The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013.
Date: 2015-08-10
Institutions: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
Subjects: activity report, alcoholism, data collection, drug addiction, smoking, social survey, young person

The European School Survey
Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs

The ESPAD validity study  
in four countries in 2013

Björn Hibell, Sabrina Molinaro, Valeria Siciliano and Ludwig Kraus

In cooperation with  
Arsaell Arnarsson, Olga Balakireva and Tatijana Djurisic

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ISBN: 978-92-9168-826-5 
doi:10.2810/363531

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I  Contents

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Goals and data collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Key variables and goals  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Participating countries and schools  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Interest and possible difficulties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Students’ understanding of some alcohol-related key variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Students’ understanding of a question about new psychoactive substances . . . . . .  
Testing some new questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
How honestly the students answered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
The opinions of survey leaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Interest and possible difficulties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Students’ understanding of some alcohol-related key variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Students’ understanding of a question about new psychoactive substances . . . . . .  
Testing some new questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
How honestly the students answered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
The opinions of survey leaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
The validity of the ESPAD questionnaire  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

4

5

5
5
6
7

8
8
9
10
11
11
12

13
13
13
14
14
15
15
16

Summary and conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

17

References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

19

Appendix 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

20

Appendix 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

24

Appendix 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

35

3 / 41

I  Foreword

A basic question in most research projects is whether you really measure what you want to 
measure — in other words, whether it has sufficient validity. Assessing the validity of the 
information that has been collected is a relevant issue in any study, especially if data are 
collected in more than one country. However, it becomes even more important when a 
project is repeated over time in order to study trends that will give insight into changes, 
and the eventual relationship of these changes to different factors, including policies. 
Confirming the validity of data is therefore important not only from a research perspective, 
but also from the perspective of developing evidence-based policies and interventions. 

Validity is a particularly critical question in studies based on self-reports of behaviours that 
may not be socially acceptable, such as the use of psychoactive substances (drugs, 
alcohol and others) among young people. The first data collection of the European School 
Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) was conducted in 1995 among 
16-year-old students in 26 countries. Since then, data have been gathered every fourth 
year in an increasing number of countries. The latest ESPAD survey was conducted in 2011 
when 39 countries took part. Data were collected for the sixth time in the winter and spring 
of 2015, and it is anticipated that the report will be published in summer 2016.

With ESPAD data from so many countries collected in repeated surveys, validity is a 
crucial question. Are data comparable between countries and over time? This question 
was discussed at an early stage in the development of ESPAD and a validity study was 
carried out in seven countries in 1998. The conclusion was that reliability and validity 
seemed to be high in all participating countries, though it was slightly lower in one or two. 

Even if this conclusion had been accurate in 1998 the situation might well have changed 
since then, and when preparing for the 2015 ESPAD survey it was decided to find out 
whether the survey’s validity was still high 15 years later. A new validity study was 
therefore conducted in the autumn of 2013 in four ESPAD countries, and more than 1 100 
students in 52 classes in 38 schools took part. 

We are very grateful to all the participating students, teachers and school leaders for 
taking part in this study and for allowing researchers access to the schools and classes. 
We also would like to to express our appreciation for the work done by the interviewers and 
responsible researchers in the participating countries, and by the authors of this report.

Lisbon, March 2015

Wolfgang Götz 
Director, EMCDDA 

Björn Hibell 
ESPAD Coordinator 1993–2014

4 / 41

I  Introduction

I  Goals and data collection

As soon as an European School Survey Project on Alcohol and 
Other Drugs (ESPAD) report has been published preparations 
start for the next data collection, and therefore the 
preparations for the 2015 survey started when the report from 
the 2011 study was published in 2012. An important part of 
the preparations was a review of the questionnaire, which was 
the responsibility of a questionnaire group.

The preparation phase for a new data collection is also a time 
for reflecting on the ESPAD methodology and whether there 
are details that can be improved or important aspects that 
need to be clarified. An aspect that is always important to 
consider is the validity of the ESPAD questionnaire.

In 1998 a validity study was conducted in seven ESPAD 
countries in different parts of Europe (Hibell, 1999). Students 
were first asked to answer a questionnaire that contained core 
questions from the ESPAD questionnaire, and 3–5 days later 
they answered a questionnaire that included some of the 
questions from the first survey, accompanied by questions of 
a methodological character, including questions about how 
truthfully they had answered in the first data collection and 
how truthfully they thought that their classmates had 
answered. Both surveys were conducted in the classroom. In 
addition to this, the survey leaders answered some questions 
about possible disturbances during the data collection, how 
interested the students were, how seriously they worked and 
how honestly they thought the students had answered.

The conclusion was that the reliability and validity seemed to 
be high in all participating countries, although slightly lower in 
one or two. 

By 2013 the 1998 validity study was 15 years old, and the 
situation may have changed over that time. This indicated the 
need for a new study that could go into more detail than the 
1998 study about how truthful the answers are about the use 
of different substances. 

However, validity is not only about how truthfully the 
respondents answer, but also about how well they understand 
the questions. Whether respondents give honest answers 
becomes irrelevant if they don’t understand the question. A 
new study would provide an opportunity to explore how well 
students understand the more difficult questions, some of 
which are considered to be key variables.

I  Key variables and goals

This first ESPAD validity study was an attempt to assess the 
validity of the answers about different substances, without 
going into details about individual questions. However, some 
questions might be considered more important than others in 
the sense that they are often used as key indicators when 
looking at trends in substance use among European school 
students. Variables of this kind include the quantity of alcohol 
consumed during the last drinking day, the frequency of heavy 
episodic drinking and the use of cannabis, which is by far the 
most frequently used illegal drug in the ESPAD target group 
(students who will become 16 years old during the year of the 
data collection). 

The question about alcohol consumption during the last 
drinking day starts with a sub-question that asks students 
which beverages they drank during the last day they 
consumed alcohol. Separate sub-questions then follow for 
each of the different beverages. There is a risk that a student 
will forget that the question is about the last drinking day and 
instead give an answer about the last day on which each of 
the separate beverages was consumed. Hence there is some 
uncertainty over whether students have understood and 
answered the question correctly and, if they haven’t, whether 
the use of the introductory sub-question as a filter question 
compensated for this in the cleaning process by only 
accepting the quantities of beverages marked in the first 
sub-question.

Heavy episodic drinking is measured with a question on how 
often the respondent had consumed five or more drinks in a 
row during the last 30 days. The question explains the quantity 
of liquid that is classed as a ‘drink’ for each kind of beverage. 
One difficulty with this question is that a student who has been 
drinking more than one beverage in a drinking session has to 
understand the quantity of liquid that is classed as a ‘drink’ for 
each kind of beverage they consumed; they then have to 
calculate how many ‘drinks’ of each beverage were consumed; 
and finally they have to add the number of ‘drinks’ of the 
different beverages together to obtain one measure. For many 
students, this will involve calculating the total number of ‘drinks’ 
per day for several consumption days during the last 30 days.

An alternative way of measuring heavy episodic drinking is used 
in the annual Swedish school surveys. The students are asked 
how often they have been drinking an amount of alcohol equal 
to at least four cans of beer, 25 cl of spirits or a bottle of wine. 
Whether a question of this kind is easier for the students to 
understand than the traditional ‘five or more drinks’ question 
has been a matter of debate. The inclusion of this alternative 
question in the validity study questionnaire did not allow us to 

5 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013say which question is the best measure of heavy episodic 
drinking, but it was a chance to find out which of them that is 
better understood. The outcome of such a comparison was 
seen as the basis for a discussion about the possibility of 
including both questions in the 2015 ESPAD questionnaire.

There is a risk that students consciously or unconsciously 
don’t give accurate, honest answers about all substances. In 
many cases this might be related to what is socially desired/
accepted in different cultural contexts, and the direction of 
these incorrect answers may go both ways, i.e. there may be 
over-reporting (exaggeration) as well as underreporting.

Answers about the use of illegal drugs are likely to be less 
reliable than answers about legal substances, since illegal 
drugs are consumed to a lesser extent than legal substances 
like alcohol and cigarettes, and because they are illegal. The 
truthfulness/validity of the answers to the cannabis question 
is of particular interest, as cannabis is by far the most widely 
used illegal drug in the ESPAD target population. 

The ESPAD questionnaire contains a question about the 
honesty of the student’s answers to the question about 
lifetime cannabis use. The answers to this validity question 
indicate, as a whole, that there is an underreporting and that 
this underreporting/hesitation about giving honest answers 
probably differs between countries. There are indications that 
this hesitancy is relatively high in many Balkan countries 
(Hibell et al., 2012). 

When the 2015 ESPAD questionnaire was discussed with the 
whole group of ESPAD researchers, and also in the 
questionnaire group, a number of new ideas for questions 
were suggested. The questionnaire group compiled a priority 
list of possible new areas and formulated some potential new 
questions. However, as the questions were untried it would be 
advantageous to have them tested before they were possibly 
included in the 2015 ESPAD study, and the validity study 
offered such an opportunity.

The primary goals of the 2013 validity study were to find out:

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

 how well the students understand the question about 
quantities consumed during the last drinking day; 
 how well the introductory filter question and its use 
compensate for possible misunderstandings of how to 
answer the question about alcohol consumed during the 
last drinking day; 
 how well the students understand the question about 
heavy episodic drinking;
 how well an alternative question about heavy episodic 
drinking may function;
 how honestly the students answer the questions about 
their use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs and their Internet 
and gambling habits; 

n 

n 

n 

n 

 how honestly the students answer the questionnaire as a 
whole;
 how honestly they think their classmates answer questions 
about their use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, their Internet 
and gambling habits and how honest their responses are to 
the questionnaire as a whole;
 whether the questionnaire includes any questions that are 
difficult to answer;
 how well the students understand potential new questions 
that might be used in the 2015 ESPAD questionnaire. This 
study tested questions about moist snuff, e-cigarettes, 
water pipe, experience of problems due to others´ drinking, 
new psychoactive substances, Internet use and gambling.

I  Participating countries and schools

It was decided that a methodological study should be 
conducted in five ESPAD countries in different parts of 
Europe. For various reasons it was not meaningful to draw a 
random sample and the most pragmatic method was simply 
to hand-pick the countries, which should be from across 
Europe and should include countries with different levels of 
cannabis prevalence. Five countries accepted an invitation to 
take part (the lifetime cannabis use in 2011 in each country is 
given in brackets): the Czech Republic (42 %), Italy (21 %), 
Ukraine (11 %), Iceland (10 %) and Montenegro (5 %).

Unfortunately, it became evident that it was not possible to 
carry out this research in the Czech Republic, but by the time 
this was apparent it was too late to include another high-
prevalence country in the study.

Since the goal of the study was not to measure the use of 
different substances in a representative sample of students 
but to learn about the validity of the answers and to test some 
questions, the analysis did not need to be carried out on 
nationally representative samples of schools. It was 
considered adequate to include students from a number of 
schools in a geographically limited area, for example in the city 
in which the responsible researcher lived. However, whenever 
relevant, different kinds of schools were included. 

It was planned that about 200 students would take part in 
each participating country. It was highly desirable that the 
participating students should be the same age as the ESPAD 
target population, which means that they were born in 1997. If 
this was difficult in practice, it was acceptable for a minority of 
no more than 20 % born one year earlier or later, i.e. in 1996 or 
1998, to be included.

As in the regular ESPAD data collection, no more than two 
classes were supposed to take part from each school.

6 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013TABLE A
Methodological aspects

Ethical aspects

  Ethical review necessary

  Parental consent

  National ethical rules followed

Iceland

Italy

Montenegro

Ukraine

Average

No

Passive

Yes

No

Passive

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

Data collection period (2013)

4–13 November

22–30 October

10–22 October

7–22 October

Participation

  Schools

  Classes

  Students

Refusals

  Schools

  Classes

  Students

Students´ presence rate 

Average completion time (minutes) (2)

6

10

243

0

0

1

96 %

23

5

10

199

0

0

1

94 %

26

6

9

266

0

0

0

92 %

28

21 (1)

23

430

0

0

3

82 %

30

38

52

1 138

0

0

5

91 %

27

Survey leaders in the classrooms

Interveiwers (3)

Teachers

Interviewers (4)

Interviewers

Notes:
(1)  In 5 regions in differerent parts of the country
(2)  Average of reported minimum and maximum
(3)  Teachers were also present, but not repsonsible for the data collection
(4)  The interviewer responsible in the classroom did not do any interview in that class

A total of 9–10 classes from 5–6 schools in Iceland, Italy and 
Montenegro took part in the study (Table A). The 
corresponding numbers were higher in Ukraine, with 23 
classes from 21 schools. One reason for this was that the 
schools were from five regions in different parts of the country. 
No selected school or class refused to take part in the project. 

I  Preparations

The student questionnaire contained both new and old 
questions, and it was important that at least the new 
questions were translated and back-translated. The same was 
true for the whole interview questionnaire. A translation–back-
translation process was performed in all countries and no 
significant problems were noted. 

Since neither the student questionnaires nor the interview 
form had been used before it was important that they were 
tested. In Iceland, Italy and Montenegro this was done with a 
small number of students in focus groups (between five and 
10 in each country), while a traditional classroom data 
collection with more than 400 students was carried out in 
Ukraine. The tests went well and no country reported that any 
important changes were needed.

Data collection

It was not necessary to carry out an ethical review in any of the 
countries (Table A), partly due to the nature of the study. Two 
countries used passive parental consent, while parental 
consent was not necessary in the two others. All four 
countries followed their national ethical rules.

Data were collected in October 2013 in Italy, Montenegro and 
Ukraine, and in the first half of November 2013 in Iceland 
(Table A). The number of participating students was around 
200–270 in Iceland, Italy and Montenegro and 430 in Ukraine, 
which totals more than 1 100 students (Table A). Only five 
students refused to take part in the study.

On average, 91 % of the students in participating classes were 
present at the data collection, with a lower figure in Ukraine 
(82 %) than in the other three countries (92–96 %) (Table A). 
The lower figure in Ukraine is about the same as in the 2011 
ESPAD data collection (Hibell et al., 2012). 

The students in participating classes received a questionnaire 
with a majority of the ESPAD core questions plus some new 
questions that were being considered for use in the 2015 
ESPAD data collection (Appendix II). The questionnaires were 
answered in the classrooms in the same way as in the regular 
ESPAD data collections, i.e. with no communication between 
the respondents and with the students spread out in the 
classroom as much as possible, as for a written test.

7 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013The average time to answer the questionnaire was 27 minutes, 
with a range of 23–30 minutes (Table A). This is quicker than 
in regular ESPAD data collections, and is to be expected since 
the questionnaire was shorter.

how the student understood some of the substance use 
questions (Q7–Q10) the interviewer did not read out the 
answering categories to the student, but instead interpreted 
the student’s answers by marking a fixed answering category.

When the questionnaires were answered and put in individual 
envelopes, the students were individually interviewed for 
about 25 minutes by an experienced interviewer. A structured 
interview was performed in order to find out how the 
questions in the classroom setting were understood, how 
accurately and honestly they had been answered, and how 
honestly the students thought that their classmates had 
answered. 

In order to standardise the interview situation as much as 
possible in the participating countries, and also between  
interviewers, the interviewers were trained and required to 
follow the standardised interview instructions. 

The data collection in the classrooms, and in the interviews, 
went well in all countries, and no significant problems or 
disturbances were reported.

In order to limit the time taken to carry out the research to two 
lesson hours, it was planned that about five interviewers 
would work in parallel, which meant that each interviewer 
should interview about four students from every class. 

I  Results

Participation in the group administrated data collection, and in 
the individual interview, was of course voluntary. The students 
were guaranteed complete confidentiality and that no results 
would be reported for single classes or schools, which meant 
that data would only be reported at the country level.

Teachers supervised the classroom data collection in Italy, 
while in the other countries one of the interviewers was 
responsible (Table A). In Montenegro the interviewer who 
supervised the classroom data collection did not carry out any 
interviews with students from the class they had supervised. 

ID numbers were required in order to link each student’s 
questionnaire with his/her interview form. For the data 
collection in the classroom each student received an 
individual envelope to put his/her form into, but not to seal. 
They brought the unsealed envelope to the interview and 
when the interview started they were asked to take out the 
questionnaire so they could look at and refer to it during the 
interview. This made it necessary to organise the interview 
room in such a way that the interviewer could not see any of 
the answers in the student´s questionnaire. The responsible 
researchers in all countries have confirmed that this was the 
case and that the students felt comfortable during the 
interviews.

After the interview, the students put their classroom 
questionnaire and the interview form in the envelope and 
sealed it. ID numbers were allocated in the data entry phase 
when the envelopes were opened. 

The interview was structured and the interviewers were asked 
to follow a questionnaire containing ready-made questions 
with mainly fixed answering categories (Appendix III). For 
most questions the interviewer read out the answering 
categories to the student. However, for the questions about 

Since the main objectives of the study are of a methodological 
character and relate to validity, how the students understood 
some key questions and the testing of possible new questions, 
this report mainly includes results from the interviews, but 
some data from the classroom reports that the survey leaders 
answered are also included. In addition to this, a few findings 
from the student questionnaire will be presented in the 
discussion. Most tables are gathered in Appendix I and are 
numbered 1–25. Some methodological and overview tables 
are reported in the text and are numbered A–H. A selection of 
the main results are summarised in three figures, which also 
are presented in the text.

Data are reported separately for each of the four countries. In 
addition to this, the result tables and graphs include 
unweighted averages.

I  Interest and possible difficulties

The first question in the interview was about how interesting it 
was to participate in the classroom data collection. A large 
majority (on average nearly 80 %) found it very or fairly 
interesting, while only a few (4 %) answered that it was 
uninteresting (Table 1). The proportions answering that it was 
interesting was high in all countries and varied between 61 % 
in Iceland and 89 % in Italy.

The students were asked separate questions for each habit 
about whether they found it easy or difficult to answer the 
questions about their use of cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, the 
Internet and gambling. For all behaviours, a very large majority 
answered that they found it very or fairly easy to answer the 
questions, with averages varying from 89 % to 95 % (Figure 1, 
Tables B and 2–5). There are no major differences between 
countries or between substances or Internet/gambling. The 
most important finding seems to be that slightly more 

8 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013FIGURE 1
Students who found it ‘very easy’ or ‘fairly easy’ to answer 
questions on different substances and the Internet/gambling
Percentages among all students (Tables B, 2–5)

92

89

92

100

95

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Cigarettes

Alcohol

Drugs

Internet/
gambling

TABLE B
Whether students found it easy or difficult to understand the 
questions about different substances, Internet and gambling: 
proportion of students who answered ‘very easy’ or ‘fairly 
easy’

Percentages (Tables 2–5)

Iceland

Italy

Montenegro Ukraine Average

Cigarettes

Alcohol

Drugs

Internet/
gambling

99

97

96

94

98

89

89

94

92

89

88

92

95

93

86

92

95

92

89

92

students in Iceland than in the other countries found it very 
easy to answer the questions about their use of different 
substances (with averages of about 86 % and 64–70 % 
respectively).

Students who responded that it was fairly or very difficult to 
answer one or more questions in the four different sections 
were asked why they found it difficult. The answers are 
summarised in Table 6. The highest figure (6 %) relates to the 
drugs questions. In about half of these cases the questions 
were said to be difficult to understand, and when asked to 
explain this nearly all (29 out of 33) students answered that 
they were unfamiliar with the terms, i.e. they did not know 
about the drug(s) mentioned. 

In addition to asking the students how easy it was to answer 
the questions on the different substances and their Internet 
and gambling habits, they were asked a separate question 
about whether there were any other questions that were 
difficult to answer. On average 14 % answered in the 
affirmative, with a range from 7 % to 21 % in the four countries 
(Table 7). 

The students who mentioned that they found one or more 
questions difficult to answer were asked which question(s) 
were difficult. A large number of questions were mentioned, 
eight of which were mentioned by more than 10 students 
(Table 8). The question that was mentioned most often was 
the one about the frequency of using drugs other than 
cannabis (23 respondents), followed by the question about 
the number of hours spent online (19). For six of the eight 
questions that students found difficult, a very large majority of 
the students were from one or two countries. 

It is obvious from the interviews that one reason why some 
students found the question about the use of drugs other than 
cannabis difficult to understand was related to the fact that 
some respondents had never heard of some of the drugs 
mentioned in the questionnaire.

I   Students’ understanding of some alcohol-related key 

variables

As mentioned above, some variables in the ESPAD 
questionnaire are often used to describe substance use habits 
and can be seen as key variables. A few of these questions 
may be slightly difficult to understand, including the question 
about the amount of alcohol consumed on the last drinking 
day (question 10) and the frequency of heavy episodic 
drinking (five or more drinks) (question 11). In addition to these 
two questions, an alternative heavy episodic drinking question 
was tested in which the amounts were described without 
using the ‘drink’ concept (question 12).

When the students were asked whether they understood 
these questions they were asked to look at their own 
questionnaire and explain to the interviewer how they 
understood it. It was then up to the interviewer to interpret 
whether this was a correct understanding and mark the 
relevant answer in the interview questionnaire.

The question about the amounts of alcohol consumed during 
the last drinking day consists of several sub-questions. The 
first asks which beverages they consumed that day, and this is 
followed by specific questions for each beverage. There is a 
risk that some students, when answering the questions about 
the consumption of the different beverages, may have 
forgotten that their answer should be about their last drinking 
day, and not about the last day when each of these beverages 
were consumed. 

The interviewer was asked to mark in the interview 
questionnaire whether the student understood the question 
correctly and, if this was not the case, whether the student 
misunderstood and did not always think about the last 
drinking day or whether he/she misunderstood the question in 
some other way. 

9 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013FIGURE 2
Students who correctly understood the questions about last 
drinking day, heavy episodic drinking (two questions) and 
new psychoactive substances

Percentages among all students (Tables C, 9–12)

81

80

77

72

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Latest 
drinking day

Heavy 
episodic 
drinking 
(5 or more 
drinks)

Heavy 
episodic 
drinking 
(alternative 
version)

New 
psychoactive 
substances

On average, 81 % of the students understood the question 
correctly, with a range from 70 % in Iceland to 91 % in Ukraine 
(Figure 2, Table 9). On average, 10 % misunderstood and 
thought that the sub-questions about the separate beverages 
were asking about the last day each of them was consumed. 
Nearly the same average proportion (8 %) misunderstood the 
question in some other way, with higher figures in Iceland 
(18 %) and Montenegro (9 %) than in Italy and Ukraine (about 
3 %).

ESPAD is using the following question to measure heavy 
episodic drinking: ‘Think back again over the LAST 30 DAYS. 
How many times (if any) have you had five or more drinks on 
one occasion? (A ‘drink’ is [INSERT NATIONALLY RELEVANT 
EXAMPLES].)’ The examples describe how a ‘drink’ is defined 
for different beverages using containers, glasses, etc. that are 
nationally relevant in order to represent a content of about 
50 cl of beer, cider or alcopops, 15 cl of wine and 5 cl of spirits. 

It is important that students understand that, if they had drunk 
more than one beverage, they should include all ‘drinks’, 
independent of beverage type. However, there is a risk that the 
question is misunderstood and that some students think that, 
in order to reach the total of five drinks, they should only 
include drinks of the same beverage type in their calculation. 
The question may of course also be misunderstood in some 
other way, and the interview questionnaire included four 
alternatives in total. 

other way. The proportion of students who understood the 
question correctly varied between countries, from 64 % in 
Iceland to 91 % in Italy.

The number of students who did not understand that they 
should add together all drinks, independent of beverage type, 
was higher in Iceland and Montenegro (about 17 %) than in 
Italy and Ukraine (about 6 %). There was also a larger 
proportion in Iceland than in all other countries that 
misunderstood the question in some other way (14 % and 
about 4 % respectively). 

Since the ‘drink’ concept is not relevant in all ESPAD 
countries, an alternative way of measuring heavy episodic 
drinking was tested by asking the following question: ‘Think 
back again over the LAST 30 DAYS. How many times (if any) 
have you been drinking alcohol equivalent to at least [INSERT 
NATIONALLY RELEVANT EXAMPLES]?’ The amount 
described should equal about 9 cl pure alcohol, which in 
reality means consumption of about the same amount as in 
the traditional heavy episodic drinking question (i.e. the ‘five or 
more drinks’ version). The examples should be nationally 
adjusted and could, as an example, be something like ‘four 
bottles of beer or a bottle of wine (75 cl) or 25 cl of spirits’.

On average, more than three-quarters of the students (77 %) 
understood the alternative heavy episodic drinking question 
correctly, with a range from 58 % in Iceland to 87 % in Ukraine 
(Figure 2, Table 11). The average proportion of students who 
misunderstood the question and did not realise that they 
should add together their consumption of different beverages 
was 14 %, with higher figures in Iceland and Montenegro 
(about 20 %) than in Italy and Ukraine (about 9 %). Fewer than 
one in ten (9 %) misunderstood the question in some other 
way, and the figure was much higher in Iceland (22 %) than in 
the other three countries (about 5 %).

I   Students’ understanding of a question about new 

psychoactive substances

New synthetic psychoactive substances are now available in 
many countries as a complement to more traditional drugs. 
These substances have become available at different times in 
different countries, and the types of new psychoactive 
substances have also differed between countries. As this is a 
fairly recent phenomenon, ESPAD data collections have not 
yet included questions about these new kinds of substances.

On average, 80 % of the students understood the question 
correctly while 11 % misunderstood that all the different kinds 
of beverages should be added together, and thought that they 
needed to drink at least five drinks of the same beverage in 
order to say yes (= answering with a frequency) (Figure 2, 
Table 10). A total of 8 % misunderstood the question in some 

Based on questions developed at the European Monitoring 
Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), four were 
tested in the validity study (questions 25–28 in the student 
questionnaire). In the interview the students were asked how 
they understood the first of these questions, and it was the 
interviewer’s responsibility to interpret whether a student 

10 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013It was thought that some students might find the question 
about possible harm to the student from others´ alcohol 
consumption a sensitive one. However, when the students in 
the interview were asked to report any questions that were 
difficult to answer, only 11 mentioned this question.

As reported above, only 31 respondents (3 %) said in the 
interview that the questions about the Internet and gambling 
were difficult to answer (Table 5). Half of these (15) mentioned 
that they found the initial question about the number of hours 
they spent online difficult to answer.

I  How honestly the students answered

Toward the end of the interview the students were asked how 
honestly they had answered the questions about their use of 
different substances, and how much they were on the Internet 
or gambled. Nearly all of the students declared that they had 
answered the questions honestly, and this is the case in all 
countries and also for the different kinds of questions, with 
proportions varying between 93 % and 100 % (Figure 3, 
Tables D and 13–16). In the very few cases when they said 
they had not answered honestly, it was more common for 
students to underreport than exaggerated the frequencies.

FIGURE 3
Students who said that they had given an honest answer to 
questions about different substances and Internet/gambling, 
and their view on whether all or nearly all their classmates 
had answered honestly

Percentages among all students (Tables E–F, 13–20)

96

84

100

98

97

99

81

80

81

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Cigarettes

Alcohol

Drugs

Internet/
gambling

Own

Classmates

TABLE C
Whether students understood or misunderstood an 
introductory question about new psychoactive substances

Percentages (Tables 12)

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Understood 
correctly

Misunderstood

64

36

70

30

78

22

77

23

72

28

understood the question correctly and, if they didn’t, what it 
was that the student misunderstood (question 10 in the 
interview questionnaire). 

Slightly more than seven in ten students (72 %) understood 
the question correctly, which means that 28 % misunderstood 
it in some way (Figure 2, Tables C and 12). Even though the 
proportion that misunderstood the question varied between 
the four countries (with a range of 22–36 %), it is evident that 
the level of misinterpretation is fairly high in all countries.

I  Testing some new questions

As has been the case when preparing for previous ESPAD 
data collections, the possibility of adding some new questions 
was discussed. A questionnaire group devised some potential 
new questions. Some of them had been used in earlier school 
surveys, while others were more or less new, at least in a 
school survey setting, which meant they should be tested 
before they could be used in the 2015 ESPAD data collection. 
The testing of two of the proposed questions — an alternative 
version of the heavy episodic drinking question and the 
introductory question about new psychoactive substances — 
has been reported in the two previous sections and will not be 
repeated in this section.

The proposed new questions were spread out in the student 
questionnaire and were asked in the same sections as other 
questions about the same substance. One was about the use 
of moist snuff, e-cigarettes and water pipe (question 7 in the 
student questionnaire) and the other was about others´ 
alcohol consumption and its possible harm to the respondent 
(question 16). In addition, five questions were asked about 
Internet use and gambling (questions 30–34). 

The idea behind testing the question about moist snuff, 
e-cigarettes and water pipe was primarily not to test whether 
the students were familiar with these substances, but to find 
out if there were any problems with the answering categories, 
which have never been used before in the ESPAD 
questionnaire. When the students in the interview were asked 
to report any questions that were difficult to answer, only six 
respondents mentioned this question. 

11 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013TABLE D
Students who said that they had given an honest answer to 
the questions about different substances and Internet/
gambling

Percentages (Table 13–16)

TABLE F
Proportion of students who thought their classmates had 
mainly underreported habits

Percentages among students answering that half,  
most or all classmates had not answered honestly (Tables 21–24)

Iceland Italy

Montenegro Ukraine Average

Iceland Italy

Montenegro Ukraine Average

Cigarettes

Alcohol

Drugs

Internet/
gambling

99

99

99

98

99

99

98

98

98

97

100

93

96

95

98

97

98

97

99

96

TABLE E
Students´ views on whether all or nearly all of their 
classmates had given honest answers to the questions about 
different substances and Internet/gambling

Percentages (Tables 17–20)

Iceland Italy

Montenegro Ukraine Average

Cigarettes

Alcohol

Drugs

Internet/
gambling

95

94

94

84

88

90

82

85

66

69

86

77

75

69

75

92

81

80

81

84

The students were also asked how honestly they thought that 
their classmates had answered the substance use, Internet 
and gambling questions. The answers are summarised in 
Figure 3 and Table E and reported separately for the different 
sections in Tables 17–20. 

On average, a little over 80 % of the students said that they 
thought that all or nearly all of their classmates had answered 
the questions honestly, and the figure is about the same for all 
substances, Internet and gambling. The figures are quite high 
for all four sections of questions in all countries. However, 
there are some important differences between countries.

For cigarettes and alcohol, more students thought their 
classmates had answered honestly in Iceland and Italy than in 
Montenegro and Ukraine (on average 92 % compared with 
70 %). In addition to this, fewer Ukrainian students thought 
their classmates had answered honestly about drug use, and 
the same is true about the Internet and gambling figure in 
Montenegro. 

Students who thought that half, most or all of their classmates 
had not answered honestly were asked whether they thought 
that they had exaggerated or underreported their use. In a 
large majority of these cases they thought that their 
classmates had underreported how often they used different 
substances or were on the Internet or gambled, with averages 
between 81 % and 89 % (Tables F and 21–24). Note that the 
bases for these calculations are small, especially in Iceland, 
which makes the figures uncertain.

Cigarettes

Alcohol

Drugs

Internet/
gambling

N (1)

100

100

100

100

3–7

77

47

87

87

80

83

71

92

91

94

98

73

87

81

89

88

17–45

24–49

11–58

69–134

(1)   The numbers in each country vary between substances and the ranges are 

shown in the table. The figures for each substance and country are available 
in Tables 21–24. Note that the bases for the calculations are very small, 
especially in Iceland.

The figures are generally high in all countries, with Iceland the 
highest at 100 %. The most obvious exception is that a small 
majority (53 %) in Italy thought that their classmates had 
mainly exaggerated their alcohol consumption. Relatively high 
figures for exaggeration can also be found in Montenegro 
about drug use (29 %) and in Ukraine about Internet use and 
gambling (27 %).

I  The opinions of survey leaders

As is the case in the regular ESPAD data collections, the 
survey leaders were asked to fill out a classroom report with 
information about present and absent students. The report 
also included questions on the survey leaders´ opinion of the 
data collection. Information from the classroom reports is 
presented at class level in Tables G and 25. 

In 40 of the 52 participating classes the survey leaders 
reported that there were no disturbances during the data 
collection, 11 that only a few students had been disruptive, 
and one that more than a few students had been disruptive. In 

TABLE G
The opinions of survey leaders

Absolute numbers at class level (Table 25)

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

No disturbances 
in the classroom

All/nearly all 
answered 
honestly

Very/rather easy 
to answer the 
questionnaire

No questions 
difficult to 
answer

Number of 
classes

7

10

7

1

10

9

9

8

9

10

9

8

9

3

9

15

21

22

14

23

40 
(77 %)

48 
(92 %)

46 
(88 %)

27 
(52 %)

52

12 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013nearly all classes (48 out of 52) it was reported that all or 
nearly all of the students had worked seriously. In about the 
same number of classes (46), the survey leader thought that it 
was very or rather easy for the students to answer the 
questionnaire.

About half of the survey leaders (27 out of 52) answered that 
there were no questions that the students had asked about. 
Nine reported that some students found some questions that 
were difficult to understand, seven that students did not 
understand how to answer a question and 15 reported other 
kinds of difficulties.

There is a difference between countries in the number of 
survey leaders who reported that students had asked about 
questions. This only happened in one class in Italy, while it was 
more common in the other countries.

Survey leaders reporting that one or more questions were 
difficult to answer were asked which questions the students 
had mentioned. The examples mentioned are spread out 
across 29 different questions. Six survey leaders answered 
that students asked about questions 21 and 29 in the student 
questionnaire, while four said question 23. All the other 
questions were mentioned by three or fewer survey leaders.

I  Discussion

This section follows the same structure as the results section. 

When some of the results from a country differed from the 
results in the others, the relevant researcher was asked via 
email to comment on these differences. Some of these 
comments are presented in this section. It also includes some 
data from the student questionnaire. 

I  Interest and possible difficulties

On average, 79 % of the students found it very or fairly 
interesting to participate in the classroom survey about their 
substance use, 17 % answered neither/nor and only 4 % that it 
was very or fairly uninteresting. The figures clearly indicate a 
high level of interest from students in the ESPAD target 
population in taking part in school surveys about their use of 
different substances. 

A large majority said in the interviews that the questions on 
cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, the Internet and gambling were very 
or fairly easy to answer. The averages were high for all four 
sections, with a range of 89–95 %, which indicates that the 
questionnaire as a whole was not difficult to answer.

About one in seven students (14 %) gave examples of 
questions that they found difficult to answer, which might be 
seen as quite a high figure. However, only eight questions were 
mentioned by more than 10 respondents and the highest 
number of respondents who mentioned a particular question 
was difficult was 23 (of the 1 138 survey participants). Hence, 
even though some students gave examples of questions that 
they found difficult to answer, the questions mentioned were 
located in different places in the student questionnaire and no 
single question stood out.

For six of the eight questions mentioned by more than 10 
students as difficult to answer, most of these students were 
from one or two countries, indicating cultural differences in 
which questions students found difficult to answer.

I   Students’ understanding of some alcohol-related key 

variables

On average, 81 % of the students understood the question 
about the amount of alcohol consumed during the last 
drinking day; 10 % misunderstood it and thought that the 
sub-questions about the separate beverages were about the 
last day each of them had been consumed, while 8 % 
misunderstood it in some other way. The proportion of 
students in Iceland in the last category was 18 %, which was 
higher than the other countries, and the figure was also quite 
high in Montenegro (9 %). 

The Icelandic researcher was asked to comment on this and 
responded that many students in Iceland don´t drink alcohol, 
and thus they did not always read the alcohol-related 
questions carefully enough (Arnarsson, 2014). A similar 
comment was also made by the colleague in Montenegro 
(Djurisic, 2014). 

The proportion of students that misunderstood and thought 
they their answer should be about the last time they had drunk 
each of the beverages and not about their last drinking day as 
such (10 %) is in practice not a relevant methodological 
problem, since the answers to the first sub-question about 
which beverages they consumed on the last drinking day is 
used as a filter question. In other words, the consumption of a 
beverage in sub-questions (b)–(e) in question 10 that was not 
mentioned in the initial sub-question is put at zero and is 
therefore not included in the calculations about the amount of 
alcohol consumed during the last drinking day. 

Hence, the methodologically most important students are 
those 8 % who misunderstood the question in some other 
way. A way to understand if this really is an important 
methodological problem is to examine who these students 
are. Data from the student questionnaire show that 76 % of 
these 8 % were non-consumers (Table H). Hence, in reality 

13 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013TABLE H
Students who did not drink alcohol or had never used new 
psychoactive substances

Percentages among all students who did not understand some  
questions about  their alcohol consumption or the introductory  
question about new psychoactive substances

Non-consumers

Last drinking day (misunderstood in some other 
way than that the consumption of different 
beverages was related to the last drinking day)

76 %

Of the 23 % who did not understand the alternative question 
about heavy episodic drinking, 95 % did not drink alcohol, 
which they stated in the student questionnaire (Table H). 
Hence, the situation is the same as for the traditional heavy 
episodic drinking question, i.e. that nearly all of the students 
who misunderstood the question were non-drinkers, and as 
long as they state correctly that they are non-drinkers it is not 
methodologically important that they ‘don’t bother’ to read the 
question carefully enough to understand it correctly. 

Heavy episodic drinking, traditional  
(5 or more drinks)

 Misunderstood that beverages should be 
added together

  Other reasons

Heavy episodic drinking,  
possible alternative question

 Misunderstood that beverages should be 
added together

  Other reasons

New psychoactive substances

100 %

89 %

96 %

94 %

96 %

only about 2 % of all students (76 % of the 8 %) did not 
understand the question correctly in a way that might 
negatively influence the validity, which is quite a low figure and 
cannot be seen as an important methodological problem. 

On average, 80 % of the students correctly understood the 
‘traditional’ question about heavy episodic drinking (five or 
more drinks), while 11 % misunderstood and thought that they 
needed to drink at least five drinks of the same beverage in 
order to say yes (= answering with a frequency). In total, 8 % 
misunderstood the question in some other way. 

All (100 %) of the 11 % of students who did not understand 
that ‘drinks’ of different beverages should be added were 
non-consumers of alcohol, while 89 % of the 8 % who 
misunderstood the question in some other way were non-
consumers (Table H). Hence, nearly all of the students who 
misunderstood the traditional heavy episodic drinking 
question did not drink alcohol. Since they answered in the 
student questionnaire that they didn’t drink alcohol, the fact 
that they did not fully understand the question is not a 
methodological problem. The explanation is most probably 
that, since they didn’t drink alcohol, they did not (and did not 
have to) give the question enough attention in order to 
understand it correctly. 

On average, more than three-quarters of the students (77 %) 
understood the alternative heavy episodic drinking question 
correctly. The average proportion of students who 
misunderstood the question and did not comprehend that 
they should add the possible consumption of different 
beverages together was 14 %, while fewer than one in ten 
(9 %) misunderstood the question in some other way.

As mentioned above, the alternative question about heavy 
episodic drinking was put in the student questionnaire to test 
whether it might be easier to answer and understand than the 
traditional one. The proportion of students who correctly 
understood the two questions was about the same, indicating 
that the possible new version was not easier to understand. 
Hence, since the traditional version has been used in several 
ESPAD data collections, and since it is a frequently used 
international measure, there is no reason to change the heavy 
episodic drinking question in the ESPAD questionnaire.

I   Students’ understanding of a question about new 

psychoactive substances

A set of four questions about new psychoactive substances 
was tested. In the interview the students were asked whether 
they understood the first of these questions and it was the 
interviewer’s responsibility to interpret whether a student 
understood the question correctly and, if this was not the 
case, what it was that the student did not understand.

Slightly more than seven in ten students (72 %) understood 
the question correctly, while 28 % misunderstood it in some 
way. Nearly all of the students who did not understand the 
question correctly (96 %) answered in the student 
questionnaire that they had never used any of these 
substances (Table H). 

Hence, the situation is the same as for the alcohol-related 
questions discussed above, i.e. nearly all of the students who 
did not understand the question were non-consumers, which 
they had also stated in the questionnaire. Many of them had 
never heard about the substances mentioned in the question, 
but as long as they give the answer that they had not used 
them it is not a methodological problem that they have never 
heard of them.

I  Testing some new questions

In addition to the new questions discussed above, some other 
possible new questions were tested in the student 
questionnaire. One was about the use of moist snuff, 
e-cigarettes and water pipe and another was about the 

14 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
possible harm to the respondent from others’ alcohol 
consumption. In addition, five new questions were asked 
about Internet use and gambling.

None of these questions seemed to create any significant 
problems for the students, and there are no methodological 
reasons why they should not be used in the 2015 data 
collection.

I  How honestly the students answered

Nearly all of the students in all countries responded that they 
had given honest answers to the questions about their use of 
cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, and their Internet and gambling 
habits. The average figure for the four sections of questions is 
98 %, which clearly indicates that, according to the students 
themselves, they answered the questions in the student 
questionnaire honestly. 

It could be argued that these very high figures about one’s 
own honesty are related to the interview situation and a wish 
to give a socially desirable answer. However, the figures were 
equally high in the 1998 ESPAD validity study when the 
students anonymously answered a self-administered 
questionnaire in a classroom setting (Hibell, 1999). Hence, it 
seems reasonable to assume that the students, or at least a 
very large majority, really did answer honestly.

Several interviewers reported that they thought the students 
believed the data collection was anonymous and trusted that 
it was confidential. The importance of this for giving honest 
answers was also apparent in the 1998 ESPAD validity study 
(Hibell, 1999). In that study students from two countries 
(Hungary and Sweden) were interviewed after the second 
classroom data collection, and students from both countries 
said that they gave honest answers and that the main reason 
was that they trusted that they were anonymous.

More than 80 % of all students said they thought that all or 
nearly all of their classmates had given honest answers to the 
questions about their use of different substances (cigarettes, 
alcohol and drugs), the Internet and gambling. However, 
although more than 80 % is a high figure, it is clear that some 
students believed that they themselves had answered more 
honestly than their classmates.

Even though the figures are high in all countries for all four 
sections of questions, students’ belief that their classmates 
would answer honestly is slightly lower in Montenegro 
(cigarettes, alcohol and Internet/gambling) and Ukraine 
(cigarettes, alcohol and drugs) than in Iceland and Italy. The 
responsible researchers in Ukraine and Montenegro were 
asked why they thought that this was the case. The Ukrainian 
researcher commented that this is probably a reflection of the 

general mistrust of others in Ukrainian society, and her opinion 
was that the truth about the honesty of the answers could be 
found in what the students said about themselves (Balakireva, 
2014). The colleague in Montenegro thought that to some 
extent this was also true for the Montenegrin students 
(Djurisic, 2014).

Students answering that half, most or all of their classmates 
had not answered honestly were asked whether they thought 
that their classmates had exaggerated or underreported their 
habits. In a large majority of these cases (on average 81–
89 %) they thought that classmates had underreported how 
often they used different substances or were on the Internet 
or gambled. Even though these figures are based on the 
answers of a minority of about 20 % of the respondents, and 
thus should be interpreted with caution, they suggest that 
students who don´t give honest answers can usually be 
expected to have underreported their habits. 

The proportion of students who felt their classmates had 
underreported their habits was generally high in all countries, 
with 100 % in Iceland as the highest. The most obvious 
exception was that a small majority in Italy (53 %) thought that 
their classmates had primarily exaggerated their alcohol 
consumption. One of the responsible Italian researchers 
commented that contrary to other substances, the use of 
alcohol is not as stigmatised in Italy and drinking is socially 
accepted, so it seems plausible that some Italian students 
thought that their classmate might exaggerate when reporting 
their alcohol consumption (Siciliano, 2015).

Hence, even if the overall conclusion is that students who 
don´t answer honestly tend to underreport their substance 
use, it is possible that in some particular cases underreporting 
and exaggerating might differ between substances and 
countries. 

I  The opinions of survey leaders

A large majority of the survey leaders reported that there were 
no disturbances during the data collection, that all or nearly all 
of the students worked seriously and that they thought it was 
very or rather easy for the students to answer the 
questionnaire. This indicates that the students felt 
comfortable in the classroom situation when answering the 
student questionnaire. 

However, some students asked about particular questions 
when answering the student questionnaire. This was reported 
by half of the survey leaders, but to a smaller extent in Italy 
where it was only mentioned in one in ten classroom reports. 
This might indicate a cultural difference, but may also mirror 
that fact that Italy was the only country in which teachers were 
survey leaders and as such they may be more used to 

15 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013questions and comments from the students and may not have 
taken as much notice of them as the research assistants who 
were responsible in the other countries. 

The questions the survey leaders reported that the students 
asked about were spread out across 29 different questions, 
and only three were reported by more than three respondents. 
Two of them were related to drug use and, as mentioned 
above, this is probably to a large extend connected to the fact 
that some students had never heard of one or more of the 
drugs mentioned in the student questionnaire.

Even though some students asked about particular questions 
that were difficult to understand or answer, they were spread 
out in the student questionnaire and no single question 
appeared to be difficult for more than a few students.

In the interviews it was found that some students did not 
correctly understand the questions about the last drinking day 
and heavy episodic drinking, which have been used in several 
ESPAD data collections. This was the case for about 20 % of 
the students. However, nearly all of these answered in the 
student questionnaire that they did not drink alcohol. Since 
they were non-consumers it seems likely that they looked for 
the answer category that they did not drink alcohol (which was 
easy to find since it was the first answering category) rather 
than trying to understand the questions about their last 
drinking day and possible heavy episodic drinking. As long as a 
respondent answers that he/she does not drink alcohol, it is 
not a methodological problem if a student does not (try to) 
understand a question about alcohol consumption. As long as 
respondents answer that they do not drink alcohol, the validity 
is not negatively influenced.

I  The validity of the ESPAD questionnaire

At least three conditions need to be fulfilled in order to have a 
high validity in surveys, which in the case of ESPAD means to 
correctly measure substance use habits among European school 
students who will become 16 years of age during the year of the 
data collection. First, the respondents must be willing to answer 
the questions; second, they must understand the questions; and 
third, they must be willing to answer honestly. 

In the validity study, and also in regular ESPAD data 
collections, very few students refused to take part. Hence, 
student unwillingness to participate is not a methodological 
problem.

A very large majority found it interesting to answer the student 
questionnaire. Feedback from the survey leaders also 
supported this, since most answered that there were no 
disturbances in the classroom and that all or nearly all 
students worked seriously.

Only a few students mentioned in the interview that one or 
more questions were difficult to answer. These questions were 
spread out in the questionnaire and no one question was 
mentioned by more than 2 % of the respondents. In addition, 
the survey leaders reported that the students asked about a 
variety of questions, which clearly indicates that no single 
question stands out as difficult to answer. 

It can therefore be concluded that the questionnaire as a 
whole was not difficult to answer, and this is also supported by 
the survey leaders, with 46 of 52 reporting that the student 
questionnaire seemed to be very or rather easy to answer.

Some possible new questions to be used in the 2015 ESPAD 
data collection were tested and none of them was found to be 
difficult to answer. 

Quite a few students (28 %) did not correctly understand a 
question about new psychoactive substances. In many of 
these cases the students simply had not heard about one or 
more of the substances mentioned. Even more important is 
that nearly all of them (99 %) answered in the student 
questionnaire that they had never used any of these 
substances, which leads to the same conclusion as 
mentioned above with regard to drinking alcohol, i.e. that as 
long as a student answers that he/she has not used any of 
these substances, it is not a methodological problem if the 
question is not correctly understood. 

Nearly all of the students (on average 98 % for the different 
substances) stated in the interview that they had given honest 
answers in the student questionnaire. As mentioned above, 
one might argue that this high figure might to some extent be 
explained by a wish to give a social desirable answer. However, 
the corresponding figure was equally high (96 %) in the 1998 
ESPAD validity study when the students anonymously 
answered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire in a classroom 
setting (Hibell, 1999). Considering the anonymous nature of a 
classroom data collection it seems reasonable to assume that 
the students gave honest answers to questions about their 
substance use habits.

Even though more than 80 % of the students believed that all 
or nearly all of their classmates had answered the student 
questionnaire honestly, it is obvious that some respondents 
trust themselves more than their classmates. In Ukraine, and 
maybe also in Montenegro, this might to some extent reflect a 
general mistrust of others, which might mean that they 
overestimate their classmates´ unwillingness to answer 
truthfully. 

It should also be noted that students are only guessing about 
their classmates´ honesty, and these guesses may not be 
correct. The students cannot really know unless they have 

16 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013discussed it with their classmates, and there was no time for 
this before the interview. 

which made it necessary to organise the interview room in 
such a way that the interviewer could not see what the 
students had answered.

Due to the anonymous nature of answering the student 
questionnaire in the classrooms, it seems reasonable to 
assume that a very large majority of the students answered 
honestly. However, it is certainly possible that some students 
did not give honest answers and that when this happened 
most of them probably underreported. 

In the interview the students were asked which questions, if 
any, they found difficult to answer, how some key variable 
questions were understood, how honestly they had answered 
the questions and how honestly they thought that their 
classmates had answered. 

To conclude, there is reason to assume that the validity is high 
when using the ESPAD questionnaire in an anonymous 
classroom setting, since:

No problems were reported from the data collection in the 
classroom session or during the interviews in any of the 
countries.

n 

n 
n 

n 

 all but five students were willing to answer the 
questionnaire;
 only a few found any of the questions difficult to answer;
 nearly all of the students who did not understand 
questions about the last drinking day, heavy episodic 
drinking and the possible use of new psychoactive 
substances were non-consumers (which they stated in the 
student questionnaire);
 there is reason to believe that a very large majority 
answered honestly.

I  Summary and conclusions

The second ESPAD methodology study was carried out in 
2013 in four countries (Iceland, Italy, Moldova and Ukraine), 
following a first study carried out in seven countries in 1998. 
The goal was to study the validity of the ESPAD questionnaire 
and to test some possible new questions for the 2015 ESPAD 
data collection. Since this was a methodological study, and 
there was no intention to measure substance use habits in a 
geographically defined area, participating classes were not 
randomly sampled.

A total of 1 138 students took part — 243 in Iceland, 199 in 
Italy, 266 in Montenegro and 430 in Ukraine. Nine in ten 
students in sampled classes were present and participated in 
the data collection. Only five students refused to take part. 
The average time students took to answer the questionnaire 
was 27 minutes.

In a first stage the students answered a questionnaire that 
included many of the ESPAD core questions and also the 
possible new questions that were being tested. This was done 
in the classrooms in the same way as for regular ESPAD data 
collections. Each student placed the answered questionnaire 
in an individual envelope that he/she brought unsealed to an 
individual interview directly following the session in the 
classroom. The reason it was unsealed was that the students 
needed to consult the questionnaire during the interview, 

The main results are as follows:

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

 About 80 % of the students found it very or fairly 
interesting to participate in the classroom survey.
 A large majority of the survey leaders mentioned that there 
were no disturbances during the data collection and that 
all or nearly all students worked seriously.
 A very large majority (around 90 %) of the students stated 
that the questions in the student questionnaire were easy 
to answer.
 A large majority of the survey leaders reported that they 
thought the students found the questionnaire very or fairly 
easy to answer.
 When students were asked to mention questions that were 
difficult to answer, various questions were stated. The 
highest number of students who mentioned one particular 
question was 23, which corresponds to 2 % of all students.
 The survey leaders reported from the classroom data 
collection that the questions the students asked about 
were varied, and the highest number for single questions 
were six (two questions) and four (one question). 
 Among students who mentioned problems in answering 
questions about drugs, the main reason was that they had 
not heard about the drug(s) in question. 
 Around 80 % of the students correctly understood the 
question about the last drinking day and also the two 
questions about heavy episodic drinking. In nearly all cases 
when a question was not understood the respondent did 
not drink alcohol. 
 Close to three in ten students (28 %) misunderstood a 
question about new psychoactive substances. Nearly all of 
these (96 %) had never used these substances. 
 A possible new question about moist snuff, e-cigarettes 
and water pipe was tested, as was one about the potential 
harm to the respondent from others’ alcohol consumption. 
Five new questions were also asked about Internet use and 
gambling. None of them were difficult for the students to 
understand.
 Nearly all students (on average 98 %) declared that they 
had answered the questions in the student questionnaire 
honestly.

17 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013n 

n 

n 

 More than 80 % of all students thought that all or nearly all 
of their classmates had answered the questions in the 
student questionnaire honestly.
 Most of the students thought that any classmate who had 
not answered honestly would generally underreport their 
habits. 
 The trust in classmates giving honest answers was slightly 
lower in Montenegro and Ukraine, which to some extent 
might reflect a general mistrust of others in these 
countries.

The main conclusions are as follows:

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

 Students generally found the ESPAD questionnaire 
interesting to answer, an opinion that is supported by 
information from the survey leaders.
 With only a few exceptions, the students mentioned that 
they did not have problems in answering the questions, a 
view that also was reported by the survey leaders.
 Questions that students and survey leaders mentioned 
were difficult to answer were spread out across the student 
questionnaire and no single question stands out.
 There were some cultural differences in which questions 
were difficult to answer.
 Nearly all of the students who did not correctly understand 
a question about the last drinking day and two questions 
about heavy episodic drinking did not drink alcohol, which 
means that this is not a methodologically important issue 
that would influence the quality of the data to any 
important extent.
 Since an alternative way of asking about heavy episodic 
drinking was no better understood by the students than the 
traditional question (five or more drinks), there is no reason 
to change the traditional version, which has already been 
used in several ESPAD data collections. 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

n 

 Nearly all of the 28 % of students who misunderstood a 
question about new psychoactive substances had never 
used these drugs, which means that this is not a 
methodologically important issue that would influence the 
quality of the data to any important extent.
 With very few exceptions, students had no problems in 
answering the possible new questions that were tested.
 It can be expected that to a very large extent students give 
honest answers when answering the ESPAD questionnaire.
 When students do not answer honestly, they probably 
underreport in most cases. 
 The possibility that students might also exaggerate their 
habits was indicated with respect to alcohol consumption 
among Italian students, which suggests that exaggeration 
will sometimes occur, and that under- and over-reporting 
might differ between substances and countries. 
 Nearly all students said that they had answered the 
questions in the student questionnaire honestly, while just 
over 80 % thought their classmates had also answered 
honestly. One important reason for giving honest answers 
seems to be that the students trusted that the study was 
anonymous. This indicates that there are more reasons to 
believe what the students say about themselves than their 
assumptions with regard to their classmates. 
 The validity is high when the ESPAD questionnaire is used 
in school surveys under conditions in which the students 
trust the anonymity, as demonstrated by the students’ 
willingness to give honest answers, combined with a very 
high willingness to answer the student questionnaire, the 
fact that few students found questions difficult to answer, 
and when they did not correctly understand the questions 
about the last drinking day, heavy episodic drinking and 
new psychoactive substances they answered that they 
were non-consumers. 

18 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013References

 Arnarsson, A. (2014), Personal email conversation.

 Balakireva, O. (2014), Personal email conversation.

 Djurisic, T. (2014), Personal email conversation.

 Hibell, B. (1999), ‘Do they tell the truth? A methodological study in seven countries about the validity 

in school surveys.’ Paper presented at the 38th International Congress on Alcohol, Drugs and other 

Dependencies, Vienna, Austria, 16–20 August 1999, The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol 

and Other Drugs (CAN), Stockholm, Sweden.

 Hibell, B., Guttormsson, U., Ahlström, S., et al. ( 2012), The 2011 ESPAD Report: substance use 

among students in 36 European countries, The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other 

Drugs (CAN), Stockholm, Sweden. 

 Siciliano, V. (2015), Personal email conversation.

I 
I 
I 
I 

I 

I 

19 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013I  Appendix 1

TABLE 1
How interesting or unteresting it was to participate in the 
study

TABLE 5
How easy or difficult it was to answer the questions about 
Internet use and gambling

Percentages

Percentages

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine

Average

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Very interesting 11

Fairly Interesting 50

Neither 
interesting nor 
uniteresting

Fairly 
uninteresting

Very 
uninteresting

33

5

1

27

62

9

3

0

29

57

12

1

0

46

36

12

6

0

28

51

17

4

0

TABLE 2
How easy or difficult it was to answer the questions about 
tobacco

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine

Average

Percentages

Very easy

Fairly easy

Neither easy nor 
difficult

Fairly difficult

Very difficult

88

11

2

0

0

79

19

62

30

0

2

0

6

2

0

67

28

4

1

0

74

22

3

1

0

TABLE 3
How easy or difficult it was to answer the questions about 
alcohol

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine (1) Average

Percentages

Very easy

Fairly easy

Neither easy nor 
difficult

Fairly difficult

Very difficult

83

14

2

1

0

67

22

58

31

4

8

1

8

2

1

62

31

6

2

0

68

25

5

3

1

(1)  19 % of the Ukranian students did not answer the question

TABLE 4
How easy or difficult it was to answer the questions about 
drugs

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine

Average

Percentages

Very easy

Fairly easy

Neither easy nor 
difficult

Fairly difficult

Very difficult

88

8

2

2

0

63

26

2

9

0

71

17

4

7

2

63

23

7

5

0

71

19

7

5

0

Very easy

Fairly easy

Neither easy nor 
difficult

Fairly difficult

Very difficult

65

29

4

2

0

71

23

1

5

0

59

33

6

3

2

64

28

6

1

0

65

28

4

3

0

TABLE 6
Reasons why questions in different sections were difficult to 
answer

Absoloute numbers out of all 1 138 students

Question 
difficult to 
understand

Answering 
categories 
did not fit

Other

All
(number)

All
(percent)

Cigarettes 2

Alcohol

Drugs

Internet/
gambling

7

33

8

0

8

9

10

11

21

27

13

13

36 (101)

69 (292)

31

1 %

3 %

6 %

3 %

(1)  Difficult to remember
(2)  Not familiar with the terms

TABLE 7
Whether any questions were difficult to answer

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

No

Yes

80

21

87

13

85

15

92

7

86

14

Percentages

TABLE 8
The questions students mentioned as difficult to answer

Absoloute numbers out of all 1 138 students

Question 
number

Content of the question

Number of 
students 
mentioning 
this question

23

30

36

35

29

16

13

21

Frequency of drugs other than cannabis

Hours spent online

Family well off (relative to others)

Father's schooling

Possible harm of substance use

Harm due to others´drinking

23 (1)

19 (2)

16

15 (3)

15

14 (4)

Consumption of a large amount of alcohol 13 (5)

Difficult to get drugs other than cannabis

11 (6)

(1)  20 of the 23 are from Italy and Montenegro
(2)  16 of the 19 are from Iceland and Italy
(3)  14 of the 15 are from Iceland
(4)  12 of the 14 are from Italy and Montenegro
(5)  11 of the 13 are from Italy
(6)  All 11 are from Montenegro

20 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013TABLE 9
How the question about the last drinking day was understood
Percentages

TABLE 12
How the question about new psychoactive substances was 
understood

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Percentages

64

70

78

77

72

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Correctly 
understood

Misunderstood 
about which day

Misunderstood 
in some other 
way

70

12

81

16

18

4

83

7

9

91

6

2

81

10

8

TABLE 10
How the regular question about heavy episodic drinking 
(5 or more drinks) was understood

Correctly 
understood

Misunderstood 
examples in first 
bracket

Misunderstood 
examples in 
second bracket

Misunderstood 
what the question 
was about

2

5

3

15

2

6

20

1

13

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Percentages

Misunderstood in 
some other way

6

12

1

6

11

4

0

3

9

9

5

Correctly 
understood

Misunderstood 
beverage 
mixture

Misunderstood 
examples

Misunderstood 
the drink 
concept

Misunderstood 
in some other 
way

64

91

80

86

80

18

1

1

14

4

0

0

5

15

2

1

3

7

1

1

4

11

1

1

6

TABLE 13
Whether student had given honest answers to questions 
about cigarette habits

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Percentages

Honest 
answers (1)

Exaggerated

Underrated

99

0

1

99

98

0

1

0

2

96

2

2

98

0

1

(1)  Including the answering category ‘Don´t smoke, which I also answered.’

TABLE 11
How the question about an alternative way of measuring 
heavy episodic drinking (9 cl of pure alcohol) was understood
Percentages

TABLE 14
Whether student had given honest answers to questions 
about alcohol habits

Percentages

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Correctly 
understood

Misunderstood 
beverage 
mixture

Misunderstood 
in some other 
way

58

86

76

87

77

20

22

9

5

19

5

8

4

14

9

Honest 
answers (1)

Exaggerated

Underrated

99

0

0

98

97

1

1

1

2

95

1

3

98

1

1

(1)  Including the answering category ‘Don´t use alcohol, which I also answered.’

TABLE 15
Whether student had given honest answers to questions 
about drug habits

Percentages

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Honest 
answers (1)

Exaggerated

Underrated

99

0

0

98

100

1

1

0

0

98

0

1

99

0

1

(1)  Including the answering category ‘Don´t use drugs, which I also answered.’

21 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013TABLE 16
Whether student had given honest answers to questions 
about Internet and gambling habits

TABLE 20
Student’s view on whether their classmates had given honest 
answers about Internet use and gambling habits

Percentages

Percentages

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Honest 
answers (1)

Exaggerated

Underreported

98

0

2

98

93

2

1

2

5

97

1

3

96

1

3

(1)   Including the answering category ‘Never use the Internet or gamble, which I 

also answered.’

TABLE 17
Student’s view on whether classmates had given honest 
answers about their tobacco habits

Percentages

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

All or nearly all 
were honest

Most were 
honest

About half were 
honest

Most were not 
honest

All or nearly all 
were not honest

35

60

2

2

0

53

35

10

3

0

24

42

16

18

0

35

40

15

9

1

37

44

11

8

0

TABLE 18
Student’s view on whether their classmates had given honest 
answers about their alcohol habits

Percentages

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

All or nearly all 
were honest

Most were 
honest

About half were 
honest

Most were not 
honest

All or nearly all 
were not honest

34

60

5

1

0

54

24

36

45

7

3

0

17

15

0

29

40

19

11

1

35

45

12

7

0

All or nearly all 
were honest

Most were 
honest

About half were 
honest

Most were not 
honest

All or nearly all 
were not honest

44

40

13

1

0

56

44

29

33

13

14

2

0

9

1

57

35

6

3

0

50

34

11

3

0

TABLE 21
Student’s view on whether their classmates exaggerated or 
underreported tobacco habits

Percentages among students who thought that half or  
less of classmates had answered honestly

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Mainly 
exaggerated

Mainly 
underreported

N (1)

0

23

20

100

5

77

22

80

49

9

91

43

13

87

119

(1)   Please observe that that bases for the calculations are small, especially in 

Iceland

TABLE 22
Student’s view on whether their classmates had exaggerated 
or underreported alcohol habits

Percentages among students who thought that half or  
less of the classmates  answered honestly

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Mainly 
exaggerated

Mainly 
underreported

N (1)

0

53

18

100

3

47

17

83

40

6

94

51

19

81

111

(1)   Please observe that that bases for the calculations are small, especially in 

Iceland

TABLE 19
Student’s view on whether their classmates had given honest 
answers about drug habits

TABLE 23
Student’s view on whether their classmates had exaggerated 
or underreported drug habits

Percentages

Percentages

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

All or nearly all 
were honest

Most were 
honest

About half were 
honest

Most were not 
honest

All or nearly all 
were not honest

51

43

3

3

0

41

31

18

8

1

58

28

6

8

1

43

32

12

11

2

48

33

10

7

1

Mainly 
exaggerated

Mainly 
underreported

N (1)

0

100

7

13

87

45

29

71

24

2

98

58

11

89

134

(1)   Please observe that that bases for the calculations are small, especially in 

Iceland

22 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013TABLE 24
Student’s view on whether their classmates had exaggerated 
or underreported Internet use and gambling habits

Percentages among students who thought that half or  
less of classmates had answered honestly

Iceland Italy Montenegro Ukraine Average

Mainly 
exaggerated

Mainly 
underreported

N (1)

0

13

8

100

3

87

30

92

25

27

73

11

12

88

69

(1)   Please observe that that bases for the calculations are small, especially in 

Iceland

TABLE 25
The opinions of survey leaders

Reported disturbances in the classroom

  No disturbances

  From a few students

  More than a few students

Students working seriously

  All/nearly all

  A majority

  Half or less

Easy or difficult to answer the questionnaire

  Very easy

  Rather easy

  Neither easy nor difficult

  Rather/very difficult

Questions that students asked about

  None

  Question difficult to understand

  Did not understand how to answer

  Difficult for other reasons

Number of classes

Iceland

Italy

Montenegro Ukraine

Average

Absolute numbers at class level

7

3

0

10

0

0

1

6

3

0

1

5

4

4

9

1

0

9

1

0

2

6

2

0

9

0

1

0

10

10

9

0

0

8

1

0

0

9

0

0

3

3

1

4

9

15

7

1

21

1

1

1

21

1

0

14

1

1

7

23

40 (77 %)

11 (21 %)

1 (2 %)

48 (92 %)

3 (6 %)

1 (2 %)

4 (8 %)

42 (81 %)

6 (12 %)

0 (0 %)

27 (52 %)

9 (17 %)

7 (13 %)

15 (29 %)

52

23 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013I  Appendix 2

                                                                                                                                                                 Appendix II 

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs 
www.espad.org 

Questionnaire on substance use 

Read this first please! 

This questionnaire is part of an international study on substance use among European students. It will 
be answered by students in five countries in different parts of Europe. The study is called ESPAD. 

This is a totally anonymous questionnaire. You should not state your name or any other information 
which identifies you. You should place your completed questionnaire in the enclosed envelope but not 
seal it until later. After completion you will be asked to take part in a short interview to which you should 
bring your envelope.  

Your class has been randomly selected to take part in this study. The survey is carried out by 
[ORGANISATION]. It is voluntary to take part. If there is any question you find objectionable for any 
reason, just leave it blank. It is important that you answer as thoughtfully and frankly as possible. The 
results will not be presented by single classes or schools and remember your answers are totally 
anonymous. 

If you do not find an answer that fits exactly, indicate the one that comes closest. Please mark the 
appropriate answer to each question by making an ‘X’ in the box. If you have a question, please raise 
your hand and your survey leader will assist you. 

Thank you in advance for your participation! Please begin. 

LOGO 
FIELD WORK  
ORGANISATION 

Contact info of the organisation responsible for the field work/national survey. 

24 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The first questions ask for some background information about yourself and the kinds of things you might do

C01

What is your sex? 

1

2

Male

Female

C02

When were you born? 

  Year 19   

C03

How often (if at all) do you do each of the following?  
Mark one box for each line. 

A few 
times a 
year 

Once or 
twice a 
month 

At least 
once a 
week 

Almost 
every 
day 

Never 

a)  Play computer games .................................................................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

b)  Actively participate in sports, athletics or exercising ..................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

c)  Read books for enjoyment (do not count schoolbooks) ................................ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

d)  Go out in the evening (to a disco, cafe, party etc) ......................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

e)  Other hobbies (play an instrument, sing, draw, write) ................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

f)  Go around with friends to shopping centres, streets, parks, etc. just for fun 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

g)  Use the Internet for leisure activities (chats, music, games, etc.) ................. 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

h)  Play on slot machines (the kind in which you may win money)..................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

C04

During the LAST 30 DAYS on how many days have you missed one or more lessons?  
Mark one box for each line. 

None 

1 day 

2 days 

3–4 days  5–6 days 

7 days 
or more 

a)  Because of illness ...................................................................... 

 ............ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

b)  Because you skipped or ‘cut’ ......................................................

 ............ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

c)  For other reasons ....................................................................... 

 ............ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

The following questions are about cigarette smoking

C05

On how many occasions (if any) during your lifetime have you smoked cigarettes? 

                  Number of occasions 
0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or more 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

25 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
C06

When (if ever) did you FIRST do each of the following things? 
Mark one box for each line. 

9 years 
old or 
less 

10 
years 
old 

11 
years 
old 

12 
years 
old 

13 
years 
old 

14 
years 
old 

15 
years 
old 

16 
years 
or older 

Never 

a)  Smoke your first cigarette .......................... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b)  Smoke cigarettes on a daily basis ............. 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

C07

            Have you ever used moist snuff (snus), e-cigarettes or water pipe?
            Mark one box for each line. 

Yes, in the 
last 30 days 

Yes, in the 
last 12 months  

Yes, but more 
than 12 
months ago 

a) Moist snuff (snus) .............................................. 
b) E-cigarettes ....................................................... 
c) Water pipe ......................................................... 









Never 





                                                                                                     1  

     2  

     3  

     4

The next questions are about alcoholic beverages  
– including beer, cider, alcopops (premixed drinks), wine and spirits

C08

On how many occasions (if any) have you had any alcoholic beverage to drink? 
Mark one box for each line. 

Number of occasions 

0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or 
more 

a) In your lifetime ............................................................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) During the last 12 months ........................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) During the last 30 days ................................................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

C09

Think back over the LAST 30 DAYS. On how many occasions (if any) have you had any of the  
following to drink?  
Mark one box for each line. 

Number of occasions 

0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or 
more 

a) Beer ............................................................................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) Cider* .......................................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) Alcopops* .................................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

d) Wine ............................................................................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

e) Spirits .......................................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

* Optional 

26 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The following questions are about the last day you drank alcohol

C10

Think of the LAST DAY that you drank any alcohol. Which of the following beverages did you drink 
on that day? 
Mark all that apply. 

1

1

1

1

1

1

I never drink alcohol

Beer

Cider* 

Alcopops* 

Wine

Spirits

* Optional 

C10a

If you drank beer that last day you drank any 

C10d If you drank wine that last day you drank any 

  alcohol, how much did you drink? 

alcohol, how much did you drink? 

1

I never drink beer

I did not drink beer on the last day 

2
         that I drank alcohol

3

4

5

6

<50 cl

50–100 cl

101–200 cl

>200 cl 

1 

I never drink wine

I did not drink wine on the last day 

2
         that I drank alcohol

3 

4

5 

6 

<20 cl

20–40 cl

41–74 cl 

>74 cl

OC10b If you drank cider that last day you drank any 
alcohol, how much did you drink? * 

C10e

If you drank spirits that last day you drank 
any alcohol, how much did you drink? 

1

I never drink cider

I did not drink cider on the last day 

2 
         that I drank alcohol

3 

4

5

6 

<50 cl

50–100 cl     

101–200 cl

>200 cl

* Optional 

1 

I never drink spirits

I did not drink spirits on the last day 

2 
         that I drank alcohol

3 

4 

5 

6 

<8 cl 

8–15 cl

16–24 cl

>24 cl

OC10c If you drank alcopops that last day you drank 
    any alcohol, how much did you drink? * 

1

I never drink alcopops

I did not drink alcopops on the last day 

2
         that I drank alcohol

3

4

5

6

<50 cl

50–100 cl

101–200 cl

>200 cl 

* Optional 

C10f  Please indicate on this scale from 1 to 10 how  

drunk you would say you were that last day you 
drank alcohol. (If you felt no effect at all you  
should mark ‘1’.)

Not at all

Heavily intoxicated, for 
example not remembering 
what happened 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

I never drink alcohol 

11 

27 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
The next couple of questions are also about alcohol

C11

Think back again over the LAST 30 DAYS. How many times (if any) have you had five or more drinks 
on one occasion? (A ‘drink’ is [INSERT NATIONALLY RELEVANT EXAMPLES].) 

1

2

3

4

5

6

None

1

2

3–5

6–9

10 or more times 

C12

On how many occasions (if any) have you been intoxicated from drinking alcoholic beverages, for 
example staggered when walking, not being able to speak properly, throwing up or not remembering 
what happened? 
Mark one box for each line. 

Number of occasions 

0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or 
more 

a) In your lifetime ............................................................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) During the last 12 months ........................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) During the last 30 days ................................................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

C13

Think back again over the LAST 30 DAYS. How many times (if any) have you been drinking alcohol 
equivalent to at least [INSERT NATIONALLY RELEVANT EXAMPLES]. 

1

2

3

4

5

6

None

1

2

3–5

6–9

10 or more times

C14

When (if ever) did you FIRST do each of the following things?
Mark one box for each line. 

9 years 
old or 
less 

10 
years 
old 

11 
years 
old 

12 
years 
old 

13 
years 
old 

14 
years 
old 

15 
years 
old 

16 
years 
or older 

Never 

a) Drink beer (at least one glass) ................... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) Drink cider (at least one glass)* ................. 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) Drink alcopops (at least one glass)* ........... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

d) Drink wine (at least one glass) ................... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

e) Drink spirits (at least one glass) ................. 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

f) Get drunk on alcohol  .................................. 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

* Optional 

28 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
C15

BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN ALCOHOL USE, how often during the LAST 12 MONTHS have you 
experienced the following? 
If you haven’t used alcohol the last 12 months, please mark zero occasions on all questions. 
Mark one box for each line. 

         Number of occasions 

0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or 
more 

a) Physical fight ............................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) Accident or injury ......................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) Serious problems with your parents ............................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

d) Serious problems with your friends ............................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

e) Performed poorly at school or work............................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

f) Victimised by robbery or theft ....................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

g) Trouble with police ...................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

h) Hospitalised or admitted to an emergency room ......................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

i) Engaged in sexual intercourse without a condom ........................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

j) Engaged in sexual intercourse you regretted the next day .......... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

    1       

2 

3 

4 

5                   6                    7 

C16

Have you experienced problems during the LAST 12 MONTHS that occurred because of someone  

          else´s drinking? 
              Mark one or more boxes for each line                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                 Yes, a           Yes, a        Yes some- 
                                    No       friend or        stranger 
    body else
                                            acquaintance                                                               

          a) Has someone who had been drinking called you names or otherwise insulted you? ……   
 ............. 
          b) Has someone who had been drinking harmed you physically? ...... ..…………………………  ............. 
          c) Has someone who had been drinking ruined your clothes or other belongings? ………….  
 ............. 
          d) Has someone who had been drinking been responsible for a traffic accident you 
              were involved in? …...........................................................................................................
          e) Have you been a passenger with a driver who had had too much to drink? …….. ……….  
          f) Has someone who had been drinking harassed or bothered you at a party or 
           some other private setting?  ............................................................ …………………………..
          g) Has someone who had been drinking harassed or bothered you on the street                    
           or in some public place?  ................................................................. …………………………  
          h) Has someone who had been drinking made you afraid when you encountered 
           them on the street?  .........................................................................…………………………..
          i) Has someone kept you awake at night with drunken noise? ........... …………………………..
                                                                                                                               1                       2                        3                          4

 .......... …
 ............ .  
 ........... … 

 ............. .
 ............. 
 ............. 

 ........... … 
 ........... … 

 ........... …
 ........... …

..............
 ............. 

 ............. 
 ............. 

 ............. 
 ............. 

 ............. 
 ............. 

 ........... … 

 ........... … 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

Tranquillisers and sedatives, like [INSERT NATIONALLY RELEVANT EXAMPLES], are sometimes prescribed by doctors to 
help people to calm down, get to sleep or to relax. Pharmacies are not supposed to sell them without a prescription

C17

Have you ever taken tranquillisers or sedatives because a doctor told you to take them? 

1

2

3

No, never

Yes, but for less than 3 weeks

Yes, for 3 weeks or more 

The next questions ask about marijuana or hashish (cannabis)

C18

On how many occasions (if any) have you used marijuana or hashish (cannabis)?  
Mark one box for each line. 

Number of occasions 

0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or 
more 

a) In your lifetime ............................................................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) During the last 12 months ........................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) During the last 30 days ................................................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

29 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                          
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
C19

When (if ever) did you FIRST try marijuana or hashish (cannabis)?       

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Never

9 years old or less

10 years old

11 years old 

12 years old

13 years old

14 years old

15 years old

16 years or older

C20

Have you ever had the possibility to try marijuana or hashish (cannabis) without trying it? 

1

2

No 
Yes              

How many times has this happened in your life? 

1

2

3

4

5

6

1–2

3–5

6–9

10–19

20–39

40 or more

The next questions ask about some other drugs

C21

How difficult do you think it would be for you to get each of the following, if you wanted? 
Mark one box for each line. 

a) Amphetamines ............................................................................ 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............ 

b) Tranquillisers or sedatives........................................................... 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............ 

c) Ecstasy ........................................................................................ 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............. 

 ............ 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Impossible 

Very 
difficult 

Fairly 
difficult 

Fairly 
easy 

Very 
easy 

Don’t 
know 

C22

On how many occasions (if any) have you used inhalants [INSERT NATIONALLY RELEVANT 
EXAMPLES] to get high? 
Mark one box for each line. 

Number of occasions 

0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or 
more 

a) In your lifetime ............................................................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) During the last 12 months ........................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) During the last 30 days ................................................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

                                                                                                                                                                1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

30 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
C23

On how many occasions in your lifetime (if any) have you used any of the following drugs? 
Mark one box for each line. 

Number of occasions 

0 

1–2 

3–5 

6–9 

10–19 

20–39 

40 or 
more 

a) Tranquillisers or sedatives (without a doctor’s prescription) ....... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) Amphetamines ............................................................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) LSD or some other hallucinogens ............................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

d) Crack ........................................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

e) Cocaine ....................................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

f) Relevin ......................................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

g) Heroin .......................................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

h) ‘Magic mushrooms’ ..................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

i) GHB .............................................................................................. 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

j) Anabolic steroids .......................................................................... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

k) Drugs by injection with a needle (like heroin, cocaine, 

    amphetamine) ..............................................................................

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

l) Alcohol together with pills (medicaments) in order to get high ..... 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

m) Optional drug* ............................................................................ 

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

* Optional 

C24

When (if ever) did you FIRST do each of the following things? 
Mark one box for each line. 

9 years 
old or 
less 

10 
years 
old 

11 
years 
old 

12 
years 
old 

13 
years 
old 

14 
years 
old 

15 
years 
old 

16 
years 
or older 

Never 

a) Try tranquillisers or sedatives (without 

    a doctor’s prescription) ............................... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

b) Try amphetamines...................................... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

c) Try ecstasy ................................................. 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

d) Try inhalants [INSERT NATIONALLY RELEVANT  

     EXAMPLES] in order to get high ............... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

e) Try alcohol together with pills (medica- 

    ments) in order to get high.......................... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

 ......... 

 .......... 

 ......... 

..........

 ......... 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

C25

New  New substances that imitate the effects of illicit drugs [such as cannabis or ecstasy] may now  
         sometimes be available. They are sometimes called [‘legal highs’, ‘ethno botanicals’, ‘research 
         chemicals’] and can come in different forms, for example herbal mixtures, powders, crystals or 
         tablets.   

         Have you ever used such substances?  

1

2

3

Yes, I have used such substances

No, I never used such substances

Don’t know/Not sure 

C26

Have you used such substances in the LAST 12 MONTHS?

1

2

3

Yes, I have

No I haven’t

Don’t know/Not sure 

31 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
C27

           Mark one or more boxes 

What was the appearance/form of the new substance you used in the LAST 12 MONTHS? 

1

2

3

4

I have not used such substances in the last 12 months           

Herbal smoking mixtures with drug-like effects

Powders, crystals or tablets with drug-like effects    

 Liquids with drug-like effects    

          5

Other: …………………………………………………………………………   

C28

                                                Mark one or more boxes 

Thinking about your use of new substances in the LAST 12 MONTHS, how did you get them?

1

2

3

4

5

6

I have not used such substances in the last 12 months           

Been given or bought from a friend

Bought them from specialised shop

Bought them from the Internet 

Bought them from a drug dealer

Other:  …………………………………………………………………………….

The next question asks about various substances

C29

How much do you think PEOPLE RISK harming themselves (physically or in other ways), if they … 
Mark one box for each line. 

No risk 

Slight 
risk 

Moderate 
risk 

Great 
risk 

Don’t 
know 

a) Smoke cigarettes occasionally ....................................................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

b) Smoke one or more packs of cigarettes per day ............................................ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

c) Have one or two drinks on one occasion nearly every day ............................ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

d) Have four or five drinks on one occasion nearly every day ............................ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

e) Have five or more drinks each weekend ........................................................ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

f) Try marijuana or hashish (cannabis) once or twice ......................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

g) Smoke marijuana or hashish (cannabis) occasionally ................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

h) Smoke marijuana or hashish (cannabis) regularly ......................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

i) Try ecstasy once or twice ................................................................................ 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

j) Take ecstasy regularly..................................................................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

k) Try an amphetamine (uppers, pep pills, bennie, speed) once or twice .......... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

l) Take amphetamines regularly ......................................................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

                         1                         2 

3 

4 

5 

The next questions are about the Internet, gaming and gambling

C30

How many hours do you spend online on an AVERAGE WEEKDAY? 
Mark one box for each line. 

  None 

Half an hour 
or less 

About 1–2 
hours 

About 3–4 
hours 

5 hours 
or more 

a) In chat rooms, sending messages or using social networks

(email, MSN, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.)…………………  

 ............. 

 .................. 

b) Reading, surfing, searching for information, etc. .......................    

 ................ 

 .................. 

c) Downloading music, videos, films, etc. ......................................    

 ................ 

 .................. 

d) Visiting adults’ websites ............................................................    

 ................ 

 .................. 

e) Playing skill game (sudoku, billiard, solitaire, etc.) ....................    
             f) Playing games in which you may win money (poker, scratch,       

 ................ 

 .................. 

                dice, new slot, etc.) …………………………………………………      

 .............. 

 .................. 
 .............. 

 .............. 
 .............. 
 .............. 
 .............. 
 .............. 

 .............. 

 ................. 

 ................. 

 ................. 

 ................. 

 ................. 

 ................. 
 .............. 

g) Participating in Internet games [EXAMPLES] ..........................     
                                                                                       1                              2                               3                               4                                5

 .................. 

..............

32 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
               
				
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
        
                                                                                       
C31

How often (if ever) did the following happen to you when you were online in the LAST 12 MONTHS? 

          (If you haven’t been online the last 12 months, please mark ‘Never’ on all questions.) 

Mark one box for each line. 

Very 
                                                                                                                                                                             to time          often           often 

From time 

Rarely 

Quite  

Never 

a) Stayed online longer than you intended ......................................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

b) Neglected homework because you were spending time online ..................... 
c) Been reprimanded by your parents or friends about how much time  

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

    you spent online ............................................................................................. 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

d) Lost sleep due to being online late at night  ................................................... 
e) Felt nervous when you were offline and that feeling was relieved when  

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

    you went back online ...................................................................................... 

 ............ 

............

 ............

 ............ 

f) Chosen to spend more time online rather than going out with your friends .... 

 ............ 

............

                                                                                                               1                        2                        3 

 ............

      4 

 ............ 

         5           

C32 How often (if ever) did you gamble money in the LAST 12 MONTHS?

1

2

3

4

5

I have not gambled money during the last 12 months

Monthly or less

2–4 times a month

2–3 times a week

4–5 times a week

          6

6 or more times a week 

 C33 How much time (if any) did you spend gambling money on a typical day in the LAST 12 MONTHS?

1

2

3

4

5

I have not gambled money during the last 12 months

Less than 30 minutes

Between 30 minutes and 1 hour

Between 1 and 2 hours 

Between 2 and 3 hours

          6

3 hours or more 

C34 How often (if ever) did you gamble money for more than 2 hours (on a single occasion) in the LAST 
           12 MONTHS?

1

2

3

4

5

 I have not gambled money during the last 12 months

Never

Less than monthly

Monthly 

Weekly 

          6

Daily or almost daily 

The next questions ask about your family and parents. If mostly foster parents, step-parents or others brought you 
up answer for them. For example, if you have both a stepfather and a natural father, answer for the one that is the 
most important in bringing you up.

C35

What is the highest level of schooling your father completed? 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Completed primary school or less

Some secondary school

Completed secondary school

Some college or university

Completed college or university

Don't know

Does not apply

33 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
       
 
          
 
C36

How well off is your family compared to other families in your country? 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Very much better off

Much better off

Better off

About the same

Less well off

Much less well off

Very much less well off

C37

If you had ever used marijuana or hashish (cannabis), do you think that you would have said so in 
this questionnaire? 

1

2

3

4

5

 I already said that I have used it

 Definitely yes

 Probably yes

 Probably not

 Definitely not

34 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
I  Appendix 3

                                                                                                                                                                Appendix III 

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs 
www.espad.org 

ESPAD Validity Study 2013 

                          Interview questionnaire 

Explain the following to the students 

This interview is an important part of our desire to learn more about how European students answer 
our questions about substance use. It is essential for us to know how easy or difficult it is for students 
who are your age to answer the questions. By taking part in this short interview about the questionnaire 
you have just answered you can help us to develop a better understanding of how our questionnaires 
are answered. 

The interview is totally anonymous. I don’t want you to tell me your name. When we are finished we will 
put the questionnaire I am using in an envelope that I will ask you to seal.  

It is voluntary to take part in this interview. It is important that you answer as thoughtfully and frankly as 
possible. The substance use questionnaire and the results of this interview will not be presented by 
single classes or schools, and remember your answers are totally anonymous. 

                                                                 To the interviewer 

Read all questions and answering categories. The only exceptions are 7–10 on which you should read 
the questions but not the answering categories. On these questions you should interpret the answers. 

On some questions you should ask the student to explain the answer. Please write the answers on the 
dotted line/open space. If necessary, continue on the back of the same page. 

LOGO 
FIELD WORK  
ORGANISATION 

Contact info of the organisation responsible for the field work/national survey. 

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The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
I will first ask you how difficult it was to answer the questions, but before that I wonder whether it was interesting

Q01

Did you find it interesting or uninteresting to participate in the study? 

1

2

3

4

5

Very interesting

Fairly interesting

Neither interesting nor uninteresting

Fairly uninteresting 

Very uninteresting

Q02

Did you find it easy or difficult to answer questions 5–7 about your tobacco habits? 

1

2

3

4

5

Very easy

Fairly easy 

Neither easy nor difficult

Fairly difficult                         

Very difficult                               

   If so, why was this? 

                                                     1 

Questions ……….….were difficult to understand

                                                2 

The answering categories in  

                                                                                                     questions ……………… did not fit                                             Please explain ….

  3

Other reasons, namely                                                        ……………………... 

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

Q03

Did you find it easy or difficult to answer questions 8–16 about your alcohol habits? 

                 1 

Very easy

2

3

4

5

Fairly easy 

Neither easy nor difficult

Fairly difficult                          

Very difficult                               

   If so, why was this? 

                                                     1 

Questions ……….….were difficult to understand

                                                2 

The answering categories in  

                                                                                                     questions ……………… did not fit                                             Please explain ….

  3

Other reasons, namely                                                        ……………………... 

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

Q04

Did you find it easy or difficult to answer questions 18–28 about your drug habits? 

                 1 

Very easy

2

3

4

5

Fairly easy 

Neither easy nor difficult

Fairly difficult                          

Very difficult                               

    If so, why was this? 

                                                     1 

Questions ……….….were difficult to understand

                                                2 

The answering categories in  

                                                                                                     questions ……………… did not fit                                             Please explain ….

  3

Other reasons, namely                                                        ……………………... 

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

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The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
 
 
 
 
                                                        
Q05 Did you find it easy or difficult to answer questions 30–34 about the Internet and gambling? 

                 1 

Very easy

2

3

4

5

Fairly easy 

Neither easy nor difficult

Fairly difficult                          

Very difficult                               

   If so, why was this? 

                                                     1 

Questions ……….….were difficult to understand

                                                2 

The answering categories in  

                                                                                                     questions ……………… did not fit                                             Please explain ….

  3

Other reasons, namely                                                        ……………………... 

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

Q06 Where there any other questions you found difficult to answer? 

1

No

  2 

Yes, question ..…. Why? 1
               2 
                                                     3

The question was difficult to understand

The answering categories did not fit                                   Please explain ………………………….         

Other reasons, namely 

………………………………………… 

              …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

 3 

Yes, question ..…. Why?

1

The question was difficult to understand

               2 
                                                     3

The answering categories did not fit                                   Please explain ………………………….         

Other reasons, namely 

………………………………………… 

              …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

4

Yes, question ..…. Why?

1

The question was difficult to understand

               2 
                                                     3

The answering categories did not fit                                   Please explain ………………………….         

Other reasons, namely 

………………………………………… 

              …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

5

Yes, question ..….        Why1
               2 
                                                     3

The question was difficult to understand

The answering categories did not fit                                   Please explain ………………………….         

Other reasons, namely 

………………………………………… 

              …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

 I will now ask you to explain how you understood some of the questions 

Don´t read the answering categories on these 4 questions. Instead, you have to interpret the answers from the 
student. If an answer is unclear, ask for clarifications until you are sure of what he/she means.

Q07

Please explain how you understood question 10 about the last day you drunk alcohol 

1

2

3

Correctly understood, i.e. that all sub-questions were about one and the same day 

Misunderstood and thought that the quantities were related to the last day each of them were drunk

Misunderstood in some other way. Please explain: 

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The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
 
                                                        
 
 
              
 
 
              
 
 
              
 
 
              
  
Q08

Please explain how you understood question 11 about how often you have drunk five or more  
drinks in a row 

1

2

Correctly understood, i.e. that drinks from different beverages should be added up

Misunderstood and thought that each beverage should be added up separately 

                 3 

Misunderstood: Did not understand the given examples of what a drink is

                4

          5

Misunderstood: Did not understand the concept ‘drink’ 

Misunderstood in some other way. Please explain:  

Q09

          wording in Q13 in the student questionnaire)

Please explain how you understood question 13 about drinking an amount equivalent to ….. (use the 

1

Correctly understood, i.e. that the consumption of possible different beverages should be added up and together reach an 

                      amount equal to or above one of the examples 

2

Misunderstood and did not understand that possible consumption of different beverages should be added up

                 3 

Misunderstood in some other way. Please explain: 

Q10 Please explain how you understood question 25 about new psychoactive substances 

1

2

Correctly understood, including understanding the examples in the two brackets

Misunderstood: Did not understand the examples in the first bracket 

                 3 

Misunderstood: Did not understand the examples in the second bracket

                4

Did not understand what the question was about 

5

Misunderstood in some other way. Please explain:  

The next questions are about how honestly you think that your classmates answered 

y Did Do you think that your classmates gave honest answers to questions 6–8 about their tobacco habits?  

Q11

1

2

All or nearly all were honest

Most of were honest                                                               

                 3 

About half were honest                                                                        Do you think that they mainly exaggerated or 

4

Most were not honest                                                                          underreported? 

5

All or nearly all were not honest                          

1
                                                                                                2

Mainly exaggerated

Mainly underreported 

y Did Do you think that your classmates gave honest answers to questions 9–17 about their alcohol 

Q12

habits?

1

2

All or nearly all were honest

Most were honest                                                               

                 3 

About half were honest                                                                         Do you think that they mainly exaggerated or 

4

Most were not honest                                                                           underreported? 

5

All or nearly all were not honest                          

1
                                                                                                2

Mainly exaggerated

Mainly underreported 

38 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
 
 
                                                                                                                                     
 
y Did Do you think that your classmates gave honest answers to questions 19–29 about their drug habits?

Q13

1

2

All or nearly all were honest

Most were honest                                                               

                 3 

About half were honest                                                                        Do you think that they mainly exaggerated or 

4

Most were honest                                                                                 underreported?

5

All or nearly all were honest                                

1
                                                                                                2

Mainly exaggerated

Mainly underreported 

Q14

y Did Do you think that your classmates gave honest answers to questions 31–35 about their Internet and 
          gambling habits?  

1

2

All or nearly all were honest

Most were honest                                                               

                 3 

About half were honest                                                                        Do you think that they mainly exaggerated or 

4

Most were not honest                                                                          underreported? 

5

All or nearly all were honest                                

1
                                                                                                2

Mainly exaggerated

Mainly underreported 

I will now ask some questions about how honestly you answered 
Please observe that I don´t have any opinion about your possible exaggeration or underreporting. What is 
important for me is to know how you actually answered. It is only from that that we can learn how our 
questionnaires are answered. 

Did y Did you answer the questions about your cigarette habits honestly (Q 6–8)?  

Q15

1

2

3

4

5

6

Exaggerated a lot

Exaggerated a little

Answered honestly

Did not admit everything

Did not admit at all 

Don’t smoke which I also answered 

Did y Did you answer the questions about your alcohol habits honestly (Q 9–7)?  

Q16

1

2

3

4

5

6

Exaggerated a lot

Exaggerated a little

Answered honestly

Did not admit everything

Did not admit at all 

Don’t use alcohol, which I also answered 

Q17 Did you answer the questions about your drug habits honestly (Q 19–29)?

1

2

3

4

5

6

Exaggerated a lot

Exaggerated a little

Answered honestly

Did not admit everything

Did not admit at all 

Don’t use drugs, which I also answered

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The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
                                                                                                                                     
                 
 
C14 Did you answer the questions about your Internet and gambling habits honestly (Q 31–35)? 
Q18

1

2

3

4

5

6

Exaggerated a lot

Exaggerated a little

Answered honestly

Did not admit everything

Did not admit at all 

I never use the Internet or gamble, which I also answered 

 We have now reached the final question

Now at the very end you are welcome to add any comments you may have about the study and the 

Q19

          questionnaire (ask the student to glance through the questionnaire)

                     Thank you very much for your time and assistance 

40 / 41

The ESPAD validity study in four countries in 2013 
                    
T
D

-
0
2
-
1
5
-
5
2
3
-
E
N

-

N

About the EMCDDA

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is the central source and 
confirmed authority on drug-related issues in Europe. For over 20 years, it has been collecting, analysing 
and disseminating scientifically sound information on drugs and drug addiction and their consequences, 
providing its audiences with an evidence-based picture of the drug phenomenon at European level. 

The EMCDDA’s publications are a prime source of information for a wide range of audiences including: 
policymakers and their advisors; professionals and researchers working in the drugs field; and, more 
broadly, the media and general public. Based in Lisbon, the EMCDDA is one of the decentralised agencies 
of the European Union.

About ESPAD

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) is a collaborative effort of 
independent research teams in more than 40 European countries, making it the largest cross-national 
research project on adolescent substance use in the world. ESPAD was founded in 1993 on the initiative 
of the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN) and with the support of the 
Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe.

doi:10.2810/363531