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Affiliation
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School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University Geelong, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. |
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Copyright
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(Copyright © 2018, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: We measured changes in the average level of intoxication over time in the nighttime economy and identified the factors associated with intoxication, including pre-drinking.
METHOD: A random intercept sample of 320 pedestrians (105 women; 215 men) was interviewed and received breath alcohol analysis in the nighttime economy of Hamilton, New Zealand. Data were collected over a five-night period, between 7 P.M. and 2:30 A.M. Data were analyzed by plotting the moving average breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) over time and using linear regression models to identify the factors associated with BrAC.
RESULTS: Mean BrAC was 241.5 mcg/L for the full sample; 179.7 for women and 271.7 for men, which is a statistically significant difference. Mean BrAC was also significantly higher among those who engaged in pre-drinking than those who did not. In the regression models, time of night and pre-drinking were significantly associated with higher BrAC. The effect of pre-drinking on BrAC was larger for women than for men.
CONCLUSIONS: The average level of intoxication increases throughout the night. However, this masks a potentially important gender difference, in that women's intoxication levels stop increasing after midnight, whereas men's increase continuously through the night. Similarly, intoxication of pre-drinkers stops increasing from 11 P.M., although remaining higher than non-pre-drinkers throughout the night. Analysis of BrAC provides a more nuanced understanding of intoxication levels in the nighttime economy.
Language: en |