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Background and Aims If socio-economic disadvantage is associated with more adolescent smoking, but less participation in tertiary education, and smoking and tertiary education are both associated with heavier drinking, these may represent opposing pathways to heavy drinking. This paper examines contextual variation in the magnitude and direction of these associations. Design Comparing cohort studies. Setting United Kingdom. Participants Participants were from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS58; n = 15 672), the British birth cohort study (BCS70; n = 12 735) and the West of Scotland Twenty-07 1970s cohort (T07; n = 1515). Measurements Participants self-reported daily smoking and weekly drinking in adolescence (age 16 years) and heavy drinking (> 14/21 units in past week) in early adulthood (ages 22-26 years). Parental occupational class (manual versus non-manual) indicated socio-economic background. Education beyond age 18 was coded as tertiary. Models were adjusted for parental smoking and drinking, family structure and adolescent psychiatric distress. Findings Respondents from a manual class were more likely to smoke and less likely to enter tertiary education (e.g. in NCDS58, probit coefficients were 0.201 and -0.765, respectively; P < 0.001 for both) than respondents from a non-manual class. Adolescent smokers were more likely to drink weekly in adolescence (0.346; P < 0.001) and more likely to drink heavily in early adulthood (0.178; P < 0.001) than adolescent non-smokers. Respondents who participated in tertiary education were more likely to drink heavily in early adulthood (0.110 for males, 0.182 for females; P < 0.001 for both) than respondents with no tertiary education. With some variation in magnitude, these associations were consistent across all three cohorts. Conclusions In Britain, young adults are more likely to drink heavily both if they smoke and participate in tertiary education (college and university) despite socio-economic background being associated in opposite directions with these risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The prevalence of cannabis use based on self‐reports is likely to be underestimated in population surveys, especially in contexts where its use is a criminal offence. Indirect survey methods ask sensitive questions ensuring that answers cannot be identified with an individual respondent, therefore potentially resulting in more reliable estimates. We aimed to measure whether the indirect survey method 'randomized response technique' (RRT) increased response rate and/or increased disclosure of cannabis use among young adults compared with a traditional survey. Design: We conducted two parallel nation‐wide surveys during the spring and the summer of 2021. The first survey was a traditional questionnaire‐based one (focusing on substance use and gambling). The second survey applied an indirect survey method known as 'the cross‐wise model' to questions related to cannabis use. The two surveys employed identical procedures (e.g. invitations, reminders and wording of the questions) Setting and Participants: The participants were young adults (aged 18–29 years) living in Sweden. The traditional survey had 1200 respondents (56.9% women) and the indirect survey had 2951 respondents (53.6% women). Measurements In both surveys, cannabis use was assessed according to three time‐frames: life‐time use; use during the past year; and use during the past 30 days. Findings The estimated prevalence of cannabis use was two‐ to threefold higher on all measures when estimated using the indirect survey method compared with the traditional survey: use during life‐time (43.2 versus 27.3%); during the past year (19.2 versus 10.4%); and during the past 30 days (13.2 versus 3.7%). The discrepancy was larger among males and individuals with an education shorter than 10 years, who were unemployed, and who were born in non‐European countries. Conclusions: Indirect survey methods may provide more accurate estimates than traditional surveys on prevalence of self‐reported cannabis use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To measure the association between problem gambling severity and 19 different gambling activities among emerging adults (aged 16–26). Design: An online non‐probability longitudinal survey collecting data in two waves: wave 1, July/August 2019; wave 2, July/October 2020. Setting: Great Britain Participants: A total of 2080 young adults participating in both waves. Measurements Problem gambling scores were collected using the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Binary variables recorded past year participation in 19 different gambling forms, ranging from lotteries to online casino and gambling‐like practices within digital games (e.g. loot box purchase, skin betting). Controls included socio‐demographic/economic characteristics, the Eysenck Impulsivity Scale and the number of gambling activities undertaken. Findings Zero inflated negative binomial model lacked evidence of an effect between past year participation in any individual activities and subsequent PGSI scores. However, negative binomial random effects models for current gamblers (n = 497) showed that skin betting (incidence‐rate ratio [IRR] = 2.32; 95% CI = 1.69–3.19), fixed odd betting terminals (IRR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.61–3.05), slot/fruit machines (IRR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.07–1.91), online betting on horse/dog races (IRR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.17–2.00) and online betting on non‐sports events (IRR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.11–1.89) were associated with increased PGSI scores. Online casino gambling had a significant interaction by wave; the impact of online casino betting in wave 2 on PGSI scores increased by a factor of 1.61. Conclusions: Past year participation of young adults (aged 16–26) in certain forms of gambling does not appear to be associated with future Problem Gambling Severity Index scores. Among young adults who are current gamblers, past year participation in certain land‐based (e.g. electronic gaming machines) and online forms (e.g. skin betting) of gambling appears to be strongly associated with elevated Problem Gambling Severity Index scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To assess the effectiveness of the 2015 version of the French Évin Law that was implemented in 1991 with the objective of protecting young people from alcohol advertising. Design Data were obtained from survey questions measuring exposure and receptivity to alcohol advertisements that were introduced for the first time in the 2015 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). Participants and setting A representative sample of 6642 10th-12th grade students (mean age 17.3 years) were interviewed in 198 schools in France by a self-administered questionnaire. Measurements Information was collected on alcohol advertising exposure in different media (outside billboards, internet, etc.) and receptivity to recent advertisements (attractiveness, incentive to drink, etc.). Findings The majority of students declared that they had been exposed at least once a month to alcohol advertisements in supermarkets (73.2%), in movies (66.1%), magazines and newspapers (59.1%), on billboards in streets (54.5%), and on the internet (54.1%). Concerning the last recalled advertisements, 27.8% remembered the beverage type, 18.2% the brand, 13% felt like having a drink after having seen the advertisement and 19.6% found the advertisement attractive (boys ranked significantly higher than girls for all these indicators; P-value < 0.05). Conclusion The 2015 version of the French Évin law does not appear to protect young people effectively from exposure to alcohol advertising in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is included as a condition for further study in Section 3 of the DSM-5. Nine criteria were proposed with a threshold of five or more criteria recommended for diagnosis. The aims of this study were to assess how the specific criteria contribute to diagnosis and to estimate prevalence rates of IGD based on DSM-5 recommendations. Design Large-scale, state-representative school survey using a standardized questionnaire. Setting Germany (Lower Saxony). Participants A total of 11 003 ninth-graders aged 13-18 years (mean = 14.88, 51.09% male). Measurements IGD was assessed with a DSM-5 adapted version of the Video Game Dependency Scale that covered all nine criteria of IGD. Findings In total, 1.16% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.96, 1.36] of respondents were classified with IGD according to DSM-5 recommendations. IGD students played games for longer periods, skipped school more often, had lower grades in school, reported more sleep problems and more often endorsed feeling 'addicted to gaming' than their non-IGD counterparts. The most frequently reported DSM-5 criteria overall were 'escape adverse moods' (5.30%) and 'preoccupation' (3.91%), but endorsement of these criteria rarely related to IGD diagnosis. Conditional inference trees showed that the criteria 'give up other activities', 'tolerance' and 'withdrawal' were of key importance for identifying IGD as defined by DSM-5. Conclusions Based on a state-wide representative school survey in Germany, endorsement of five or more criteria of DSM-5 internet gaming disorder (IGD) occurred in 1.16% of the students, and these students evidence greater impairment compared with non-IGD students. Symptoms related to 'give up other activities', 'tolerance' and 'withdrawal' are most relevant for IGD diagnosis in this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]