Drugs and alcohol consumption and sexual behaviours in night recreational settings in Portugal.

BACKGROUND

Night recreational settings have become a key location for the socialisation of young people. For customers attending these places, the consumption of alcohol and drugs is related to changes in sexual decision making and associated with increased likelihood of engagement in more risky sexual behaviours.

AIM

To identify the characteristics of Portuguese young people who attend nightclubs, pubs and bars; to explore relationships between attendance at these settings and the consumption of alcohol and drugs; to study associations between substance use and sexual behaviour.

METHODS

Respondent-driven sampling methodology was used in nine Portuguese cities to survey 1142 young people who attend nightlife leisure locations.

RESULTS

Respondents regularly go out at night, especially at weekends. The most used substances are alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy. Alcohol and drugs users have more regular and deeply-rooted night recreation habits than nonusers and drugs consumption increases with increased recreational activities. In the last 12 months, 83.3% of the respondents have already had sexual intercourse (X= 2.0 partner; SD = 2.3), 51.0% had sex under the influence of alcohol, 22.9% under the influence of drugs and 46.7% agreed that this influence made them have unsafe sex. Early alcohol and drug use was proportionately related to an early sexual experience. Alcohol and drugs use s were more likely to adopt more sexual risk behaviours than non-users.

CONCLUSIONS

The enjoyment of recreational nightlife settings exposes Portuguese clubbers to environmental factors which, in combination with substance use, may influence the nature of relationships between alcohol and drug use and sexual behaviour.