The issue of alcohol abuse is evident in several countries (D’Alessio, Baicco and Laghi, 2006; Eliasen et al., 2009). Nearly 25% of the general population develop some form of drinking problem during their lives (O’Brien, 2010). Alcohol use is generally high during the teen years and early twenties and starts to drop as people begin to assume adult roles such as employment and family (Maggs & Schullenberg, 2004/2005). Excessive alcohol consumption is more prevalent among girls (ESPAD, 2007; Wechsler et al., 2002) with the motives generally including having fun, conformity to peer group norms, forgetting the frustrations of the working day or escaping the everyday, and finding the self-confidence to deal with social situations (IAS Factsheet, 2010). Importantly, a number of studies have highlighted that the influence of friends is more important than parental influence on adolescents’ alcohol use (Hayes et al., 2004; Kim et al., 2009; Wechsler et al., 2002). Thus, our study sought to investigate the relationship between the drinking attitude of young women and that of their peers across three countries viz. Australia, Germany and Wales. Specifically, the following research questions frame the study: RQ1: Do the perceived drinking attitudes of young women’s peers vary by country?; and RQ2: Is there a relationship between young women’s drinking attitude and the perceived drinking attitude of their peers?
Relation
International Social Marketing Conference (ISM) 2012, Brisbane, Australia 27-29 June 2012
Relation
Proceedings of the 2012 International Social Marketing Conference / pp.221-226