Policy and International Health, Public Health Wales, Clwydian House, Wrexham, LL13 7YP, UK.
College of Human Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2019 Apr 27;19(1):442. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6802-5.
Drunkenness is common in nightlife environments and studies suggest it can be considered both desirable and normal by nightlife users. We aimed to compare UK nightlife users' ideal levels of drunkenness to their expected drunkenness on a night out and their perceptions of descriptive nightlife norms.
A cross-sectional survey with nightlife patrons (n = 408, aged 18-35) in three cities. Using a scale from 1 (completely sober) to 10 (very drunk), participants rated: personal drunkenness at survey; expected drunkenness on leaving nightlife; perceived descriptive drunkenness norm in the city's nightlife; and ideal personal drunkenness. Analyses were limited to those who had or were intending to consume alcohol.
Almost half of participants (46.8%) expected to get drunker than their reported ideal level on the night of survey, rising to four fifths of those with the highest levels of expected drunkenness. 77.9% rated typical nightlife drunkenness ≥8 but only 40.9% expected to reach this level themselves and only 23.1% reported their ideal drunkenness as ≥8. Higher expected drunkenness was associated with higher ideal drunkenness, higher perceived drunkenness norm and later expected home time.
Nightlife users' perceptions of typical drunkenness in nightlife settings may be elevated and many of the heaviest drinkers are likely to drink beyond their ideal level of drunkenness. Findings can support emerging work to address cultures of intoxication in nightlife environments and suggest that interventions to correct misperceptions of normal levels of nightlife drunkenness may be of benefit.
醉酒在夜生活环境中很常见，研究表明，夜生活使用者认为醉酒既令人向往又很正常。我们旨在比较英国夜生活使用者的理想醉酒程度与他们在夜生活中预计的醉酒程度以及他们对夜生活描述性规范的看法。
在三个城市对夜生活常客（n=408，年龄 18-35 岁）进行横断面调查。参与者使用 1（完全清醒）到 10（非常醉酒）的量表，分别对以下内容进行评分：调查时的个人醉酒程度；离开夜生活时预计的醉酒程度；所在城市夜生活中的描述性醉酒规范感知；以及个人理想醉酒程度。分析仅限于那些有或打算饮酒的人。
近一半的参与者（46.8%）预计在调查之夜的醉酒程度会超过报告的理想水平，而那些预计醉酒程度最高的参与者中有五分之四的人是这样。77.9%的人认为典型的夜生活醉酒程度≥8，但只有 40.9%的人预计自己会达到这个水平，只有 23.1%的人报告自己的理想醉酒程度≥8。较高的预期醉酒程度与较高的理想醉酒程度、较高的感知醉酒规范和较晚的预期回家时间有关。
夜生活使用者对夜生活环境中典型醉酒程度的看法可能过高，而且许多酗酒者很可能会醉酒超过他们理想的醉酒程度。研究结果可以支持解决夜生活环境中醉酒文化的新兴工作，并表明纠正对夜生活醉酒正常水平的误解的干预措施可能会有益处。
