DIFFERENT ALCOHOL TYPES - DIFFERENT MODES OF DRINKING - THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ALCOHOL TYPE PREFERENCES AND INDICATORS FOR REGULAR DRINKING AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN ZIMBABWE

A classroom survey among 3061 secondary school students in four provin ces in Zimbabwe aimed at enabling analysis of social and cultural pred ictors for use of alcohol and other drugs. The present paper focuses o n the relationship between choice of different alcohol types and two i ndicators for regular drinking. A two-stage sampling strategy distingu ished between four different sociocultural subgroups. Measures on expe rience with different alcohol types were subject to a principal compon ent analysis, revealing one imported (or western) alcohol component an d one traditional (or indigenous) alcohol component with the industria lly produced opaque beer Chibuku loading on both. Multiple logistic re gression revealed experience with western alcohol types to be associat ed with indicators for frequent drinking as well as experience with be ing drunk. Experience with use of the traditional alcohol types was no t associated with self-reported experience with being drunk. Use of Ch ibuku was, however, associated with such experience for boys. It is su ggested that an integration of traditional and western drinking cultur e represents reduced danger for socially disruptive modes of drinking among adolescents as compared to a one-sided adoption of western patte rns.