Indicators of Club Management Practices and Biological Measurements of Patrons’ Drug and Alcohol Use

Abstract

Background: Electronic music and dance events in nightclubs attract patrons with heavy alcohol/drug use. Public health concerns are raised from risks related to these behaviors. Practices associated with increased risk in these club settings need to be identified. Objectives: The relationship between club management practices and biological measures of patrons’ alcohol/drug use is examined. Methods: Observational data from 25 events across six urban clubs were integrated with survey data (N = 738 patrons, 42.8% female) from patrons exiting these events, 2010–2012. Five indicators of club management practices were examined using mixed model regressions: club security, bar crowding, safety signs, serving intoxicated patrons, and isolation. Results: Analyses revealed that serving intoxicated patrons and safety signs were related to substance use. Specifically, serving intoxicated patrons was related to heavy alcohol and drug use at exit, while safety signs were marginally related to less exit drug use. Conclusions/Importance: Findings indicate observable measures in nightclubs provide important indicators for alcohol/drug use, suggesting practices to target. Study strengths include the use of biological measures of substance use on a relatively large scale. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Keywords :

• nightclubs
• alcohol use
• drug use
• young adults
• club management practices

THE AUTHORS

Hilary F. Byrnes, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Scientist at the Prevention Research Center, part of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, in Oakland, CA. Her research interests include social and environmental contextual factors influencing youth risk behaviors. She currently collaborates on a study examining ecological risks in nightclubs for young adult drinking, drug use, and other risk behaviors. She also collaborates on a study developing a web-based family prevention program for older teens’ alcohol use and risky sexual behavior.

Brenda A. Miller, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at the Prevention Research Center, a component of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Her research focuses on young adult drug and alcohol use and other risky behaviors in club settings, developing environmental strategies for clubs and group-based strategies for patrons. Her work also includes development of online interactive family-based prevention strategies to address alcohol and drug use and other risky behaviors among older teens. She is actively pursuing these research topics in the U.S. and internationally.

Mark B. Johnson, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Mark holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Maryland. His research has focused largely on the prevention of alcohol and drug-impaired driving and behavioral decision-making, including applying recent scientific advances in motivated cognition to the area health and risk-taking. His research portfolio includes an eclectic mix of methodologies—from laboratory and field experiments, epidemiological studies, and multi-community prevention program evaluations.

Robert B. Voas, Ph.D., is Senior Research Scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Calverton, MD. He has been involved in research on alcohol and highway safety for over 40 years in various capacities. His research has focused on the evaluation of impaired driving–related laws and programs and on community alcohol problem prevention. He also serves on several national committees concerned with alcohol and other drug problems. Dr. Voas is a Past President of the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety and the recipient of multiple national and international achievement awards for his work.

GLOSSARY

• Biological assessments of alcohol and drugs: Drug use was measured using oral fluid samples collected with the Quantisal collection device (Immunalysis Corporation, Pomona, CA). Alcohol use was measured through estimated level of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) based on breath samples, using Intoxilizer 400PA breathalyzer units (CMI, Inc., Owensboro, KY).

• Electronic music and dance event (EMDE): A type of entertainment for young adults in nightclubs that feature both dancing and electronic music that is constructed as a live performance by a disk jockey.