The Chinese Drinking Problem: A Review of the Literature and Its Implication in a Cross-Cultural Study

華人飲酒問題－文獻回顧及跨文化研究探討

楊明仁(Ming-Jen Yang)

《The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences》 18卷11期 (2002/11) Pp. 543-550

https://doi.org/10.6452/KJMS.200211.0543

摘要

飲酒問題對華人而言向來都不是嚴重的議題。體質與遺傳的差異，如乙醛去氫脢缺乏、對酒精過度敏感，以致耐受性不足容易醉酒，是最常被提出的解釋。而社會文化原因，如不鼓勵獨飲、酒醉鬧事被視為禁忌、以及尊循孔夫子的禮教等等，也都是常被引用來解釋，為何華人會出現有較低酒癮盛行率。但近年來國內無論在酒精消秏量或酒癮盛行率都出現大幅上升的趨勢，社會變遷及傳統文化道德淪喪，雖被推測是可能的導致原因。然而方法學上的考慮亦不可忽略，例如個案標的的定義，以及其在文化脈絡上所代表的意義亦不容忽視；另外，求醫行為的差異也是影響華人飲酒盛行率的重要干擾因素。因此，華人飲酒問題之低盛行率，是否真如過去報告也是值得懷疑？但可肯定的是，文化因素所扮演的角色必是不容忽視。本文將針對過去關於華人飲酒行為文獻進行系統回顧，參考流行病學調查資料，並提出將來跨文化研究的對策。

關鍵字

華人 ； 飲酒行為 ； 酒癮 ； 飲酒問題

並列摘要

Alcoholism as a problem has never been widely understood in Chinese society. The rarity of alcoholism in Chinese society may be due to marked sensitivity to alcohol, associated with high levels of acetaldehyde, in this population. In addition, sociocultural reasons such as alcoholic beverages generally being consumed only at parties and during mealtimes, strong social sanctions against drunkards and drunken behavior, and the presence of a strong Confucian moral ethic, have accounted for the drinking behavior of Chinese individuals. However, there is evidence that alcohol consumption and the prevalence of alcoholism have skyrocketed in the past 40 years in Taiwan. Social and cultural changes may be expected to affect the incidence and prevalence of alcoholism and other mental disorders in terms of changes in a traditional culture, and social integration-disintegration. Differences in methodology for case identification, and the fact that Chinese alcoholic patients do not seek psychiatric treatment primarily for drinking problems, are also considered to account for some of the discrepancy between the actual rate and the lower identified rate of alcoholism. It can also be speculated that the low rate of alcoholism in psychiatric settings depends largely on the attitudes of patients, their families, and the general public towards drinking problems. Hence, this paper will review the theories and compare epidemiologic data about drinking problems in Chinese individuals, and then point to areas for future research.

並列關鍵字

Chinese ； drinking problem ； alcoholism ； behavior