This report presented a study conducted in Dublin as part of a European collaborative project called Drug Dependence: Risk and Monitoring (DDRAM). Research was also conducted in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Groningen, Rome and Bremen. The aims of the DDRAM project were to monitor trends in the use of legal and illegal substances and to examine associated factors in young people aged between 14 and 15 years; to collect comparative information on the rates and patterns of substance use among young people; to establish a database concerning 10- to 12-year-olds, as the initial stage of a longitudinal study of risk; and to strengthen research on drugs in Europe.

In a stratified random sample of the schools in the Dublin metropolitan area, the study in Dublin sampled 983 second-year students from 16 schools. A self-report questionnaire was used, with questions exploring trends and patterns of substance use, delinquency, risk-taking behaviour, peer-affiliation, free-time activities, family structure, emotional and behavioural problems, and adaptation to school.