title: Social meaning of alcohol-related flushing among university students in China.
abstract: This study explored drinking patterns, alcohol-related flushing, and ways students themselves and other people respond to flushing in drinking situations. Of 1080 Chinese undergraduate university students given the survey questionnaire, 725 (67.1%) returned the completed surveys. Eighty percent of the students were drinkers (93% of males and 69% of females); 68% of the drinkers were flushers. Most of the students (59.3%) said flushing had no special meaning, that is, would ignore flushing; 54% of the flushers said they could keep drinking "but less" when they flush; 27% of the students said that a flushing person should stop drinking; however, if the flushing person is a girl, 89% of the students said the girl should drink less or stop. If the flushing person was a boy, 61% of students said he should drink less or stop. The data do suggest gender differences in the understanding of and social reaction to alcohol-related flushing, and these differences raise interesting questions as to how flushing acts as a potential protective factor against alcohol misuse.
authors.affiliation: 1University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jinnai
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zhaoqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qian
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002681:China; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005483:Flushing / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol