Utrecht University, the Trimbos Institute and the Netherlands Institute for Social Research have once again carried out a study among young people aged 11 to 16.
Every four years they look into subjects that concern young people in this age group, such as their relationship with their parents, alcohol use, sex and bullying. Ever since this study started in 2001, Dutch young people have been among the happiest in Europe, often together with young people from Finland, Iceland, Albania and Armenia. Young people from Turkey, Romania and Poland are said to be the least happy. This was reported by the Dutch broadcaster NOS, among others, on Wednesday.
Good relationship with parents
The study shows that the relationship between young people and their parents is generally very good. Even as they get older, the vast majority say it is easy to discuss worries with a parent.
More pressure at school
It also shows that the number of secondary school pupils who feel much more pressure from their schoolwork has grown in recent years. According to the researchers, this is because the culture of just scraping a pass seems to have come to an end. There is more homework support and the requirements for a diploma are stricter. Everything is more performance-driven. But despite the pressure to perform, there has been no increase in mental health problems over the past four years, the researchers found. This may be because young people are doing better in other areas, such as their relationship with their parents and the atmosphere at school.
Sex, smoking and drinking
Young people still start having sex at the same age as four years ago. On average, about ten percent of young people under 17 have ever had sex. Of the 16-year-olds, 23 percent have done it at least once. Condom use among young people has fallen sharply, though. This may be because the Dutch safe-sex campaigns stopped in 2011.
Young people smoke less, but the number of young people who drink has stayed almost the same since 2013. Even though the drinking age was raised to 18 in 2014, 40 percent of 15-year-olds and 53 percent of 16-year-olds had a drink in the past month. And more than 70 percent of these drinkers have at least five glasses of alcohol in an evening.
Social media
More than 30 percent of secondary school pupils are in contact with others on social media all day long. For 7 percent of these pupils, the use is genuinely problematic. This is more common among girls than among boys.
Boys, on the other hand, more often have problems with gaming. About 13 percent of boys game at least 24 hours a week. Seven percent of boys are so-called problematic gamers.
Taking part in the study
In total, more than 8,000 children took part in the study: 1,588 primary school pupils and 6,718 secondary school pupils. Half of the weighted sample consists of boys.
Source: AD.nl
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