Twenty years later: Explanations and consequences of the decline in adolescents’ drinking in the Nordic countries

Summary

Since the millennium shift, recent studies provide solid evidence for a marked decline in alcohol use among adolescents in Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as in several other countries. Less evidence has been offered as tohow these declining trends can be explained and to what extent they are followed by declining alcohol-related harm among youth. The overall aim of the proposed workshop series is to examine these current questions using a Nordic comparative approach, drawing on the unique similarities and differences between the Nordic countries. This approach will provide novel insights as to the reasons for and implications of this falling prevalencein youth drinking.

Aims of the Workshop Series:

1. To address the following research questions:

a. How can the declining trends in youth alcohol use in the Nordic region be explained? Are the theories which are currently suggested in the literature relevant for understanding the Nordic development, or are there country-specific explanations of the decline in youth drinking? Answering these questions will produce two articles (Deliverables 1 and 2).

b. To what extent are the declining consumption trends accompanied by decreases in alcohol-related harms? Are harms equally responsive to changes in drinking in the Nordic countries, and has the association between alcohol use and the risk of alcohol-related harm changed along with the lower prevalence of drinking? Addressing these concerns will produce additionally two articles (Deliverables 3 and 4).

2. To write an application for funding from a Nordic research council (e.g., funding grants by Systembolaget, Nordforsk) or an international programme (e.g., the EU Horizon 2020 programme) based on the present activities and research aims of our proposed workshop series (Deliverable 5).

3. Together with the Nordic Welfare Centre, to write a popular science summary report for the Nordic public on basis of the main findings from the workshop series (Deliverable 6).