To Örebro University

Objective: Alcohol misuse prevention often fails to account for or replace the pleasurable benefits of drinking such as relaxing and socialising with friends. Increasingly, alcohol-free dance music events are emerging, allowing people to gain the positive outcomes of dancing without recourse to alcohol. This study sought to explore whether conscious-clubbing would be rated as an acceptable alternative to traditional alcohol-focused events.

Design/Setting: An online cross-sectional survey was completed by 281 young respondents (80.4% female; mean age = 22).

Method: Health-related cognitions (attitudes, intentions), perceived acceptability towards alcohol-free dance events and the extent to which these were predicted by demographics and individual differences were assessed in the survey.

Results: T-tests indicated overall positive attitudes, acceptability, support towards and intention to attend alcohol-free clubbing events regardless of drinking status, with the exception of drinkers’ intentions to attend an event. Exploratory multiple regression analyses indicated that young women and individuals who had previously attended these events held more positive attitudes. These attitudes were associated with acceptability and support, but more favourable attitudes towards alcohol consumption were inversely related to acceptability. More positive attitudes, previous attendance and lower life satisfaction associated with higher intentions to attend an event.

Conclusion: Results indicate that alcohol free events may provide an alternative socialising experience, with greater potential utility for young women, non-drinkers and individuals who have previously attended these events. This is of particular importance given that recent literature highlights the need for (non-alcohol) alternatives to socialise among a growing number of individuals.