Alcohol use among 15- to 16-year-olds remains high in Malta but continues a trend of decline observed since 2003.
This is one of the major findings of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), an international study that gathers data related to substances (alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs) and other potentially addictive behaviours (social media use, gaming and gambling).
ESPAD is coordinated in Malta by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS). The project first started in 1995 and the last set of data was collected from students in 2019, providing data spanning 24 years.
Data is collected every four years from 15- to 16-year-old students using an anonymous questionnaire. In 2019, just under 100,000 students participated in the study on a European level.
In Malta, the study is administered to Year 11/Form 5 students in state, church and independent schools across the two islands, with data from just over 3,000 local students included in the analysis.
Locally, lifetime use and current (last 30 day) use of alcohol increased until 2003 before beginning a trend of decline, reaching its lowest point in 2019.
Nonetheless, asked if they had ever drunk alcohol, 82 per cent of students said yes. This means Malta’s rates remain higher than the European average.
Heavy episodic drinking has also followed a trend of decline, with 40 per cent of students reporting this behaviour in the previous 30 days, a rate that is seven per cent lower than that recorded in 2015.
Interestingly, whereas in 2015, girls were more likely than boys to consume alcohol, in 2019 such patterns are only seen in relation to drunkenness. Girls are more likely than boys to have been drunk in their lifetime and in the last 12 months (36 per cent vs 29 per cent and 31 per cent vs 25 per cent, respectively).
This calls for further examination of these sex disparities and alcohol use.
ESPAD recorded a triumphant fall in cigarette use, with all cigarette-related variables declining since 2003. Malta’s rates were lower than the ESPAD country average.
Lifetime cigarette use rates were higher for girls than boys, once again calling for further research on sex differences in substance use.
38% of students are on social media for four or more hours on a school day and 68% on a non-school day
A noteworthy point is that while cigarette use has registered a decline, with new products on the market such as e-cigarettes, there is a strong need to keep an eye out for a potential increase in nicotine addiction.
General stability was found in relation to substance use in Malta, while cannabis remained the most popular substance used. Inhalants saw the only pertinent decline, from eight per cent in 2015 to five per cent in 2019.
As for cannabis use, rates between 2015 and 2019 have remained stable. However, if we look at the rates between 1995 and 2019, we see an increase over time from eight per cent to 12 per cent, indicating a potential cause for concern.
With the increase in internet access, activities such as social media use and online gaming have been on the rise.
In fact, almost all students reported using social media on both a school day (91 per cent) and a non-school day (97 per cent) within the previous seven days.
Potential excessive use was also present, with social media use for four or more hours being reported by 38 per cent of students on a school day and 68 per cent on a non-school day.
Similarly, 66 per cent of students gamed on a school day and 78 per cent on a non-school day in the past 30 days, with 13 per cent gaming for four or more hours on a school day and 30 per cent on a non-school day.
While social media use was more popular among girls, boys were more likely to spend time gaming.
Gambling rates are among the lowest in Europe, with 14 per cent having gambled for money in the previous 12 months and four per cent having gambled online.
In conclusion, ESPAD has documented changes in trends of substance use and outlined other potentially problematic behaviours.
The FSWS will continue investing in ESPAD due to its valuable contribution to prevention efforts within our services and national policy development.
The national and international ESPAD reports can be found on the FSWS website fsws.gov.mt.
Petra Borg, research executive at the Foundation for Social Welfare
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