European adolescents are consuming less and less tobacco and alcohol, but are more attracted to cannabis.
At the same time, “new addictive behaviors” are developing online, warns a European study published on Thursday.
The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), carried out since 1995 in collaboration with the European Union, interviewed in 2019 nearly 100,000 young people aged 15 to 16 and in 35 countries of the European continent.
Alcohol: regular decline in consumption
The study shows a steady decline in the attraction of young people to drink, mainly due to the tightening of laws on the sale of alcohol to minors.
Alcohol consumption remains high, however: on average more than three-quarters of adolescents aged 15 to 16 have consumed alcohol in their lifetime and almost half (47%) have consumed it in the last months, compared to 63% in 2003.
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“Significant one-time drinking” falls to its lowest level.
This trend, particularly through “binge drinking” which consists of drinking a lot in a short period of time, peaked in 2007. Furthermore, less than 7% of students admit to having experienced a state of intoxication before the age of. 13 years old, with strong disparities depending on the country.
In France, 15% of high school students have used excessive alcohol in the past month.
Tobacco: twice fewer smokers in Seconde than in 1995, but 22% of consumers in France
From the second class, daily cigarette use concerns 10% of young people aged 15 to 16 in Europe.
This is half as much as 25 years ago.
But the variables are considerable from one country surveyed to another.
Less than 2% of young daily smokers are thus counted in Iceland against a quarter of high school students in Bulgaria, while 22% of French teenagers have smoked at least one cigarette during the past month.
For the first time, researchers are also interested in the use of electronic cigarettes, very popular among young Americans, and much less in Europe.
Curiously, among young people explaining that they have never smoked tobacco, 14% admit to having vaped nicotine at least once in the past month.
In France, 16% of young people say they have used this device recently, which appeals to boys much more than girls.
Illicit drugs: 50% increase in 25 years
16% of 15-16 year olds surveyed say they have used cannabis at least once in their lifetime, compared with 11% in 1995. This represents a 50% increase in smokers of this type in a quarter of a century.
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Frequent consumption (once a month) is also significantly increasing.
While consumption considered “problematic” (more than once a month) amounts to 4% of those questioned, with a very high prevalence in Italy (15%).
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In France, 24% of high school students have already used an illicit drug at least once.
Of all the Europeans surveyed, young French people are the most likely to report an experiment with cocaine (2.8%) at that age.
Games and Internet: up to 6 hours per day on social networks
With the growing popularity of smartphones, video game addiction is exploding among young Europeans.
In most countries, boys spend twice as much time playing it as girls.
Regarding social networks, the usage time is between two and three hours on a regular school day and six hours or more on other days.
Another trend emerges, that of gambling, which is once again popular with adolescents: 22% of young people questioned declared having played at least one game in the last 12 months, mainly lotteries.
