for Adulthood: An Event History Analysis of the Onset of Alcohol Use Among Chinese College Students," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    2. Ling Qian & Ian M. Newman & Lok-wa Yuen & Duane F. Shell & Jingdong Xu, 2018. "Variables Associated with Alcohol Consumption and Abstinence among Young Adults in Central China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Anne W. Taylor & Bridgette M. Bewick & Qian Ling & Valentina Kirzhanova & Paulo Alterwain & Eleonora Dal Grande & Graeme Tucker & Alfred B. Makanjuola, 2019. "Assessing Heavy Episodic Drinking: A Random Survey of 18 to 34-Year-Olds in Four Cities in Four Different Continents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, February.
    4. Hye Kyung Kim & Rachel Lim Si En & Dorothy Wong Kang Min, 2019. "Psychosocial Motivators for Moderate Drinking among Young Asian Flushers in Singapore," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-12, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuna Ma & Jiafeng Gu & Ruixi Lv, 2022. "Job Satisfaction and Alcohol Consumption: Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Lanyan Ding & Baoping Song & Chengli Wu & Ian M. Newman & Lok-Wa Yuen & Ling Qian & Botao Wang & Wenjuan Zhang & Ping Wei, 2021. "Alcohol Use in China: Unrecorded and Recorded Bai Jiu in Three Rural Regions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-14, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:11865-:d:919678. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.