Have they exchanged certain addictions for new risk practices? Among European adolescents, consumption of alcohol, drugs and cigarettes decreasesbut new forms of addiction develop, like electronic cigarettes, drugs and games, according to a European study published on Tuesday.
“While the consumption of substances among young people aged 15 to 16 in Europe continues to decline in the long term, new behavioral and health risks are growing,” said the European Drug Agency (EUDA) in a press release.
In addition, the EUDA notes “a significant increase in risky behavior in girls” in the eighth report of the European School Investigation Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (Espad), which has survey every four to five years since 1995.
The use of electronic cigarettes has been up in particular since the espad began to measure their consumption, spent from 14 % of smokers (having smoked in the last 30 days) in 2019 to 22 % in 2024. Girls are on average more numerous to have experienced vaping at least once in their lives: 46 % against 41 % for boys.
Less tobacco, more tranquilizers
Conversely, smoking is down: in 1995, 33 % of 15-16 year olds declared that they had smoked at least one cigarette in the last month, against 18 % in 2024.
Same tendency for alcohol consumption since the share of adolescents interviewed having declared that it had drunk alcohol in the last 30 days increased from 55 % in 1995 to 43 % in 2024, with a continuous drop since 2003.
Regarding drugs, the proportion of young people who have already experienced the consumption of an illicit substance during their lifetime has also been down continuous since 2011, from 19 % to 14 %.
On the other hand, the non-medical use of drugs-in particular tranquilizers, sedatives and analgesic-now represents a “increasing concern”, estimates the EUDA, with 14 % of the 15-16 year olds having already consumed during their life.
The risk of gambling
THE Online gaming Also constitute a new threat to adolescents since the share of 15-16 years who played in the last 12 months has almost doubled between 2019 and 2024, going from 8 % to 14 %.
“Growth is particularly pronounced in girls” with whom this practice “tripled, going from 3 % in 2019 to 9 % in 2024”, adds the EUDA.
For this survey carried out in 2024 in 37 European countries, 113,882 students aged 15 to 16 were interviewed by anonymous form.
