Fewer Portuguese Teenagers Get Into Fights, Accidents and Trouble Than in 2019, but the Risks Now Cluster in a Smaller Group, ICAD's School Survey Shows

Portuguese teenagers are getting into fewer fights, accidents and other trouble than they did five years ago, according to a national survey of state-school pupils. But the risks that remain are gathering in a smaller group: pupils who both drink and use illegal drugs, who struggle at school, whose parents set few rules, and who go out at night every week.

The findings come from ECATD-CAD 2024. Dimensão problemática, a report by the Instituto para os Comportamentos Aditivos e as Dependências (ICAD, the Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies), posted on its website on 21 September. It draws on 11,083 pupils aged 13 to 18 in state schools who answered the 2024 edition of the institute's school survey on alcohol, tobacco, drugs and other addictive behaviours, and compares them with the 2019 edition. The ICAD calls the overall trend "globally positive".

What pupils said happened to them

Asked about the previous 12 months, 21 percent of pupils said they had had an accident or injury, 17 percent had been in a fight and 16 percent in a serious argument. Fourteen percent had been bullied face to face and 8 percent online, and 8 percent had hurt themselves on purpose. Six percent had had unprotected sex, 2.3 percent had been in trouble with the police, and 1.3 percent had been taken to hospital or an emergency department because they were drunk or intoxicated.

Every one of these was less common than in 2019. The report links that to changes in pupils' lives over the same period: 60 percent now describe their marks as good or very good, 9 points more than in 2019; the share who say their parents often set rules about what they may do at home and outside rose by 17 points, to 52 percent; and more pupils now never go out at night, a rise of 4 points to 25 percent.

Where the risk has concentrated

Pupils who had used illegal drugs in the previous year reported more of every problem than those who had not. They were ten times as likely to have had an accident while driving a car, motorbike or other vehicle, ten times as likely to have been in trouble with the police, and eight times as likely to have had unprotected sex.

That gap has widened since 2019. Pupils who drink now report fewer problems of every kind than drinkers did five years ago, with fights down 4 points. Among recent drug users, the opposite happened: serious arguments rose by 8 points, and self-harm and unprotected sex by 5 points each.

Mixing the two matters most. About 12 percent of pupils who had drunk alcohol in the past year had also used illegal drugs. Compared with those who only drank, they were 15 times as likely to say they had bullied someone online after drinking, 11 times as likely to have had an accident or injury after drinking, and 10 times as likely to have had trouble with the police, again after drinking.

The authors add a caution. Most of these problems did not happen after drinking or drug use. Although 21 percent of pupils had an accident and 17 percent a fight, fewer than 1 percent said it followed drinking. The ICAD reads substance use as a marker of a wider vulnerability rather than always the direct cause.

Cannabis, gambling, gaming and social media

• Cannabis. Seven percent of pupils had ever used it, 6 percent in the past year and 3 percent in the past month. Most recent users (71 percent) showed no risk of dependence on a standard screening test, 8 points more than in 2019, but the share at high risk also rose by 3 points. The high-risk group was far larger among pupils with poor marks (43 percent of recent users) than among those with good or very good marks (4 percent), and among pupils whose parents rarely set rules (16 percent) than among those whose parents often do (6 percent).
• Gambling for money. Eighteen percent had gambled for money in the past year, 5 points more than in 2019. Of these, 17 percent had felt the need to bet more and more, and 11 percent had lied to people close to them about how much they bet.
• Video games. Sixty-three percent had played in the week before the survey. Eighteen percent of online players met the test's threshold for problem gaming, the same as in 2019.
• Social media. Sixty-two percent of users agreed they spend too much time on it. Twenty-three percent agreed with all three of the survey's warning statements, which the ICAD reads as problem use, 2 points more than in 2019. Girls scored higher than boys here.
• Drinking to forget. Eight percent of pupils who drank said they always or often did so to forget their problems, 1 point more than in 2019. Girls were more likely to say so.

Parental rules worked differently online. Pupils with strict parents were less likely to have problems linked to alcohol and drugs, but more likely to report problem social media use: 28 percent, against 19 percent of those whose parents rarely set rules.

The Alentejo stands out

In 2019 Lisbon had the worst results overall. In 2024 the Alentejo had the highest figure on five of the twelve indicators the report tracks, followed by the Azores on three. A quarter of recent drug users in the Alentejo had been in trouble with the police, against 14 percent nationally, and 12 percent of its young drinkers drank to forget, against 8 percent. The North, the Algarve and Madeira did not top any indicator. The report raises the question of why the Alentejo now stands out, without answering it.

Its conclusions point to spotting the most vulnerable pupils early, building mental health into prevention, and supporting parents. All the figures are pupils' own answers, and the survey covers state schools only.

The ICAD opened Portugal's first public gambling addiction unit in Lisbon in June, and in May called the sale of THC gummies from vending machines illegal. Anyone worried about self-harm can call the SNS's 1411 suicide prevention line.