Risk factors of alcoholism in Taiwan Chinese: an epidemiological approach

Abstract

This study investigated the risk factors of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence, as defined by DSM-III criteria, in 11,004 Chinese subjects in the Taiwan community. Risk factors were analyzed using chi-square and multivariate logistic regression statistics. The logistic regression shows that the risk factors of alcohol dependence include male, having had childhood or adulthood behavior problems; of alcohol abuse include male, having had childhood or adulthood behavior problems, non-metropolitan community, age cohort, job-holder. The etiological models proposed are biological for Chinese alcohol dependence and interactional for Chinese alcohol abuse.