Culture may also affect both the experience and reporting of negative consequences from drinking. In particular, although country differences in negative consequences are associated with drinking pattern (e.g., 5), drinkers in some countries report more consequences than do drinkers from other countries, even when overall consumption in the country is similar (6, 7). These country differences may be due to the culture and context of drinking, including factors such as the extent that the culture is “wet” (i.e., most people drink) versus “dry” (i.e., most people abstain) (8–10), the extent of temperance sentiments or social intolerance for drinking in the culture (11), norms regarding drunkenness and deviant behavior when drinking (1), the extent to which drinking takes place more frequently in public versus private settings (12) and cultural norms for perceiving and attributing problems to alcohol consumption (13).
