Drinking in a Dry Culture. Alcohol use among second-generation Turks and Moroccans: measurements and results

Alcohol use has a number of adverse effects on health; it may cause cancer and heart diseases and consequently may lead to an increased mortality rate. Besides negative effects, alcohol use may also have positive effects on both mental and physical health. However, the negative consequences of excessive alcohol use are undisputed. In this sense, prevention of excessive alcohol use is important. To be able to construct effective prevention activities, reliable information about the extent of alcohol use in the population is needed. Since many studies have explored alcohol use in the general Dutch population, such information is available for the autochthonous Dutch citizens. However, data on alcohol use among allochthonous groups in the Netherlands are scarce, such as for instance among Turks and Moroccans, who constitute the largest non-western groups in the Netherlands. Furthermore, since studies on alcohol use among Turks and Moroccans are accompanied by methodological difficulties, it is unclear whether available data are reliable. These methodological problems are mainly related to the Islamic background; many Turks and Moroccans are Muslim and alcohol use is prohibited according to the Islamic religion. To attain more information about alcohol use among these ethnic groups, more insight is needed in methodological and conceptual problems accompanying prevalence studies on alcohol use among Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands. In the present thesis, methodological issues regarding alcohol research among secondgeneration Turks and Moroccans are described and results with regard to alcohol use are presented. The goal of the present study is threefold. First, methodological problems regarding the measurement of alcohol use among Turks and Moroccans are described. Second, the appropriateness of different data collection modes and different prevalence measures are studied. Third, insights will be gained into both the prevalence and determinants of alcohol use among second-generation Turks and Moroccans.

• View at Worldcat

Free Full Text ( Final Version , 331kb )