Within nightlife settings, youth violence places large burdens on both nightlife users and wider society. Internationally, research has identified risk factors for nightlife violence. However, few empirical studies have assessed differences in risk factors between genders. Here, a pan-European cross-sectional survey of 1,341 nightlife users aged 16 to 35 assessed a variety of risk-taking traits, including violence, sexual, alcohol, and drug-related current and historic behaviors. Results show that the likelihood of having been involved in a physical fight in nightlife increases with younger age, drunkenness, and increasing preference for tolerant venues for both genders. The odds of involvement in a fight for females who were drunk five or more times in the past 4 weeks were almost five times higher than those who were never drunk (odds ratio for males 1.99). Use of cocaine more than doubled the risk of involvement in violence among males. However, no association was found for females. For heterosexual men, the odds for violence almost doubled compared with bisexual or homosexual men, whereas for women heterosexuality was a protective factor. The effects of structural risk factors (e.g., bar and club characteristics) for nightlife violence differed by gender. To develop effective violence prevention measures in nightlife, considerations need to be made regarding the demographic composition of patrons in addition to wider structural elements within the nighttime environment.
Aldridge, J., & Medina, J. ( 2008). Youth gangs in an English city: Social exclusion, drugs and violence. Manchester, UK: University of Manchester.
2.
Bellis, M.A., Hughes, K., & Anderson, Z. ( 2005). An introduction to youth violence, alcohol and nightlife . Liverpool, UK: Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University.
3.
Bellis, M.A., Hughes, K., Calafat, A., Juan, M., Ramon, A., Rodriguez, J.A., et al. (2008). Sexual uses of alcohol and drugs and the associated health risks: A cross sectional study of young people in nine European cities. BMC Public Health, May 9, 2008; DOI:10.1186/1471-2458-8-155.
4.
Benson, D., & Archer, J. ( 2002). An ethnographic study of sources of conflict between young men in the context of the night out. Psychology, Evolution & Gender, 4(1), 3-30.
5.
Boles, S.M., & Miotto, K. ( 2003). Substance abuse and violence: A review of the literature . Aggressive Behavior, 8, 155-174.
6.
Brochu, S. ( 2001). The relationship between drugs and crime. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: University of Montreal.
7.
Budd, T. ( 2003). Alcohol related assault. London: Home Office.
8.
Bundesministerium des Innern. (2006). Zweiter Periodischer Sicherheitsbericht [Federal Ministry of Interior. Second periodical report on safety]. Berlin: Author.
9.
Calafat, A., Fernández, C., Juan, M., & Becoña, E. (2007). Recreational nightlife in Spanish young people as a risk factor in comparison with more traditional ones. Adicciones, 19, 125-132.
10.
Calafat, A., Fernández, C., Juan, M., Bellis, M.A., Bohrn, K., Hakkarainen, P., et al. (2001). Risk and control in the recreational drug culture. Valencia, Spain: IREFREA .
11.
Deehan, A., & Saville, E. ( 2003). Calculating the risk: Recreational drug use among clubbers in the South East of England (Home Office Online Report 43/03). London: Home Office.
12.
DuRant, R., Altman, D., Wolfson, M., Barkin, S., Kreiter, S., & Krowchuk, D. ( 2000). Exposure to violence and victimization, depression, substance use, and the use of violence by young adolescents. Journal of Pediatrics, 137, 707-713.
13.
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. ( 2007). The state of the drugs problem in Europe (Annual report 2007). Belgium: Author.
14.
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. ( 2008). Developments in drug use within recreational settings (Annual report 2006: selected reports). Retrieved May 22, 2008 , from http://issues06.emcdda.europa.eu/en/page024-en.html
15.
Felson, R.B., & Burchfield, K.B. (2004). Alcohol and the risk of physical and sexual assault victimization. Criminology, 42, 837-859.
16.
Finney, A. ( 2004). Violence in the night time economy: Key findings from the research. London: Home Office .
17.
Gladue, B.A., & Bailey, M.J. ( 1995). Aggressiveness, competitiveness, and human sexual orientation . Psychoneuroendocrinology, 20, 475-485.
18.
Goddard, E. ( 2006). Smoking and drinking among adults. Newport, UK: Office for National Statistics.
19.
Goldstein, P.J. ( 1985). The drugs-violence nexus: A tripartite conceptual framework . Journal of Drug Issues, 15, 493-506.
20.
Graham, K. ( 2003). Social drinking and aggression. In M. Mattson (Ed.), Neuro-biology of aggression: Understanding and preventing violence. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.
21.
Graham, K., Bernards, S., Osgood, D.W., & Wells, S. ( 2006). Bad nights or bad bars? Multi-level analysis of environmental predictors of aggression in late-night large-capacity bars and clubs. Addiction, 101, 1569-1580.
22.
Graham, K., & Wells, S. ( 2001). Aggression among young adults in the social context of the bar. Addiction Research and Theory, 9, 193-219.
23.
Graham, K., & Wells, S. ( 2002). The two worlds of aggression for men and women. Sex Roles, 45, 595-622.
24.
Hadfield, P. ( 2006). Bar wars: Contesting the night in contemporary British cities. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
25.
Halpern-Felsher, B.L., Millstein, S.G., & Ellen, J.M. ( 1996). Relationship of alcohol use and risky sexual behavior: A review and analysis of findings. Journal of Adolescent Health , 19, 331-336.
26.
Hibell, B., Andersson, B., Bjarnason, T., Ahlström, S., Balakireva, O., Kokkevi, A., et al. (2004). The ESPAD report 2003. Alcohol and other drug use among students in 35 European countries. Stockholm : The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN) and the Pompidou Group at the Council of Europe.
27.
Hoaken, P.N.S., & Stewart, S.H. ( 2003). Drugs of abuse and the elicitation of human aggressive behavior. Addictive Behaviors, 28, 1533-1554.
28.
Homel, R., Carvolth, R., Hauritz, M., McIlwain, G., & Teague, R. ( 2004). Making licensed venues safer for patrons: What environmental factors should be the focus of interventions? Drug and Alcohol Review, 23, 19-29.
29.
Hughes, K., Anderson, Z., Morleo, M., & Bellis, M.A. ( 2007). Alcohol, nightlife and violence: The relative contributions of drinking before and during nights out to negative health and criminal justice outcomes. Addiction, 103, 60-65.
30.
Hughes, K., Bellis, M.A., Calafat, A., Juan, M., Schnitzer, S., & Anderson, Z. ( 2008). Predictors of violence in young tourists: A comparative study of British, German and Spanish holidaymakers. European Journal of Public Health, 18, 569-574.
31.
Kershaw, C., Nicholas, S., & Walker, A. ( 2008). Crime in England and Wales 2007/08: Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crimes. London : Home Office.
32.
Kodjo, C.M., Auinger, P. & Ryan, S.A. ( 2004). Prevalence of, and factors associated with, adolescent physical fighting while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Journal of Adolescent Health, 35, 346.e11-346.e16.
33.
Krug, E.G., Dahlberg, L.L., Mercy, J.A., Zwi, A.B., & Lozano, R. ( 2002). World report on violence and health. Geneva: World Health Organization.
34.
Lippa, R.A. ( 2008). Sex difference and sexual orientation differences in personality: Findings from the BBC Internet survey. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 37, 173-187.
35.
Lupton, R., Wilson, A., May, T., Warburton, H., & Turnball, P.J. (2002). A rock and a hard place: Drug markets in deprived neighbourhoods (Home Office Research Study 240). London: Home Office.
36.
Macdonald, S., Cherpitel, C.J., Borges, G., DeSouza, A., Giesbrecht, N., & Stockwell, T. ( 2005). The criteria for causation of alcohol in violent injuries based on emergency room data from six countries. Addictive Behaviors, 30, 103-113.
37.
Macdonald, S., Erickson, P., Wells, S., Hathaway, A., & Pakula, B. ( 2008). Predicting violence among cocaine, cannabis and alcohol treatment clients. Addictive Behaviors, 33, 201-205.
38.
Maguire, M., & Nettleton, H. ( 2003). Reducing alcohol-related violence and disorder: An evaluation of the "TASC" project. London: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.
39.
Mantecón, A., Juan, N., Calafat, A., Becoña, E.Y., & López, E. (2008). Respondent-driven sampling: A new sampling method to study visible and hidden populations. Adicciones, 20, 161-169.
40.
Mischowitz, R., Möller, M.R., & Hartung, M. ( 1996). Gefährdungen durch Drogen: Blutprobenuntersuchungen zur Prävalenz und Wirkung von Drogen- und Medikamentenbeeinflussung im Straßenverkehr und bei Kriminaldelikten [Exposure by drugs: Blood tests about prevalence and effects of illicit drugs and medicaments within road traffic and criminal delicts]. Wiesbaden, Germany: Bundeskriminalamt Wiesbaden.
41.
Moracco, K.E., Runyan, C.W., Bowling, J.M., & Earp, J.A.L. ( 2007). Women’s experience with violence: A national study . Women’s Health Issues, 17, 3-12.
42.
Norström, T. ( 2000). Outlet density and criminal violence in Norway, 1960-1995 . Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 907-911.
43.
Peterson, J.B., Rothfleisch, J., Zelazo, P.D., & Pihl, R.O. ( 1990). Acute alcohol intoxication and neuropsychological functioning . Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 51, 114-122.
44.
Quigley, B.M., Leonard, K.E., & Collins, R.L. ( 2003). Characteristics of violent bars and bar patrons. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 64, 765-772.
45.
Schnitzer, S., & Steffan, E. ( 2007). Sensibilisierung zum Thema Häusliche Gewalt. (K)ein Thema für junge Männer? [Sensitisation about intimate partner violence. A (no) subject for young men?]Info Dienst für Gesundheitsförderung , 7, 22-23.
46.
Sergeant, M.J.T., Dickins, T.E., Davies, M.N.O., & Griffiths, M.D. (2006). Aggression, empathy and sexual orientation in males. Personality and Individual Differences , 40, 475-786.
47.
Sommers, I., Baskin, D., & Baskin-Sommers, A. (2006). Methamphetamine use among young adults: Health and social consequences. Addictive Behaviors , 31, 1469-1476.
48.
SPSS Inc. (2005). SPSS base 14.0 user’s guide. Chicago: Author.
49.
Taz Die Tageszeitung. (2008). Krawalle vor Leipziger diskos enden tödlich [Riots in front of discos in Leipzig result in death]. Berlin: Taz.
50.
Vitale, S., & Van de Mheen, D. (2006). Illicit drug use and injuries: A review of emergency room studies. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 82, 1-9.
51.
Wang, J., Carlson, G.C., Falck, R.S., Siegal, H.A., Rahman, A., & Linna, L. ( 2005). Respondent-driven sampling to recruit MDMA users: A methodological assessment. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 78, 147-157.
52.
Webster, R. ( 2008). Safer nightlife. Best practice for those concerned about drug use and the night-time economy. London: Home Office.
53.
Winlow, S., & Hall, S. ( 2006). Violent night: Urban leisure and contemporary culture . Oxford, UK: Berg.
54.
Yonas, M.A., O’Campo, P., Burke, J.G., Peak, G., & Gielen, A.C. ( 2005). Urban youth violence: Do definitions and reasons for violence vary by gender?Journal of Urban Health, 82, 543-551.
