The gender differences in drinking behaviour continue to be considerable and are found in all cultures studied so far. Several studies have argued for reasons underlying these differences, but they still remain largely unexplained.

Despite regional differences in prevalence of substance use among European adolescents from 1999 to 2015, trends showed remarkable similarities, with strong decreasing trends in cigarette use and moderate decreasing trends in alcohol use. Trends of cannabis use only increased in southern Europe and the Balkans. Trends across all substance use indicators suggest no regional convergence.

Introduction and Aims.To study (i) whether the children of substance-abusing mothers are hospitalised because of injury or illness more often than other children; (ii) how often these children are placed out of home; and (iii) how the type of substance used by the mother affects her children. Design and Methods. This was a retrospective population-based cohort study based on Finnish health care and social welfare registers.The participants were all children born in Finland in 2002 (n = 55 369) and their biological mothers (n = 54 519). Mothers with register entries related to substance abuse in the period 1998-2009 were defined as having a substance abuse problem. Children were followed up for their first seven years of life for hospitalisations because of injuries and infectious diseases and out-of-home placements. The associations between hospitalisation and out-ofhome care and mothers' type of substance abuse were estimated using logistic regression. The child's gender and the mother's psychiatric disorders and socio-demographic characteristics obtained from the registers were standardised in the final models. Results. Based on the register data, 2% of mothers had a substance abuse problem. Alcohol problems were more common than drug problems. Children with substance-abusing mothers were more often hospitalised because of injuries and infectious diseases than other children.They had also been placed out of home more often. Mothers' abuse of both alcohol and drugs was a bigger risk for the child than solely alcohol or solely drug abuse. Discussion and Conclusions. The mother's substance abuse has negative outcomes on the child's immediate environment, which affects the health and safety of the child. [Raitasalo K, Holmila M, Autti-Rämö I, Notkola IL, Tapanainen H. Hospitalisations and out-of-home placements of children of substance-abusing mothers: A register-based cohort study. Drug Alcohol Rev 2015;34:38-45]

Aim To (i) examine several factors associated with trends in heavy episodic drinking (HED) in Finland, Norway and Sweden, (ii) investigate similarities in these associations across the countries and (iii) analyse the contribution of these factors to the trend in HED and the differences across the countries. Design and Setting Observational study using five waves of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) from Finland, Norway and Sweden between 1999 and 2015. Participants A total of 18 128 male and 19 121 female 15‐ to 16‐year‐old students. Measurements Monthly HED, perceived access to alcohol, truancy, parental control, leisure time activities and daily smoking. The Cochran–Armitage test was used to examine linear time trends in HED. Logit regression models using the Karlson–Holm–Breen (KHB) method were fitted for each country separately, including all the independent variables together with time and adjusted for family status, parental education and gender. Findings In Finland, Norway and Sweden, perceived access to alcohol, truancy and daily smoking decreased significantly between 1999 and 2015 whereas risk perceptions, parental control and participation in sports increased in the same period. The confounding percentage of all the independent variables related to the trend in HED was 48.8%, 68.9% and 36.7% for Finland, Norway and Sweden, respectively. Decline in daily smoking (P < 0.001) and perceived access to alcohol (P < 0.001) were positively and increase in parental control (P < 0.001) negatively associated with the decline in HED in all three countries. Changes in truancy, going out with friends, and engaging in sports and other hobbies had little or no impact on the decline in HED or displayed no consistent results across the countries. Conclusions The decline in adolescent heavy episodic drinking in Finland, Norway and Sweden between 1999 and 2015 appears to be associated with a decline in adolescent daily smoking and perceived access to alcohol and an increase in parental control.

Formal policy measures and adults' attitudes have probably affected the availability of alcohol for adolescents, and thus they partly explain the decline in youth drinking. This decline coincides with the introduction of new digital technologies, new forms of interaction within families and peer groups, and more conscientious teenagers. All these changes are not necessarily causes of the decline but are part of a similar broader change in adolescents' lives.