This article extends the theory of normative social behavior by conceptualizing drinking refusal self-efficacy as an important moderator in the relationship between descriptive norms and drinking intentions and behavior. A study was conducted among Korean high school students (N = 538) to assess their normative perceptions, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and drinking intentions. We found a significant association between self-efficacy and drinking intentions and behavior, as well as an interaction effect between self-efficacy and descriptive norms on drinking intentions and behavior. Having stronger efficacy appears to mitigate the harmful effects of descriptive norms on drinking intentions and behavior. Implications for school-based interventions are also discussed.

Adolescents' alcohol use is a growing concern in the United States (Windle et al., 2008). It is also a significant issue in Korea (Choi, 2008), as the age of alcohol debut recently decreased from 15.1 years in 1998 to 13.2 years in 2009 (Korean Ministry of Health & Welfare [KMHW], 2009). According to KMHW (2009), 29% of high school students reported that they had at least one drink during the last 30 days, and 40% of drinking adolescents admitted that they exhibited problematic behaviors (e.g., fighting, passing out, riding a motorcycle drunk) following alcohol consumption. Contributing to the problem is the relatively easy access that Korean youth have to alcohol because of lenient enforcement of underage purchase laws1 (Korean Center for Disease Control & Prevention, 2008; Shin & Sohn, 2008). A little more than half of the drinking adolescents (53.2%) report that they acquire alcoholic beverages for themselves from local stores or supermarkets (KMHW, 2009).

Although negative health behaviors of Korean adolescents (e.g., smoking and drinking) demonstrate a pattern similar to those in Western countries (Hwang & Akers, 2006; Kim, 2001), adolescent drinking prevention efforts have been somewhat limited in Korea. Until the early 2000s, underage drinking in Korea was not regarded as an important factor in the health status of youth (Kim, 2001). The effect of parental alcohol use on youth, however, is gaining attention in Korea, and research is beginning to show that alcohol use by parents is likely to increase their children's alcohol consumption (Hwang & Akers, 2006; Lee, Choi, & Kwon, 2006).

Fitting in with one's peer group is important during adolescence in almost every culture (Hartup, 1996), but this may be particularly more relevant among Koreans (Schwartz, Farver, Chang, & Lee-Shin, 2002). Because Korean culture tends to value conformity over individualism (Gudykunst et al., 1996), Korean adolescents place importance on fitting in with a peer group. This suggests that understanding the effects of normative influences on adolescents' behaviors would be a highly relevant topic of study in Korea.

Much of the literature emanating from social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) suggests that self-efficacy is a critical variable in promoting healthy behaviors, and researchers have begun to incorporate this idea in studying youth alcohol behaviors. According to Oei and Baldwin (2004), fostering adolescents' competence to refuse peers' proposal to drink alcohol—that is, refusal self-efficacy—may reduce adolescents' alcohol consumption. Scholars using this approach endorse ways to build adolescents' self-efficacy concerning their ability to successfully resist consuming alcohol when offered by others. Because children who have personal and social skills to refuse participating in risky behaviors are less likely to take part in such behaviors, drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE) has a considerable impact on adolescents' alcohol use (Baldwin, Oei, & Young, 1993; Watkins, Howard-Barr, Moore, & Werch, 2006). In fact, Oei and Baldwin (1994) suggest that this variable is a key factor that affects not only individuals' decisions to drink alcohol, but also their actual drinking behaviors.

Although previous research demonstrates that DRSE is associated with drinking behavior in both college (Baldwin et al., 1993; Oei & Jardim, 2007) and general community (Lee & Oei, 1993) samples, more research is needed to test the underlying assumptions across a diverse group of adolescents. For example, research on understanding the effects of self-efficacy on drinking intention or behavior in non-Western cultures is relatively limited.