title: Factors Associated With Drinking Behavior Among Immigrant Women in Taiwan.
abstract: Transnational marriage-based immigrant women in Taiwan have moved to a country where alcohol use is prevalent and they face the challenge of adaptation into a new society, which could influence their drinking behavior.
  
  
  
  To describe the prevalence of alcohol drinking and examine factors associated with drinking patterns among immigrant women in Taiwan.
  
  
  
  This study was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey and data were collected from June through November in 2013. Convenience samples of 757 immigrant women were recruited across Taiwan. Alcohol use patterns during the past year were divided into abstinent, low-risk drinking, and hazardous drinking based on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Measures included subject characteristics, exposure to cigarettes and alcohol, acculturation level, and perceived stress.
  
  
  
  The prevalence of drinking during the past year among immigrant women was 29.9% (low-risk drinking 27.6% and hazardous drinking: 2.3%). Multinomial logistic regression showed that women who were employed, who smoked, whose husbands drank, and who interacted with Taiwanese friends frequently were significantly more likely to be in the low-risk drinking group compared with the abstinent group. Women who were divorced/widowed, who had low education levels, who smoked, and whose husbands drank were significantly more likely to be in the hazardous drinking group compared with the abstinent group.
  
  
  
  More acculturation in immigrant women as indicated by working and frequently interacting with friends in mainstream society was related to low-risk drinking behavior; adversities as indicated by loss of marriage and low education level were related to hazardous drinking behavior.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Public Health , Hengshan Township Public Health Center , Hsinchu , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: b Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University , Taipei , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hung-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychiatry , Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital , Taipei , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jia-Fu
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: d Department of Nursing , Ching Kuo Institute of Management and Health , Keelung , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kuei-Hui
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: e Institute of Community Health Care, National Yang-Ming University , Taipei , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Li-Yin
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chien
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Immigrant; acculturation; alcohol use; drinking