Projects: China

Adolescent Alcohol Use in China

The Prevention Center Director began teaching in China in 1986 at the School of Public Health, Beijing Medical University. Since that time Prof. Newman and colleagues have taught workshops and made presentations to hundreds of Chinese public health workers in many parts of China. Workshops and teaching continues. The Prevention Center has already sponsored several Chinese scholars' short-term and longer studies in Nebraska. It is anticipated that more exchanges will follow.

As a result of the interactions mentioned, a joint research initiative began in 1995 to explore alcohol use by Chinese adolescents. This is an ongoing endeavor and focuses on the development of instruments to assess alcohol expectancies, self-efficacy, and cultural orientation among Chinese adolescents. It is hoped by exploring these variables over time that new information will be generated that will be useful for guiding the development of education and public policies to reduce the public health consequences of alcohol use.

The Prevention Center continues to seek new ways to work with Chinese colleagues to improve health promotion and health education programs and strengthen the quality of research aimed at better understanding the health behaviors of young people.

Objectives

China and USA scholars are working together to:

• Refine a Chinese adolescent alcohol expectancy scale and collect data for use in development of alcohol education programs.
• Develop a cultural orientation scale to assess adolescent attitudes toward Chinese and Western culture.
• Develop a self-efficacy scale for Chinese adolescents.
• Examine the relationship of alcohol expectancies, cultural orientation, self-efficacy, and alcohol use over time.
• Continue to conduct workshops on the role of health education in general health promotion.
• Foster exchanges and the sharing of data and expertise.

Activities

In 1995-6 we collected our first data to begin to describe alcohol use by adolescents in China. The initial data were gathered in Shanghai. Similar data were gathered from students in Inner Mongolia later that year.

Since then, data has been collected from the following samples:

NPCADA co-sponsored the First China International Symposium on Alcohol and Health with host Beijing Siji Exchange Center for Science and Technology of the China Association for Science and Technology, and co-sponsor, the WHO-Shanghai Collaborating Center for Health Education & Promotion, conducted at the Qianhe Hotel in Shanghai from Sep.15th to 18th, 2002. Over 30 experts from 6 countries, 5 domestic provinces and Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the WHO participated in the Symposium. NPCADA staff are now involved in preparing for a second symposium in 2004.

Seminars and Workshops

In this project, one study focuses on the role of family attitudes and practices and religious beliefs in the use and nonuse of tobacco among college students in Saudi Arabia. The other study explores the extent of sheesha use among future teachers in Kuwait.

• Getting the most out of survey results. The Inner Mongolia Health Education and Maternal & Child Health Workshop presented in Chifang, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, August 14-17, 2002.
• Planning quality health education programs. Workshop presented to health educators sponsored by the Inner Mongolia Health Education Institute held in Baotou and to Schistosomiasis workers in southern China sponsored by the National Health Department of the People's Republic of China held in Wuxi, 1999.
• Inner Mongolia Health Education Workshop on Health Education Program Planning and Evaluation. Presented in Xilinguol, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, August 3-5, 1998.
• Inner Mongolia health education workshop on health education program planning and evaluation. Presented in Hulunbar, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, June 30-July 1, 1997.
• How to design alcohol and other drug prevention education programs. Sponsored by the Government of Taiwan, Department of Health for public health officials, 1994.
• Health education program development and evaluation. Presented in Hangzhou, China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchange/World Bank, 1993.
• Health education planning and evaluation. A series of six lectures presented at the School of Public Health, Beijing Medical University, People's Republic of China, 1992.
• Health education and alcohol and drug education. An invited lecture presented to the staff of the National Health Education Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China, 1992.
• Health education planning. An invited lecture presented at the Shanghai Health Education Institute, People's Republic of China, 1992.

Publications & Papers

See: Publications & Papers: China.

Awards

In 2001, Professor Newman accepted a special citation from the Minister of Health of the Semi-Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia (People's Republic of China) for contributions to the advancement of public health.

Resarch Team

Faculty and Graduate Students:

Ian M. Newman, PhD.

Ming Qu, MD (China), MEd.

Qian Geng, BSc, MEd (China), Diploma in Demography (Egypt), MEd.

Jianping Xue, MD (China).

Duane F. Shell, PhD.

Consultants:

Fangfang Gao, MD, Director of Inner Mongolia People's Hospital in Hohhut.

Yucheng Li, MD, Director of Inner Mongolia Health Education Institute.

Fang Xiaoyi, PhD, Professor, Beijing Normal University.

Qian Ling, MD, PhD, China Institute for Health Education in Beijing.

Gan Xingfa, MD, Shanghai Health Education Institute.

Ming Ao, PhD, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.