Drinking Problems Among Jewish College Students in the United States and Israel.

Research indicates that, although a high proportion of Jews are light drinkers, relatively few are heavy drinkers. Research also indicates that the alcohol abuse and alcoholism rate among Jews is lower than that of other major Western religious groups, particularly Catholics and Protestants (Engs & Hanson, 1985; O'Brien & Chafetz, 1982). Evidence also suggests, however, that drinking patterns and problems tend to change as individuals interact with those individuals of religious or cultural backgrounds that stress different drinking norms (Greeley, McCready, & Theisen, 1980). The purpose of the present research was to examine differences that may exist between Jewish college students in the United States and Israel regarding their drinking problems. We assumed that students in the United States have a higher level of exposure to groups from different drinking traditions and norms than students in Israel. Consequently, Jewish college students in the United States were expected to experience a higher degree of anomie in terms of drinking norms. Because such anomie is associated with drinking problems (Hanson, 1972), we believed that Jewish college students in the United States would experience higher rates of drinking problems than their Israeli counterparts (Isralowitz, 1987). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]