Biomedical subjects

Hervé Kuendig

Publications and source records attributed to Hervé Kuendig.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Family bonding and adolescent alcohol use: moderating effect of living with excessive drinking parents.

AIMS: Excessive parental drinking has been shown to be positively related to adolescent alcohol use and family bonding negatively related. The aim of the present study was to determine if the perception of parental drinking moderates the relationship between family bonding and adolescent alcohol use. METHODS: Linear structural equation models for multiple group comparisons were estimated based on a national representative sample of 3,448 eight and ninth graders in Switzerland (mean age 14.77; SD 0.89). RESULTS: Adjusted for gender and age, the results confirm that strong family bonds were negatively related to both frequency of alcohol intake and lifetime frequency of drunkenness. Furthermore, a positive link was found with regard to the perception of parental drinking. However, the multiple group comparison revealed that the negative relationship between bonding and adolescent alcohol use was even stronger among adolescents whose parents drink excessively than among those whose parents did not. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that it may be particularly important for parents in the former category to establish strong family bonds (e.g. by spending free time with their children, listening to their worries) so as to limit adolescent excessive drinking.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

What is worse? A hierarchy of family-related risk factors predicting alcohol use in adolescence.

The aim of the present study was to determine if family structure, perception of excessive drinking in the family, and family bonding hold a graduated importance in predicting adolescent alcohol use and their association with peers who drink excessively. Three nested linear structural models were calculated separately for frequent and excessive drinking, based on a sample of 3,127 eighth and ninth graders in Switzerland (mean age 15.3, SD 0.8) surveyed in spring 2002 in the context of the "Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC)" study. The results confirm that the perception of excessive drinking in the family is more closely related to both frequent and excessive drinking than family structure, and family bonding is more closely related than drinking perception. Adjusting for both socio-demographic variables and the association with peers who drink excessively only slightly changed the results. To predict an association with the latter, family structure was more important than the perception of drinking, but family bonding remained the predominant predictor. The results stress the graduated importance of family-related risk factors: by listening to their children's worries, by spending their free time with them, and by providing help when needed, parents might have the possibility to actively minimize the risk of frequent and excessive drinking regardless of whether they are frequent excessive drinkers or live without a partner.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Measuring alcohol consumption--should the 'graduated frequency' approach become the norm in survey research?

AIMS: To analyse whether recommendations for the graduated frequency (GF) approach to measure alcohol consumption are justified in a multi-cultural comparative study. DESIGN: Representative surveys, conducted between 1995 and 2003, of 10 countries participating in the GENACIS project (Gender, Alcohol and Culture: an International Study). MEASUREMENTS: Usual quantity, usual frequency and mean consumption per day measured with three instruments: GF, generic quantity-frequency (QF) and beverage-specific quantity-frequency (QFBS). FINDINGS: The GF did not consistently yield higher volumes and quantities across all countries compared with the generic QF, while the QFBS resulted in higher quantities and higher volumes compared with the GF (in all but one country) and the QF. Frequencies were mostly higher on the GF compared with the QF and QFBS but there was also evidence of over-reporting of frequencies with the GF. Results for the GF suggested that it was implemented improperly in at least three of the 10 countries. CONCLUSION: The GF does not appear to be appropriate for cross-cultural research. It results in over-reporting of frequencies and appears to be too complex to be administered correctly in many countries. The best measure for these purposes appeared to be the QFBS particularly because it captures more effectively the variability of different alcoholic beverages with different ethanol contents and consumption with different vessel sizes.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Do school surroundings matter? Alcohol outlet density, perception of adolescent drinking in public, and adolescent alcohol use.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between alcohol outlet density, perception of adolescent drinking in public (both assessed at the school level), and adolescent drinking and drunkenness at individual level. Hierarchical linear regression models were calculated based on data from 1194 ninth graders in Switzerland (mean age=15.3, S.D.=0.7) and their schoolmasters (n=61). Apart from the positive main effects, the results reveal a negative interaction of alcohol outlet density and perception of adolescent drinking in public in predicting individual alcohol use among adolescents. In regions with a high density of shops, it appears that the schoolmasters' perception reflects the general drinking norm of the area where the school is located rather than the actual drinking level of adolescents. More research is needed, particularly in Europe and among adolescent populations, to reach a better understanding of school level predictors of adolescent alcohol use.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Drinking patterns and their gender differences in Europe.

AIMS: To compare drinking habits and to examine differences between drinking cultures in different regions and countries in Europe; to examine gender differences in drinking habits and to compare them over countries. METHODS: Data consisted of independently conducted, centrally analysed surveys in the general population aged 20-64 years in 14 European countries. Central measures were abstention, frequency and volume of drinking overall and by beverage type, amounts drunk per drinking day, and heavy episodic drinking. RESULTS: There were clear gender differences in all drinking measures, except for wine drinking. Differences between genders were often smaller than average in northern Europe. Gender ratios did not show systematic changes by age, with the exception that young men and women differed less than older men and women in the frequency of heavy episodic drinking. The results on beverage preferences indicate that the distinction among wine/beer/spirits cultures have implicitly been based on male drinking. Our expectation was for more daily light drinking integrated in everyday life in the Mediterranean countries, more heavy episodic drinking associated with weekends and celebrations in the North, with the traditional beer countries somewhere in between. The differences observed were usually in the direction expected. However, no country represented an ideal type of drinking culture, i.e. drinking for 'mood-changing effects' only or for 'nutritional purposes' only; all countries were mixtures of these two extremes. CONCLUSIONS: There were clear and consistent gender differences in all countries, while the differences in drinking between countries and regions were not as obvious.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Gender and cultural differences in the association between family roles, social stratification, and alcohol use: a European cross-cultural analysis.

AIMS: First, this paper investigates (i) gender differences in associations of social stratification, family roles, and heavy drinking, and (ii) country differences in these associations. Second, it seeks to explain country differences in the associations of social stratification and family roles with alcohol consumption by societal level variables. METHODS: Survey data of 25 to 49-years-old from eight European countries were used. Logistic regressions were used to analyse gender differences in the association between family roles (marriage, having children), social stratification (education, employment), and heavy drinking (>20 g/day for women; 30 g/day for men). Gender differences were tested by means of interactions between gender and social stratification/family roles. Structural measures of work desirability, social welfare, and gender equity were used to explain differences in associations across countries. RESULTS: The associations between social stratification, family roles, and heavy drinking varied across gender and countries. A country's social welfare system was associated with heavy drinking only among women. Women in countries with a strong social welfare system, such as Nordic countries, tended to drink more heavily if employed, having lower formal education, and a non-traditional family role. In countries with weak social welfare systems or work desirability, heavy drinking was associated with high education, while effects of family roles and employment were small. CONCLUSIONS: It appeared that the social welfare system and gender equity of a country determines to a large extent how education, employment, and family roles are associated with heavy drinking.

Adult↗