Examining the Relationships Between Acculturation Orientations, Perceived and Actual Norms, and Drinking Behaviors of Short-Term American Sojourners in Foreign Environments

As little research has examined factors influencing increased and heavy drinking behavior among American sojourners abroad,
this study was designed to examine how acculturation orientations (i.e., separation versus assimilation), host country per
capita drinking rates, and perceptions about the drinking behavior among other sojourners and natives in the host country
predicted alcohol risk abroad. A sample of 216 American college students completing study abroad programs completed a pre-abroad
questionnaire to document their pre-abroad drinking levels, followed by a post-return questionnaire to assess drinking while
abroad, acculturation orientations and perceived norms of drinking behavior within the foreign environment. A dichotomous
variable was created to compare United States (U.S.) per capita drinking rates with those of the host country. Hierarchical
repeated-measures ANOVAs examined the changes in drinking from pre-abroad to abroad levels. Participants studying in countries
with higher drinking rates than the U.S. and those with higher perceptions about the drinking behavior in the country increased
their drinking to a greater extent. Those with higher separation acculturation orientations and greater perceptions drank
at heavier levels while abroad. Participants with a greater assimilation orientation and higher perceptions about native drinking,
as well as those with a greater separation orientation and higher perceptions about other students’ alcohol use drank the
heaviest while abroad. These findings have implications for future preventive work with American students and other sojourning
groups to promote pre-abroad knowledge of more accurate drinking norms and greater engagement in the culture to potentially
prevent increased and heavier drinking.