SummaryIn February 1979 identical questionnaires were mailed w representative samples totalling 3000 persons between 20 and 69 years of age in the populations of each of four Scandinavian countries, (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), in order to study‐among other things‐the relationship between alcohol consumption, alcohol intoxication and negative consequences of drinking in various cultural settings.The results indicate that it is not possible on the basis of the total consumption of a country to make a reliable prediction of the negative consequences of alcohol consumption that the study considers. In a country with a high total consumption, the scale of negative consequences could be much lower than in a country with a lota total consumption.However, the likelihood of having experienced the types of negative consequences inquired about in the questionnaire was approximately the same in all four countries, when intoxication frequency was maintained at a constant level. The national differences in the experience of negative consequences therefore mainly seems to correlate with differences between the countries in intoxication frequency.
j T , jBased on data from a comparative survey of drinking in four Scandinavian countries (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), use of alcohol and negative consequences of drinking were studied m relation to age. Clear differences were found between age-groups as regards experiencing such negative consequences m respect of both men and women. These differences were to a large extent a reflection of similar differences between the age-groups in regard to alcohol consumption and intoxication frequency. However, it was also found that when both alcohol consumption and intoxication frequency were maintained at a constant level, age in itself seemed to infiuence the experiencing of negative consequences. The study also indicates that in all age-groups there are national differences in drinking patterns and thus in the experiencing of negative consequences of dnnking which do not reflect the national differences in total alcohol consumption.
Based on data from a comparative survey of drinking in four Scandinavian countries (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), the experiencing of positive consequences of drinking was studied in relation to alcohol consumption, intoxication frequency and the experiencing of negative consequences of drinking. In all four countries a substantial portion--both of the men and of the women--reported having experienced various positive effects of drinking during the last 12 months. The positive consequences clearly correlated with yearly alcohol consumption and even more with intoxication frequency. A strong link between the experiencing of positive and negative consequences of drinking was also found. The study also indicates that there are national differences in the experiencing of positive consequences of drinking which do not reflect the national differences in total alcohol consumption.
The Norwegian National Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research has each spring, since 1968, conducted a survey of the youth of Oslo, the capital of Norway, to determine their use of drugs and their attitudes towards them. These and other surveys, as well as data from the police, provide a basis for a description of certain main traits in the development of drug use in Norway. The surveys suggest--amongst other things--that there has been no increase in the use of drugs among young people in Norway since the beginning of the 1980s. Cannabis is by far the illicit drug most commonly used, and use of drugs like amphetamines, cocaine and heroin seems to be rather limited. The surveys also suggest that alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking declined somewhat among Norwegian youth towards the end of 1980s.
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