Influence of culture on attitudes towards alcohol of arab muslim university students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20882/adicciones.418Keywords:
Culture, religion, Arab Muslim students, alcohol consumption patternAbstract
Religion influences greatly the formation of alcoholrelated tradition. A low level of alcohol consumption in Muslim countries can be a classical example of the protective influence of religion on alcohol-related problems. There have been a number of studies that have addressed issues of relative influence of two variables influencing drinking behaviour: religion and culture. To shed more light on this issues we investigate drinking behaviour of Muslims in a country with high level of alcohol consumption and correspondingly with high rate of alcohol-related problems. We have studied drinking pattern of Muslim students from Syria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine at Grodno State Medical University. Measurements: A sample of 358 male Arab Muslim students randomly screened using AUDIT, MAST and CAGE questionnaires, as well as the ICD- 10. Results: In according to the attitudes of students to alcohol the former were clustered into three groups. Abstainers made 55%. To the non-problem group belong 30% of students. The remaining 15% got into the problem group according to at least one of the questionnaires. The research reveals the following differences in alcohol consumption patterns between students of different years. Among first and second years students there are 14% of those drinking alcohol. Among third and fourth years students there are 35% of those consuming alcohol. Among fifth and sixth years students 63% drink alcohol. Conclusion: Thus, Muslim students assimilate certain elements of foreign culture in general and its alcohol-related tradition in particular. The outcome of this finding suggests the significance of religion and cultural factors in the formation of alcohol-related pattern. At the same time, it seems that most powerful predictor of alcohol-related problems is not religion background, but current social environment.References
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