ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2022
Overestimation of alcohol consumption norms as a driver of alcohol consumption: a whole-population network study of men across eight villages in rural, southwestern Uganda.
Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of whole network analysis in understanding health behaviours: a systematic review of smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and diet.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Portrayals of alcohol use disorder treatment outcomes and their effects on stigma: Population-based, randomized survey experiment in rural Uganda.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- The Role of Health Networks in Disseminating Knowledge about Infant HIV Testing in Rural Uganda: Population-Based Sociocentric Network Study.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- A dataset of a whole network to investigate healthy and unhealthy behaviors in an Italian Community.Frontiers in sociology · 2026Article
- A socioecological examination of father alcohol use in Kenya: Motivation, consequences, and barriers to care.Global public health · 2025Article
- Social determinants of hazardous alcohol use in a Ugandan population cohort.Global health action · 2025Article
- Misperception of Norms About Intimate Partner Violence as a Driver of Personal IPV Attitudes and Perpetration: A Population-Based Study of Men in Rural Uganda.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2025Article
- Water Treatment Practices and Misperceived Social Norms among Women Living with Young Children in Rural Uganda.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Social networks and HIV treatment adherence among people with HIV initiating treatment in rural Uganda and peri-urban South Africa.SSM - population health · 2024Article
- Male circumcision uptake and misperceived norms about male circumcision: Cross-sectional, population-based study in rural Uganda.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- Understanding Patients' Experiences with a Brief Alcohol Reduction Intervention among People Living with HIV in Uganda: A Qualitative Study.Substance use & misuse · 2023Article
- Perceived and misperceived norms about khat and/or cannabis use among adults in southwest Uganda.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Normative vs personal attitudes toward persons with HIV, and the mediating role of perceived HIV stigma in rural Uganda.Journal of global health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsLittle is known about how perceived norms about alcohol consumption may influence high alcohol consumption rates in Uganda. This study estimated the accuracy of perceived norms about men's alcohol consumption and estimated the association between perceived norms and personal alcohol consumption.
designCross-sectional, whole-population, sociocentric social network study.
settingEight rural villages in Rwampara District, southwestern Uganda in 2016-18.
participantsA total of 719 men aged 18 years and older (representing 91% of permanent resident men). MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported frequent (≥ 4 days per week) and heavy alcohol consumption (six or more drinks on one occasion, more than three occasions of intoxication, or spending an excessive amount on alcohol). Participants also reported whether they thought most other men in their village engaged in frequent and heavy alcohol consumption (perceived norms). Using the network study design, we calculated alcohol consumption behavior within villages and social networks. Perceived norms were compared with aggregated self-reports. Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate the association between perceived norms and individual behavior.
findingsThroughout villages, frequent and heavy alcohol consumption ranged from 7 to 37%. However, 527 (74%) participants perceived, contrary to fact, that most other men in their villages frequently consumed alcohol, and 576 (81%) perceived that most others heavily consumed alcohol. Overestimation of alcohol consumption by others was pervasive among socio-demographic subgroups and was present irrespective of the actual consumption behavior at the village level and within social networks. Men who misperceived these alcohol consumption behaviors as being common were more likely to engage in frequent [adjusted relative risk (aRR) = 3.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.69-9.34) and heavy (aRR = 4.75; 95% CI = 2.33-9.69) alcohol consumption themselves.
conclusionsMost men in eight rural Ugandan villages incorrectly thought that frequent and heavy alcohol consumption were common among men in their villages. These misperceived norms had a strong positive association with individual drinking behavior.
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Registered trials
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