The National Drug Plan has recently published the Report on behavioral addictions and other addictive disorders 2023.
The objective of this report is to know the current situation on behavioral addictions, specifically on gambling with money, problematic use of the Internet, possible disorders due to the use of video games and the use of pornography in Spain. In this way, we want to contribute to the prevention of problems associated with these activities.
This is a descriptive study based on the specific responses incorporated into the latest editions of the surveys.
AGES AND STUDIES. Furthermore, for the first time, data on admissions to treatment for behavioral addictions in our country have been incorporated.
The analysis of the results of the EDADES and ESTUDES surveys corroborates that gambling with money, the use of the Internet and video games are widely spread activities in our society.
Below we show you some of the results of this report:
Population from 14 to 18 years old (ESTUDES SURVEY):
- Problematic internet use decreases from 28.8% to 25.9% in girls and from 18.4% to 15.3% in boys, in relation to the 2021 report. The possible problematic use of the internet is greater in women than in men (25.9% in women and 15.3% in men).
- In 2023, 21.5% of students between 14 and 18 years old have played with money online and/or in person in the last 12 months (compared to 20.1% in 2021). The starting age is similar in the online game and in the face-to-face game, being 14.7 years and 14.8 years, respectively.
- 18-year-old students are those with the highest prevalence of possible problematic gambling (8.3% in 2023).
- In relation to the prevalence of video game use in 2023, 83.1% of students declare having played video games (96.2% of men and 69.7% of women). As would occur in 2019 and 2021, the prevalence of use is higher among boys than among girls.
- 66.8% admit to having used pornography at least once in their life, 58.6 in the last 12 months and 44.5% in the last 30 days.
Population from 15 to 64 years old (AGES Survey)
- In 2022, 58.1% of the population aged 15 to 64 has played with money online and/or in person (60.4% in men and 55.7% in women). A great difference continues to be observed between the prevalence of gambling with money online (5.3%) and gambling with money in person (57.4%). By sex, it is men who register the highest prevalence in both types of games (online: 8% vs 2.5%; face-to-face: 59.2% vs 55.5%).
- Possible problematic gambling is higher among people who play online (13.6%) than among those who play in person (2.9%), a situation that remains evolutionarily stable and occurs in both sexes.
- In 2022, 3.5% of the population aged 15 to 64 made some possible problematic use of the internet, which would mean an estimated figure of approximately 1,096,000 people. Evolutionarily, this data has decreased slightly compared to that obtained in 2020 (3.7%). The prevalence is similar between men and women in all editions of the survey.
As indicated above, this report includes for the first time data on people who started treatment for behavioral addictions in the public addiction care network.
In 2021, 4,052 admissions to treatment for behavioral addictions were reported (3,520 were admissions in men and 528 were women). Of these, 80.7% were due to gaming-related disorders and 10.2% were due to problematic use of the Internet, mobile phones or electronic devices, social networks or video games, 4% were due to shopping addiction and 2.5% were due to % for sex-related disorders.
The full report is available at the following link:
Fountain:
Spanish Observatory of Drugs and Addictions. Report on Behavioral Addictions and Other Addictive Disorders 2023: Indicator admitted to treatment for behavioral addictions. Gambling with money, use of video games, problematic internet use and other addictive disorders in drug surveys in Spain AGES and STUDIES. Madrid: Ministry of Health. Government Delegation for the National Drug Plan, 2023. 89 p.
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