15-year-old girls taking anxiolytics without a prescription; and not in Arkansas or Minneapolis, but in Martorell or Manresa. These things happen in the Catalonia of the 21st century and they are not isolated cases. According to the results of the Survey on health habits of fourth year ESO students in the province of Barcelona 2022 promoted by the Barcelona Provincial Council, 10.5% of girls have used tranquilizers without a prescription (compared to 5.5% of boys). And, closely linked to that alarming fact, this other: asked about their state of mind, only 44.9% of girls have a positive mood (while in the case of boys it is 72.6%). “The state of mind of adolescents has gotten worse, and inequality between boys and girls is increasing,” warned Lluis Camprubitechnician responsible for the report.
Adolescence has never been an easy stage, but living it in the Tik Tok era -and with a pandemic going through everything- introduces dangerous variables. in relation to taking pills without a prescription -the second most consumed drug by young people, just behind joints- the survey also confirms that the perception of risk/danger has increased: he 35.8% consider that they are very dangerous; something that can have a positive reading and another that is not so much: it confirms that They are part of the imaginary and daily life of adolescents. At the other extreme, the percentage of those who consider that they have zero danger (14.4%).
“A lower socioeconomic level, more suicidal thoughts,” says the person in charge of the study
As to suicidal thoughts, very lively concern after the case of the Sallent twins, camprubi notes that at a lower socioeconomic level, more suicidal thoughts.
The Diputación has presented this Thursday the set of results of a complete survey made to 23,791 young people from 81 municipalities in Barcelona -except the capital, which has its own surveys- provides plenty of data for reflection. As for the Opinions about the use and need to use condomsthe opinions positive are higher in girls than in boys -nothing new under the sun- although, a fact that should set off alarm bells, they present a slight recoil throughout the three periods in which the surveys have been carried out (2015-2017, 2018-2019 and 2020-2022).
How do they learn about sex?
Continuing with sexuality, the girls claim to learn more about it through people (family, school, friends) than boys, they do it-according to what they say- “more virtually” (internet and pornography). 36.2% of boys consider pornography as a source of learning, compared to 7% of the girls. 78.4% of boys and 41.2% of girls have consumed pornography.
18.2% of the young people consulted state that they have had a penetrative sexual relationship at some time. Of this subpopulation, 14.1% have not used any contraceptive method in one of their relationships, and 17.1% have had unsafe practices (reversing or calculating the date of the period). This last aspect has gone down among the girls, but it still stands at 19.7%.
be a victim of psychological abuse (in any setting) it has skyrocketed in girls, reaching 48.6%. Psychological abuse on social networks has also increased more among girls: in the last period, 16.5% have been victims of it.
48.6% of the girls affirm that they have been victims of psychological abuse
He sexual harassment in girls it has stabilized after a strong increase in the second period, so that in the period 2020-2022 it is in the 39.5%. The same trend is observed in the sexual harassment on social networks: in the last period, 17% of girls have been victims of it.
Refering to general health, 21.3% of adolescent boys and girls perceive their health as “regular, bad or very bad”, and a worsening is observed over the three periods in which the consultation was carried out, intensified during the pandemic. The differences according to gender have been accentuated throughout the three periods. Currently, girls have 11.7 percentage points more in fair, bad or very bad health compared to boys.
tobacco and alcohol
36% of the girls and 24.3% of the boys have tried tobacco at some time (in the first period of the sample this figure was 49.1% and 42.9%, respectively). Regarding alcohol, the percentage of adolescent boys and girls who have ever tried alcohol has dropped eight points (in the period 2020-2022, 63.4% of boys and 69.7% of girls). .
Among those who have ever tried alcohol, the percentage of those who have not carried out any risky consumption (drunkenness) has increased, which in the period 2020-2022 stood at 39%. Among girls, risky consumption is higher than among boys. Overall, among adolescent boys and girls who have ever drunk, 52.1% have ever gotten drunk (and 26.5%, more than twice).
And… how is the relationship of these boys and girls with their families? He 19.4% of the girls consider that it is regular (compared to 10.7% of boys), and the 10.3% indicate that it is directly bad (compared to 4.8% of boys).
online betting
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Another one of the greats emerging concerns as to the health of this generation are betting and online games. Around 15% of boys declare have played online gambling and having placed sports bets online (2% responded that they had done so the day before), and close to 10% had gone to a bookmaker in person.
both boys and girls have doubled the excessive use of the internet: 40% of boys and girls.