Place type or place function: What matters for place attachment?

Place attachment at neighborhood places can facilitate social ties and community belonging, reduce social isolation and improve physical and mental health outcomes. Research highlights the benefits of place attachment at traditional third places such as cafes and parks but is yet to examine place attachment across a broader suite of highly frequented neighborhood places. Drawing on survey data from a sample of Australian residents (N = 892) with a median age of 55-64 years, this study examines the influence of place form and function on place attachment at everyday places. Findings reveal that places where individuals go to participate in specific and unique activities (e.g., exercise at a gym, prayer at a temple) alongside a defined group of other community members, such as places of worship or gyms, engender stronger place attachment than places of economic consumption, such as large shops and cafes. This is important in its capacity to inform neighborhood planning and policies to reduce risk of social isolation.

How Policy Influences Aggression in Nightlife Spaces: A Proposed Core Aggression Cycle

OBJECTIVE

This theoretical review examines prior theories that aim to explain the disproportionate amount of violence in Nighttime Entertainment Precincts (NEPs) and proposes a comprehensive model that links violence to policy and environmental changes.

METHOD

To understand why this violence occurs and better inform prevention and intervention, a theoretical review using a "people" in "places" approach was conducted. This perspective considers the precursors of violence both at the individual level and among a group within a shared environment.

RESULTS

Prior public health, criminology, and economic theories that aim to explain why violence occurs in NEPs provide a limited perspective, each only capturing part of the story. Further, prior theories fall short of demonstrating how policy and environmental changes in an NEP can influence the psychological determinants of aggression. When unified in a social-ecological framework, they can provide a more holistic explanation of violence in NEPs. We propose the Core Aggression Cycle (CAC) model, which draws from the prior theories examining violence in NEPs, and psychological theories of aggression. The CAC model is a proposed basis for unifying future research across disciplinary discourses.

CONCLUSIONS

The CAC provides a clear conceptual framework that has the capacity to incorporate multiple previous and future theoretical perspectives on how alcohol policy and the environment influence violence within nightlife spaces. The CAC can be used by policy makers to establish new policy, critically evaluate existing policy, and determine whether policy adequately addresses the underlying mechanisms that produce violence in NEPs.

Where to next? An exploration of 'night-out' location progression and propensity to experience violence in night -time entertainment precincts

BACKGROUND

Alcohol related violence in night-time entertainment precincts (NEPs) is a significant public health concern. Studies suggest characteristics including venue density, bar hopping and permissive social norms facilitate violence in NEPs. Yet, we have a limited understanding of how individual drinking occasions progress within NEPs and how location sequence is associated with the propensity to experience violence in these spaces.

METHODS

In this study we apply sequence analysis and logistic regression to examine the association between location sequences and experiences of violence among a sample of NEP patrons (N=387).

RESULTS

We find that individuals who stay out longer and visit a greater number of unique location types are more likely to experience a violent event. We also find that attending a 'non-venue' pre-event such as a private party, gathering, sporting or celebratory event, is associated with elevated risk experiencing violence during a night out.

CONCLUSION

The findings offer important insights into the dynamic context in which risky drinking occasions may emerge and suggest that the context and location in which pre-drinking occurs should be considered in future research.

Community resilience to crime: A study of the 2011 Brisbane flood

Understanding and enhancing community resilience is a global priority as societies encounter a rising number of extreme weather events. Given that these events are typically both sudden and unexpected, community resilience is typically examined after the disaster so there can be no before and after comparisons. As such, the extent to which existing community capacities buffer the effects of a traumatic event remains largely unexamined and untested in the literature. Drawing on a longitudinal study of 148 Brisbane suburbs, we examine the key community processes associated with community resilience to the crime before and after the 2011 Brisbane floods. We introduce a novel disaster severity index to simultaneously capture the direct and indirect impacts of the flood and embed this measure within our modeling framework. Results from the models provide important insights for predisaster preparedness and postdisaster rebuilding and recovery.

Neighbourhood correlates of average population walking: using aggregated, anonymised mobile phone data to identify where people walk

Understanding and monitoring socio-spatial patterns of population walking mobility can inform urban planning and geographically targeted health promotion strategies aimed at increasing population levels of physical activity. In this study we use aggregated, anonymous mobile phone mobility data to examine the association between neighbourhood physical and social characteristics and residents' weekly walking behaviour across 313 neighbourhoods in a large metropolitan region of Queensland, Australia. We find that residents in neighbourhoods that are highly fragmented by streets with speed limits above 50 kmph, residents in neighbourhoods with high retail density and those living is economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods walk fewer kilometres and minutes on average per week than their counterparts. These findings can inform urban planning policy on the minimum specifications required in newly developing neighbourhoods and provide targets for retro-fitting features into existing neighbourhoods.

Changes in Green Space Use During a COVID-19 Lockdown Are Associated With Both Individual and Green Space Characteristics

Mobility restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic present a useful study system for understanding the temporal and spatial patterns of green space use. Here, we examine green space characteristics and sociodemographic factors associated with change in frequency of green space use before and during a COVID-19 lockdown in Brisbane, Australia drawing on a survey of 372 individuals. Applying regression analysis, we found that individuals who visited a different green space during lockdown than before tended to decrease their frequency of visits. In contrast, individuals who continued visiting their usual green space during lockdown were more inclined to increase their number of visits. Changes in frequency of green space use were also associated with particular characteristics of their usually visited green space. The presence of blue spaces and accessibility (carparks/public transport) were associated with increased frequency of use while foliage height diversity was associated with reduced frequency of use. We found that females were more likely to change their green space visitation frequency during COVID-19 compared to men and they also reported greater importance of green spaces for social and family interactions and spiritual reasons during COVID-19 compared to before. Males showed greater increases than females in the importance of green space for nature interactions and mental health benefits during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to before. Our results provide key insights for future resilient urban planning and policy that can fulfil a wide range of physical and psychological needs during a time of crisis and beyond.

A global analysis of the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions on crime

The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime.

The combined impact of higher-risk on-license venue outlet density and trading hours on serious assaults in night-time entertainment precincts

BACKGROUND

Night-time entertainment precincts (NEPs) are clusters of higher-risk on-licence venues, that pose a significant burden on health and social order services. Outlet density and trading hours are two of the most well researched contributors to alcohol availability within NEPs; increases in outlet density and late-night trading hours within NEPs have been independently associated with increased assaults. This is the first study to examine both factors across cities to predict alcohol-related assaults.

METHODS

Licensing data were used to investigate the effect of outlet density and trading hours on police recorded serious assaults in nine NEPs (9 cross-sectional units) across Queensland from January 2010 to July 2018 at monthly intervals (102 longitudinal units). Multi-level models were used to determine i) whether precinct-level trading hours moderated the relationship between outlet density and serious assaults; and ii) the impact of outlets closing before 12am, 3am, and 5am on serious assaults.

FINDINGS

The positive relationship between outlet density and assaults was stronger in precincts with trading hours ending at 5am compared to 3am (IRR = 1.01, p = 0.03). The amount of venues closing before 12am was associated with reduced numbers of assaults (IRR = 0.97, p = 0.04), while venues closing between 12:01am-3am and 3:01am-5am were associated with increased assaults (IRR = 1.02, p<0.01; IRR = 1.01, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Late night service of alcohol creates more harm in areas of high outlet density, whereas early closing venues in areas where outlet density is low is associated with reduced number of assaults. This relationship should be taken into account in the development of future alcohol policies.

The prospective impact of 10-day patron bans on crime in Queensland's largest entertainment precincts

INTRODUCTION

Night-time entertainment precincts (NEP) are the site of a disproportionate amount of alcohol-related violence, injuries and anti-social behaviour. To combat this the Queensland government introduced patron bans in October 2014, giving police the power to exclude individuals from NEPs and preventing patrons from remaining in or entering the designated area or from designated premises for the ban duration. Mandatory identification scanners within licensed venues were also introduced, which are used to enforce patron bans. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of police-issued 10-day patron bans for preventing alcohol-related violence or anti-social behaviour occurring within NEPs during high-alcohol hours.

METHODS

Queensland's largest NEPs; Brisbane central business district, Fortitude Valley and Surfers Paradise central business district; were examined. Time-series autoregressive integrated moving average analyses were used to estimate the influence of 10-day patron bans on police-recorded serious assaults, common assaults and good order offences. Analyses controlled for the introduction of relevant policy and identification scanners.

RESULTS

The number of police-issued patron bans did not significantly predict changes in serious assault, common assault or good order offence trends the weekend following the ban (within the 10-day period).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The current study was unable to find evidence indicating that 10-day patron bans reduced alcohol-related harms experienced in Queensland's largest NEPs in the short term. Further research needs to be conducted examining other types of patron bans, particularly longer bans issued in other jurisdictions or by licensees, and whether bans change individual's behaviour.

Patterns of methamphetamine production among an international sample of methamphetamine 'cooks'

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS

The illicit manufacture of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories is associated with significant risks to the community and environment. Currently little is known about clandestine laboratories or the individual 'cooks' who operate them; current research directly engaging with cooks is limited to three qualitative studies with small samples (n < 24) of cooks based in the USA. This descriptive brief report starts to address this knowledge gap by exploring characteristics of an international sample of self-identified methamphetamine cooks.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Using data from the 2017 and 2018 Global Drug Surveys, we identified 125 individuals from 24 countries who reported past manufacture of methamphetamine. We explored respondents' socio-demographic characteristics and patterns of methamphetamine production using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS

The majority of methamphetamine cooks were male (82%) and Caucasian (70%) and, contrary to previous studies, 43% were employed and 51% had at least a high school certificate. Cooks most commonly sourced precursors from pharmacies (50%), followed by friends (24%). Almost half of the cooks (47%) produced methamphetamine exclusively for self-consumption.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The heterogeneous nature of the sample and varying precursor sources reflect the limitations of existing regulations aimed at limiting methamphetamine production. These findings point to the need for innovative and multi-faceted efforts aimed at reducing and preventing the harms associated with methamphetamine manufacture.

Developmental transitions during adulthood and neighborliness: A multilevel cluster analysis

Neighborliness plays a critical role in promoting social integration, and is known to positively influence health and psychosocial adjustment. We examined variation in neighborliness based on developmental transitions as well as on the neighborhood context. We examined the direct and moderating role of neighborhood factors, to determine whether the neighborhood context modified the influence of developmental transitions on neighborliness. We analyzed data from a longitudinal study of Australian communities, in addition to census data. First, we analyzed developmental transition clusters. Next, we employed multilevel modeling to assess the impact of clusters and other key factors on neighborliness. We tested interactions to determine whether the influence of cluster membership on neighborliness was modified by the neighborhood. We found evidence for direct effects of cluster membership and structural factors on neighborliness. In addition, the neighborhood context modified the influence of cluster membership on neighborliness. Our findings underscore the importance of promoting neighborhood social engagement throughout the life course.

Transport-related walking among young adults: when and why?

BACKGROUND

The existing smartphones' technology allows for the objective measurement of a person's movements at a fine-grained level of geographic and temporal detail, and in doing so, it mitigates the issues associated with self-report biases and lack of spatial details. This study proposes and evaluates the advantages of using a smartphone app for collecting accurate, fine-grained, and objective data on people's transport-related walking.

METHODS

A sample of 142 participants (mostly young adults) was recruited in a large Australian university, for whom the app recorded all their travel activities over two weekdays during August-September 2014. We identified eight main activity nodes which operate as transport-related walking generators. We explored the participants' transport-related walking patterns around and between these activity nodes through the use of di-graphs to better understand patterns of incidental physical activity and opportunities for intervention to increase incidental walking.

RESULTS

We found that the educational node - in other samples may be represented by the workplace - is as important as the residential node for generating walking trips. We also found that the likelihood of transport-related walking trips is larger during the daytime, whereas at night time walking trips tend to be longer. We also showed that patterns of transport-related walking relate to the presence of 'chaining' trips in the afternoon period.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study show how the proposed data collection and analytic approach can inform urban design to enhance walkability at locations that are likely to generate walking trips. This study's insights can help to shape public education and awareness campaigns that aim to encourage walking trips throughout the day by suggesting locations and times of the day when engaging in these forms of exercise is easiest and least intrusive.

The Impact of Liquor Restrictions on Serious Assaults across Queensland, Australia

Aims: This study aimed to explore the relationship between a 00:00 liquor restriction, introduced on 1 July 2016, and alcohol-related harm by examining its impact on serious assault numbers during high-alcohol hours (20:00-6:00 Friday and Saturday night), from 1 January 2009 to 30 June 2018. Methods: Two types of locations only impacted by the liquor restriction were identified: designated safe night precincts (SNPs) and other local government areas (LGAs). A times series autoregressive integrated moving average analysis was used to estimate the influence of liquor restrictions on police-recorded serious assaults in the two years following the policy introduction, for SNPs and LGAs separately. Results: Contrarily to our predictions, monthly police-recorded serious assaults did not significantly change within SNPs or LGAs following the introduction of liquor restrictions. Conclusion: The implementation of the Queensland liquor restriction did not result in a clear, unique reduction in serious assault trends. Further investigation should consider the impact of liquor restrictions in conjunction with other policy changes as public perception of restrictions and their cumulative impact may produce varied outcomes.

Community social capital and individual functioning in the post-disaster context

Disasters can have severe and long-lasting consequences for individuals and communities. While scholarly evidence indicates that access to social support can ameliorate their negative impacts, less understood is whether or not neighbourhood social capital can facilitate recovery. This study uses two waves of survey data-collected before and after a significant flood in Brisbane, Australia, in 2011-to examine the relationship between the severity of the event at the individual and neighbourhood level, access to neighbourhood social capital and individual-level social support, and functioning in the post-disaster environment. In line with previous research, the results indicate that the severity of the flood is the most salient predictor of post-disaster functioning. No evidence was unearthed to show that neighbourhood social capital amassed before the flood leads to better functioning subsequently, but the findings do suggest that individual-level social support can moderate the effect of flood severity on functioning.

Short-term changes in nightlife attendance and patron intoxication following alcohol restrictions in Queensland, Australia

BACKGROUND

This study aims to explore short-term changes following the introduction of alcohol restrictions (most notably 2 am to 3 am last drinks). We examined patterns of nightlife attendance, intoxication, and alcohol use among patrons shortly before and after restrictions were introduced in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane: the largest night-time entertainment precinct of Queensland.

METHODS

Street-intercept patron interviews were conducted in Fortitude Valley in June (n = 497) and July (n = 562) 2016. A pre-post design was used to assess changes in time spent out drinking/partying prior to the interview, time of arrival in the precinct, pre-drinking, and blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

RESULTS

Regression models indicated that after the policy introduction, the proportion of people arriving at Fortitude Valley before 10:00 pm increased (OR = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.82). Participants reported going out, on average, one hour earlier after the intervention (β = - 0.17; 95% CI = 0.11, 0.22). There was a decrease (RRR = 0.58; 95% CI = 0.43, 0.79) in the proportion of participants who had a high level of intoxication (BAC ≥0.10 g/dL) post-intervention. No other significant differences were found.

CONCLUSIONS

Earlier cessation of alcohol sales and stopping the sale of rapid intoxication drinks after midnight was associated with people arriving in Fortitude Valley earlier. Though legislative loopholes allowed some venues to continue trading to 5 am, the proportion of people in the precinct who were highly intoxicated decreased after the restriction. Further measurement will be required to determine whether the reduction has persisted.

Injecting drug use: Gendered risk

BACKGROUND

Research demonstrates gender related differences in drug-use practices and risk behaviours. Females' structural vulnerability stemming from traditional gender roles and gender-power relations may enhance their propensity to experience injecting related risk. In this paper we explore gender differences in injection practices at the initiation event, during the first year of injecting and in the most recent 12-month period, to inform more effective harm reduction strategies.

METHODS

Data used in this study were drawn from the Global Drug Survey 2015. The study employs chi-square and logistic regression to assess gender differences in injection behaviours in a sample of current injectors residing in six global regions: North-West Europe; Southern Eastern Europe; North America. South America and Oceania.

RESULTS

Females were more likely than males to report being injected by an intimate partner at initiation (OR = 4.4, 95%CI: 2.2-8.8), during the first year of injecting (OR = 4.8, 95% CI: 2.4-9.3) and in the most recent 12-month period (OR = 2.5, 95%CI: 1.0-6.2). Females reported greater difficulties accessing sterile equipment (X²(2,N = 453) = 8.2, p = 0.02) and were more likely to share injecting equipment than males (X²(1,N = 463) = 3.9, p = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight females' continued dependence on their intimate partner to administer the injection into the first year of their injecting career. Females remained more likely than males to rely on intimate partners for injection during the most recent 12-month period. Females report greater difficulties in sourcing sterile equipment and are more likely to share injecting equipment. We suggest that these findings reflect the broader social structure in which females are disempowered through traditional gender roles and the lack of gender appropriate harm reduction services.

Identifying a typology of men who use anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS)

BACKGROUND

Despite recognition that the Anabolic Androgenic Steroid (AAS) using population is diverse, empirical studies to develop theories to conceptualise this variance in use have been limited.

METHODS

In this study, using cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression, we identify typologies of people who use AAS and examine variations in motivations for AAS use across types in a sample of 611 men who use AAS.

RESULTS

The cluster analysis identified four groups in the data with different risk profiles. These groups largely reflect the ideal types of people who use AAS proposed by Christiansen et al. (2016): Cluster 1 (You Only Live Once (YOLO) type, n = 68, 11.1%) were younger and motivated by fat loss; Cluster 2 (Well-being type, n = 236, 38.6%) were concerned with getting fit; Cluster 3 (Athlete type, n = 155, 25.4%) were motivated by muscle and strength gains; Cluster 4 (Expert type, n = 152, 24.9%) were focused on specific goals (i.e. not 'getting fit').

CONCLUSION

The results of this study demonstrate the need to make information about AAS accessible to the general population and to inform health service providers about variations in motivations and associated risk behaviours. Attention should also be given to ensuring existing harm minimisation services are equipped to disseminate information about safe intra-muscular injecting and ensuring needle disposal sites are accessible to the different types.

Queensland Alcohol-related violence and Night Time Economy Monitoring project (QUANTEM): a study protocol

BACKGROUND

Alcohol-related harm is a substantial burden on the community in Australia and internationally, particularly harm related to risky drinking practices of young people in the night-time economy. This protocol paper describes a study that will report on the changes in a wide range of health and justice outcome measures associated with major policy changes in the state of Queensland, Australia. A key element includes trading hours restrictions for licensed premises to 2 am for the state and 3 am in Safe Night Precincts (SNPs). Other measures introduced include drinks restrictions after midnight, increased patron banning measures for repeat offenders, mandatory ID scanning of patrons in late-night venues, and education campaigns.

METHODS

The primary aim of the study is to evaluate change in the levels of harm due to these policy changes using administrative data (e.g., police, hospital, ambulance, and court data). Other study elements will investigate the impact of the Policy by measuring foot traffic volume in SNPs, using ID scanner data to quantify the volume of people entering venues and measure the effectiveness of banning notices, using patron interviews to quantify the levels of pre-drinking, intoxication and illicit drug use within night-time economy districts, and to explore the impacts of the Policy on business and live music, and costs to the community.

DISCUSSION

The information gathered through this project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Policy and to draw on these findings to inform future prevention and enforcement approaches by policy makers, police, and venue staff.

Moving on From Representativeness: Testing the Utility of the Global Drug Survey

A decline in response rates in traditional household surveys, combined with increased internet coverage and decreased research budgets, has resulted in increased attractiveness of web survey research designs based on purposive and voluntary opt-in sampling strategies. In the study of hidden or stigmatised behaviours, such as cannabis use, web survey methods are increasingly common. However, opt-in web surveys are often heavily criticised due to their lack of sampling frame and unknown representativeness. In this article, we outline the current state of the debate about the relevance of pursuing representativeness, the state of probability sampling methods, and the utility of non-probability, web survey methods especially for accessing hidden or minority populations. Our article has two aims: (1) to present a comprehensive description of the methodology we use at Global Drug Survey (GDS), an annual cross-sectional web survey and (2) to compare the age and sex distributions of cannabis users who voluntarily completed (a) a household survey or (b) a large web-based purposive survey (GDS), across three countries: Australia, the United States, and Switzerland. We find that within each set of country comparisons, the demographic distributions among recent cannabis users are broadly similar, demonstrating that the age and sex distributions of those who volunteer to be surveyed are not vastly different between these non-probability and probability methods. We conclude that opt-in web surveys of hard-to-reach populations are an efficient way of gaining in-depth understanding of stigmatised behaviours and are appropriate, as long as they are not used to estimate drug use prevalence of the general population.

Adverse Effects, Health Service Engagement, and Service Satisfaction Among Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Users

There are a number of adverse health effects associated with the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), ranging from mood disturbances to gynecomastia and impaired sexual function. Despite the potentially serious nature of adverse effects, evidence suggests that users are reluctant to seek medical assistance. This study explores factors associated with health service engagement and treatments related to service satisfaction among a sample of AAS users. The analyses are based on a sample of 195 respondents from the Global Drug Survey 2015 who reported using steroids in the previous 12-month period and experiencing concerns about adverse health effects. The results indicate reluctance among AAS users to engage with health services, with only 35.23% reporting that they visited a doctor when experiencing concerns about adverse effects. Concern about sexual function increased the likelihood that users engaged with health services, while concern about changes in sexual organs decreased the odds of service engagement. Among AAS users who engaged with health services, individuals who received a mental health assessment or diabetes test rated the service as more helpful than those who did not; a finding that resonates with literature indicating a desire among AAS users to monitor the health impacts of their drug use and respond to issues as they arise. While more research is needed, the present results underscore a need for nonjudgmental health services aimed at assisting AAS users to monitor adverse effects and minimize harm through early intervention.

Change and stability in ethnic diversity across urban communities: Explicating the influence of social cohesion on perceptions of disorder

A growing body of research shows that perceived community disorder is not solely driven by crime, but is influenced by the community’s social cohesion and ethnic composition. Drawing on two waves of survey data from 2509 and 2651 individuals in Wave 1 and Wave 2 respectively, living in 71 communities in Brisbane Australia, we examine changes in ethnic composition over two time periods and how these changes influence perceived neighbourhood disorder. We also test whether or not social cohesion mediates these associations. Our findings indicate that high proportions of Indigenous residents and high levels of reported crime averaged across time are associated with greater perceived disorder. Whereas increases in household income over time are associated with lower perceived disorder. We also find that social cohesion is strongly associated with perceived disorder over time, but does not mediate the relationship between the racial and ethnic composition of the community and disorder. Yet when a community’s social cohesion is considered, the effect of increasing household income becomes non-significant.