Background to ESPAD

In the 1980s, a subgroup of collaborating investigators was formed within the Pompidou Expert Committee on Drug Epidemiology of the Council of Europe to develop a standardised school-survey questionnaire and methodology. The purpose of the work was to produce a standard survey instrument that would enable different countries to compare alcohol and drug use in student populations. A common questionnaire was used by eight countries, but the pilot study differed in sample size, representativeness and age range, and was not performed at the same time. The survey instrument, however, proved to be valid and reliable (Johnston et al., 1994). With the exception of Sweden, where school surveys had already been conducted on an annual basis since 1971, only a few countries conducted school surveys related to substance use on a more or less regular basis. In light of a growing interest in school surveys in general and cross-country comparisons in particular, the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN) initiated a collaborative project in 1993 by contacting researchers in most European countries to explore the possibility of conducting simultaneous school surveys on tobacco, alcohol and drug use in association with the Pompidou Group. This enterprise resulted in the first ESPAD study in 1995.

In 2008, a cooperation framework was set up between the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and ESPAD. This framework was meant to deepen the collaboration that had already existed on an ad hoc basis since the mid 1990s. ESPAD data have been regularly included in the EMCDDA’s annual reporting on the drug situation in Europe. These data have provided crucial information on substance use among 15- to 16-year-old students, allowing trends over time to be assessed. The areas of collaboration covered in the cooperation framework included: (1) the integration of the ESPAD approach into the broader data-collection system at EU level; (2) the encouragement of countries’ participation in ESPAD; (3) an agreement on analytical use of ESPAD data, by placing them in the context of EMCDDA data; and (4) contact between ESPAD experts and those working within the EMCDDA. Furthermore, it was agreed to enhance the exchange of information and expertise, improve the availability, quality and comparability of school survey data and gain maximum analytical insight from data available in this area (see http://www.espad.org/Uploads/Documents/EMCDDA_Cooperation_Agreement-2008.pdf).

ESPAD still is and will continue to be an independent research project owned by the researchers involved. The main researcher in each participating country is appointed by ESPAD and is referred to either as a ‘principal investigator’ (PI) or as an ‘ESPAD contact person’. Each of them should raise funds in his or her country and participate in ESPAD and the general assemblies independently and at his or her own expense. The data collected in the framework of the project are owned by each country independently (see Acknowledgements). The PI or contact person is responsible for the use of his or her national data set. Table 1 gives an overview of data that have been collected since 1995 in participating countries and the responsible persons.

Table 1. Overview of countries participating in ESPAD. 1995-2015