Exploring the Decision-Making Process behind Illicit Drug Use at Music Festivals

Abstract

Background: Illicit substance use is common at music festivals. One could question whether festival attendees deliberately plan to take drugs at such events or whether their illicit (poly)drug use is provoked by specific circumstances, such as the presence of peers or a general belief that others are using drugs at the festival. Objectives: The present study implemented the prototype willingness model, which is a model that assesses whether illicit drug use at music festivals is rather a rational or a more spontaneous decision-making process. Results: A three-wave panel survey was conducted, questioning festival attendees before (n = 304, 60.86% males), during, and after music festival visits. In total, 186 people (59.68% males) between 18 and 55 years (M = 27.80 years; SD = 8.19) completed all three surveys, of which 62.9% had taken one or more different illicit substances at the festival. Positive attitudes toward illicit drug consumption were most firmly related to attendees’ intentions to take drugs at festivals. Additionally, the more festival visitors identified themselves with the prototype of an attendee using drugs, the more likely they were to be willing to use them. The perceived presence of illicit substances at such events was also strongly related to the actual behavior. Conclusion: The findings suggest that illicit drug use at music festivals relates to both a rational choice and an unplanned one.

Keywords:

• Drugs
• polydrug use
• music festivals
• intention

Author contributions

KP was responsible for the study design, conceptualization of the manuscript, formal analysis, and interpretation of data. KP, EV, BH, and TV designed the study methods. BH collected the data. KP, EV, and PC were responsible for writing the original draft. TV, MK, TP, and MR revised and edited the original draft critically. All authors have approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare there is no Complete of Interest at this study.

Additional information

Funding

Nothing declared.