Social and contextual factors related to drinking patterns in Italian young nightlife goers

Alcohol consumption among young Italian people frequently takes place in nightlife recreational activities both in formal (clubs, pubs, concerts) and informal (streets, parks, private party) settings. Despite the well-known alcohol abuse-related risks (e.g. traffic accidents, violence, injuries), drinking, and even occasional heavy drinking, is perceived by young people as having social and coping benefits (Shulenberg & Maggs, 2002). Recognizing how drinking fits into young people lives may help professionals to design and implement more effective preventive interventions. The present research aims at getting a better view of drinking motives, social and contextual factors that may promote alcohol abuse. Grounded Theory has been the methodological and analytical framework. A pilot focus group oriented the following sampling. So far a purposive sample of 43 young regular nightlife goers (18-28 years old) were recruited through snowball sampling and participated in 4 focus-group interviews. More interviews has been planned. Transcripts of the interviews are being analyzed through NVivo 9.0 software. Alcohol seems to be intentionally used to reach different outcomes in different settings (e.g. disinhibition in clubs). Coherently with the literature affiliation and socialization are, in general, the main drinking motives, while the motive “enjoy the taste of alcohol”, related to moderate drinking, seems to be specific to our Italian sample.