ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Substance Use Disorders and Behavioral Addictions
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1560092
Reasons and Impacts of Alcohol Use Disorder Among Ethnic Minority Young Adults: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study
Provisionally accepted
Getaneh Mulualem Belay
Yim Wah Mak
Ka Wai Katherine Lam
Qi LIUMao TingChen XiFuna Yang
Cynthia Sau Ting Wu
Ka Yan Ho*- Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China
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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is prevalent among ethnic minority young adults. However, there is limited evidence exploring its health impact and contributing factors in ethnically marginalized young adults. Therefore, this study examined the reasons for developing AUD and its effect on the daily lives of ethnic minority young adults. Method A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted from March 1 to June 30, 2023. Participants were recruited through referral using the exponential snowball sampling technique. A total of 22 ethnic minority young adults were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The sample size was determined based on data saturation. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim in English. Then, the data was analyzed using Colaizzi's method.This study suggested that the reasons for developing AUD among ethnic minority young adults were (1) culture and family, (2) hedonistic motives, (3) curiosity, (4) low-risk perception, (5) coping motives, (6) social influences, and (7) subjective cravings. Moreover, this study indicated that ineffective daily performance, emotional turmoil, financial constraints, and social relationship issues were the impacts of AUD on this segment of the population.The findings highlighted the multifaceted reasons contributing to AUD among ethnic minority young adults, including coping, low-risk perception, and influences from culture, family, and peers. The findings also showed how AUD severely affected their daily lives. Therefore, future interventional studies should consider cultural, family, social, and psychological aspects.
Keywords: alcohol use disorder, ethnic minority, impacts, reasons, young adults
Received: 13 Jan 2025; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Belay, Mak, Lam, LIU, Ting, Xi, Yang, Wu and Ho. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ka Yan Ho, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China
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