Sexual Victimization in the Digital Age: A Population-Based Study of Physical and Image-Based Sexual Abuse Among Adolescents.

Adolescents increasingly use social media platforms, and these practices open up new forms of sexual victimization, in particular image-based sexual abuse (IBSA). Few studies have examined prevalence rates and correlates of both physical sexual victimization (PSV) and these new forms of victimization in representative samples. We used data from 5,245 adolescent girls (53%) and 4,580 adolescent boys (47%) from the population-based Young in Oslo Study (mean age 17.1 years, SD = 0.9). Of all respondents, 2.9% had experienced IBSA, 4.3% PSV, and 1.7% both IBSA and PSV in the course of the previous 12 months. Multivariate analyses revealed that PSV victims, after control for other variables, had many characteristics described in previous studies of sexual victimization. Girls had higher prevalence rates than boys, many had been victims of other types of violence, and were part of peer groups with much use of alcohol and drugs. PSV victims also reported early intercourse onset and a higher proportion had been commercially sexually exploited. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents had higher victimization rates. Victims of both PSV and IBSA had a similar but even more pronounced profile. The IBSA victims were different: They lacked many of the traditional risk factors for sexual victimization, there were no significant gender differences in this group, and IBSA victims more often came from high socioeconomic backgrounds. In conclusion, we observe a reconfigured landscape of sexual victimization patterns among Norway adolescents due to their increasing participation on social media and digital platforms.

Sexual and Physical Victimization and Health Correlates Among Norwegian Adolescents.

Large-scale epidemiological studies have documented that many children and adolescents are exposed to different forms of victimization experiences. However, such population-based studies have rarely examined how specific types of victimization are correlated with health indicators. Thus, we investigated sexual victimization, physical victimization by parents, and physical victimization by peers and their associations with sexual health, mental health, and substance use. We gathered data from a nationally representative sample of Norwegian 18-19-year-old students in their final year of senior high school (N = 2075; 59.1% girls). The analyses showed that 12.1% of the adolescents reported sexual victimization experiences. Physical victimization was more prevalent: 19.5% of the respondents had been exposed to victimization from parents and 18.9% from peers. Multivariate analyses revealed specific associations between sexual victimization and a range of sexual health indicators, such as early sexual intercourse debut, many sexual partners, engaging in sex without contraception while intoxicated, and participating in sexual acts for payment. Neither physical victimization from parents nor from peers were correlated with these variables. However, all three forms of victimization were associated with impaired mental health and potential substance use problems. We conclude that a variety of victimization experiences should be addressed in policies for prevention of adolescent mental health and substance use problems. In addition, a special emphasis is warranted regarding sexual victimization: Sexual health policies should address such potential experiences in addition to more traditional themes such as reproductive health and should also include low-threshold services for young victims of sexual victimization.

Intelligence, alcohol consumption, and adverse consequences. A study of young Norwegian men.

AIMS: Research suggests that intelligence is positively related to alcohol consumption. However, some studies of people born around 1950, particularly from Sweden, have reported that higher intelligence is associated with lower consumption and fewer alcohol-related problems. We investigated the relationships between intelligence, alcohol consumption, and adverse consequences of drinking in young men from Norway (a neighboring Scandinavian country) born in the late 1970s. METHODS: This analysis was based on the population-based Young in Norway Longitudinal Study. Our sample included young men who had been followed from their mid-teens until their late 20s (n = 1126). Measures included self-reported alcohol consumption/intoxication, alcohol use disorders (AUDIT), and a scale measuring adverse consequences of drinking. Controls included family background, parental bonding, and parents' and peers' drinking. Intelligence test scores-scaled in 9 "stanines" (population mean of 5 and standard deviation of 2)-were taken from conscription assessment. RESULTS: Men with higher intelligence scores reported average drinking frequency and slightly fewer adverse consequences in their early 20s. In their late 20s, they reported more frequent drinking than men with lower intelligence scores (0.30 more occasions per week, per stanine, age adjusted; 95% CI: 0.12 to 0. 49). Intelligence was not associated with intoxication frequency at any age and did not moderate the relationships between drinking frequency and adverse consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the relationship between intelligence and drinking frequency is age dependent. Discrepancies with earlier findings from Sweden may be driven by changes in drinking patterns.

Help-seeking behaviour among illegal substance users. / Hjelpesøkende atferd blant brukere av illegale rusmidler.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to investigate health-related help-seeking behaviour among illegal substance users. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Data were collected on the website Rusopplysningen.no. Questions were asked about use of illegal substances and openness with healthcare personnel regarding this use. Only respondents who reported having used illegal substances were included, and missing responses to particular questions were excluded from the percentage calculations. RESULTS: Altogether 2 485 respondents had used illegal substances. A total of 880 (39 %) had told healthcare/social care personnel about their substance use, of which 506 (68 %) reported that they had no need of help. Altogether 802 (36 %) had avoided telling healthcare/social care personnel about their use of illegal substances in relevant situations, while 309 (14 %) believed that they needed treatment for substance use, and 202 of these (65 %) had avoided or postponed seeking such treatment. Among the 815 who had been in an acute medical situation related to substance use, 82 (10 %) had delayed calling an ambulance, and 330 (41 %) had avoided calling an ambulance altogether. Among these, fear of being reported to the police was the most frequently reported reason (n = 280, 71 %), while 216 (55 %) reported that they had considered an ambulance to be unnecessary. INTERPRETATION: Many users of illegal substances do not reveal this to healthcare personnel. Some also avoid calling an ambulance in acute substance-related situations. Fear of police sanctions appears to be a plausible contributory factor.

'Locker room talk': male bonding and sexual degradation in drinking stories.

This paper explores alcohol-related sexual storytelling. In a qualitative study of more than 100 male participants in the night-time economy in Norway, many told animated and cheerful stories laced with erotic excitement. However, a minority of men also told sex stories characterised by aggressive, belittling and degrading language. We propose that this minority of men may employ such locker room talk to: (i) achieve male bonding and intimacy, (ii) explore ambiguous and confusing sexual experiences and/or (iii) excuse sexual events characterised by overt aggression. We draw on theories of masculinity and homosociality and a narrative framework and show that for some men, sexual relationships with women are strongly influenced by their relations with other men. We discuss how these stories reflect degrading attitudes towards women and how they produce and legitimise sexual violence.

Compliance with infection control rules among adolescents in Oslo during the COVID-19 pandemic. / Smittevern blant Oslo-ungdom under covid-19-pandemien.

BACKGROUND: Effective infection control is crucial for combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated whether adolescents in Oslo reported compliance with the Norwegian infection control rules during the pandemic and whether compliance with the rules was associated with sociodemographic characteristics, trust in the authorities and acceptance of the infection control rules. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Students in lower and upper secondary schools completed an electronic questionnaire (N = 12 686, 37 % response rate) during a period with strict infection control measures in force. We used self-reporting of compliance with the infection control rules, sociodemographic characteristics, trust in the authorities and people in general, and acceptance of the infection control rules. We used logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The majority reported that they always or to a large extent complied with the rules for hand washing (n = 9 915, 84 %), refrained from shaking hands/hugging (n = 8 730, 74 %) and avoided large groups (n = 8 565, 73 %). Fewer reported to maintain physical distance (n = 5 859, 50 %). The level of trust in the government (n = 8 742, 80 %) and health authorities (n = 9 962, 92 %) was high. The highest compliance with the rules was among girls, adolescents from immigrant backgrounds, those with a high level of trust in the authorities and people in general, and those who showed acceptance of the infection control rules. INTERPRETATION: A large proportion reported to comply with the infection control rules. Adolescents from immigrant backgrounds and those who were living in the outer eastern suburbs of Oslo also more frequently reported to comply with the rules. Trust and acceptance of the rules were also important factors.

Life satisfaction among adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. / Livstilfredshet blant ungdom før og under covid-19-pandemien.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 involved closure of schools and strict limitations on social contact. The study examines whether this had an effect on the life satisfaction and subjective well-being among adolescents. MATERIAL AND METHOD: An online survey among students in lower secondary schools in Oslo (N = 8 116, 46 % response rate) was conducted during the period with closed schools and strict infection control measures. The results were compared to equivalent surveys conducted in Oslo in 2018 (N = 13 790, 83 % response rate) and several other counties in 2020 before the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced (N = 19 799, 49 % response rate). Identical measurements were used for life satisfaction, subjective well-being and background factors. We used logistic regression analysis and corrected for sociodemographic differences. RESULTS: Among boys, the proportion reporting high life satisfaction (a score of 6 or higher on a scale from 0 to 10) declined markedly, from 88 % in 2018 and 92 % in 2020 before the COVID-19 restrictions to 71 % during the period of restrictions (p < 0.001). The equivalent figures for girls were 78 %, 81 % and 62 % (p < 0.001). The social inequality in life satisfaction was smaller during the restrictions than in other periods. Concerns about illness and infection were associated with lower life satisfaction. INTERPRETATION: The reduction in life satisfaction and subjective well-being can most likely be explained by the heavy restrictions placed on activities that promote well-being and by concerns about infection. The results also indicate that resourceful adolescents experienced an especially strong reduction in their life satisfaction.

"Cloud chasers" and "substitutes": e-cigarettes, vaping subcultures and vaper identities.

The use of e-cigarettes is increasing, a practice denoted as vaping. We explore user motives, self-identity as vapers and involvement in vaping subcultures, drawing on sociological theory of stigma, subcultures and symbolic boundaries. Based on analyses of semi-structured interviews with 30 Norwegian vapers, we find that there is a vaping subculture in Norway. We identify two dominant vaper identities. The first is labelled cloud chasers. These were dedicated vapers who identified with symbols and values in the subculture. Many were politically engaged in improving vaping regulation regimes and felt a sense of belonging to a vaping community. The second group is labelled substitutes. These were former daily smokers who used e-cigarettes for smoking cessation in a more pragmatic and defensive manner, to avoid health risks, to escape the stigma of smoking and to manage nicotine addiction. In this group, self-identity as a vaper was generally lacking. Vaping was often symbolically linked to the stigmatised smoker identity they wanted to escape, and was restricted to private contexts. The perceived symbolic meaning of e-cigarettes varies: for some, they are a symbol of pleasure and community. For others, they connote the stigmatised status of the addicted smoker seeking an alternative to cigarettes.

The discreet charm of the children of the bourgeoisie: economic capital and its symbolic expressions at an elite business school.

We address a largely neglected issue in contemporary research on cultural class divisions: economic capital and its associated lifestyles and symbolic expressions. Using qualitative interviews, we explore how adolescents from wealthy elite backgrounds, namely students at Oslo Commerce School (OCS), traditionally one of the most prestigious upper-secondary schools in Norway, demarcate themselves symbolically from others. They draw symbolic boundaries against students at other elite schools in Oslo, more characterized by backgrounds with high cultural capital, accusing them of mimicking a 'hipster' style. Within the OCS student body, we describe identity work centring on styles of material consumption and bodily distinctions. The most salient dividing line is between those who manage to master a 'natural' style, where expensive clothes and the desired bodily attributes are displayed discreetly, and those who are 'trying too hard' and thus marked by the stigma of effort. We also show some interesting intersections between class and gender: girls aspiring to the economic elite obey the 'rules of the game' by exercising extensive control over their bodies and adhering to demanding bodily norms for their weight and slimness. Such rules are less evident among the boys, where a lack of discipline, unruliness, hard partying and even fighting constitute parts of the lifestyle valued. This article contributes to the field of cultural stratification, highlighting the importance of the 'hows' of material consumption when expressing elite distinction. It also adds new insight to the research field of elite education by showing how a mastery of 'high-end' consumer culture is involved in fostering favourable dispositions at elite schools.

Neighborhood or School? Influences on Alcohol Consumption and Heavy Episodic Drinking Among Urban Adolescents.

Little is known about the relative influences of neighborhood and school on the alcohol socialization process. Survey data from the Young in Oslo Study (N = 10,038, mean age 17.1 years, 52% girls) were used to investigate the details of such influences, using cross-classified multilevel models. School and neighborhood contexts were equally important for ordinary alcohol use; however, neighborhood influences were mainly explained by individual and family factors, whereas peer-based sociocultural processes played a key role in explaining school effects. Neither context had much impact on heavy episodic drinking. The study suggests that "privileged" youth may be at risk of high alcohol consumption. Parental influences and peer-based sociocultural aspects of the school milieu should be considered in prevention efforts.

How is low parental socioeconomic status associated with future smoking and nicotine dependence in offspring? A population-based longitudinal 13-year follow-up.

AIMS: Low socioeconomic status (SES) characterizes smoking and nicotine dependence in adult samples. However, less is known about how parental SES is linked to smoking in offspring and the potential mechanisms at work. METHODS: A population-based longitudinal study ( n=1380) from Norway was used. Participants were followed from their mid-teens until their late 20s using survey and register data. Data were collected on parental education, parental smoking, educational aspirations and expectations, school grades and school-related conduct problems. Register data monitored education, unemployment and social welfare assistance. Risk factors for smoking and nicotine dependence were identified by means of multinomial logistic regression analyses. Mediation analyses were used to investigate the pathways between parental SES and future smoking. RESULTS: Future smokers were recruited from families with low educational levels. Poor school grades, school dropout and low educational aspirations were also predictors. Unemployment and social welfare assistance additionally increased the risk. Parental smoking, no high school exam and welfare assistance were mediators between low parental education and high levels of nicotine dependence in young adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: Socialization to smoking reflects a multifaceted process fuelled by low parental SES. However, parental influences may be masked behind influences from schools or peers. Future research should try to capture the multiple sources of SES-related influence at work. Prevention strategies should target adolescents from low SES backgrounds, who orient towards the manual working class and who have problems entering the labour force.

Party on wheels: mobile party spaces in the Norwegian high school graduation celebration.

Research on partying and nightlife often emphasizes commercial control while overlooking participants' creativity and agency. Due to their age, appearance and transgressive partying, participants in the Norwegian high school graduation celebration have limited access to bars and pubs in the ordinary night-time economy. To create alternative party spaces under their own control they utilize the spatial opportunities offered by automobility. Groups of students get together many years in advance and buy old buses which they refurbish to become rolling nightclubs that enable them to 'transcend space' through partying while on the move. These mobile party spaces provide a material and symbolic centre of communion and a tight space for physical assembly that enhances the production of intense positive emotions. In a cat-and-mouse game with the police, the buses provide a sense of nomadic autonomy, and enable participants to drink heavily for days on end. The study examines how youth may creatively zone their own party spaces within the context of automobility and how these mobile spaces again shape the partying that goes on within them. While this party practice opens up for autonomy, creativity and social transgressions reminiscent of liminal phases or carnivals, at a deeper level participants clearly reproduce class-based differences and exaggerate conventional practices and symbols.

Adolescent alcohol use and binge drinking: an 18-year trend study of prevalence and correlates.

AIMS: Several studies suggest a rapid decrease of alcohol use among adolescents after the turn of the century. With decreasing prevalence rates of smokers, a so-called hardening may have taken place, implying that remaining smokers are characterized by more psychosocial problems. Are similar processes witnessed among remaining adolescent alcohol users as well? METHODS: In 1992, 2002 and 2010 we used identical procedures to collect data from three population-based samples of 16- and 17-year-old Norwegians (n = 9207). We collected data on alcohol consumption, binge drinking, parental factors, use of other substances, conduct problems, depressive symptoms, social integration, sexual behaviour and loneliness. RESULTS: There was a steep increase in all measures of alcohol consumption from 1992 to 2002, followed by a similar decline until 2010. Most correlates remained stable over the time span. CONCLUSION: Alcohol use was consistently related to psychosocial problems; on the other hand, alcohol users reported higher levels of social acceptance and social integration than did non-users. There were no signs of 'hardening' as seen for tobacco use.

Which substance is most dangerous? Perceived harm ratings among students in urban and rural Norway.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have challenged the idea that illegal substances are necessarily associated with more harm than those that are legal. This study investigates perceived drug harm among students at the University of Oslo (UO) and at a smaller university located on Norway's coast in a more conservative and religious region, called 'Coastal University' (CU). METHODS: This study consisted of surveys (n=458) about perceived physical harm, mental health conditions, dependence, injuries and social consequences that may be associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis. Information about substance use was also collected. Analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses were used to examine whether harm ratings differed for different drugs, whether drug type, gender and university site interacted in predicting harm ratings, and what role the participants' own substance use played in their harm ratings. RESULTS: UO students rated cannabis as overall less harmful than alcohol, while the opposite was true for CU students. Tobacco received the highest physical harm score. Alcohol was rated as most harmful with regard to injuries; cannabis was rated as most harmful with regard to mental health consequences. Use of the substance in question was associated with a reduced harm rating. This was particularly true for cannabis. CONCLUSIONS: Norwegian students rate the harm of substances differently from previous reports from the Norwegian general population. Most importantly, their relative ratings of cannabis harm were lower. However, the pattern was most evident among students from the urban Oslo area.

Hardcore adolescent smokers? An examination of the hardening hypothesis by using survey data from two Norwegian samples collected eight years apart.

INTRODUCTION: The hardening hypothesis states that with the declining prevalence and growing social disapproval of smoking, remaining smokers are more unwilling and unable to quit as well as increasingly characterized by low socioeconomic status and psychiatric comorbidity. However, few studies have examined whether such characteristics do in fact change in tandem with substantially decreased smoking prevalence. METHODS: Two nationwide population-based surveys of 16- to 17-year-old Norwegian adolescents were conducted according to identical procedures in 2002 and 2010. In 2002, 3,438 students participated while 2,813 did so in 2010, yielding response rates of 91.0% and 83.2%, respectively. Data on smoking behavior and a variety of psychosocial variables were obtained. RESULTS: The prevalence of daily smoking dropped from 23.7% in 2002 to 7.0% in 2010. The association between smoking and parental characteristics, adjustment to school, and social integration also shifted, indicating smokers to be more socially disadvantaged in 2010 than 2002. However, no changes in the relationship between smoking and mental health or use of substances such as alcohol and cannabis were found, nor did the number of cigarettes smoked by daily smokers differ between 2002 and 2010. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the hardening hypothesis, as smokers became increasingly socially disadvantaged with decreasing smoking prevalence. However, despite reduced prevalence of smoking and growing stigmatization, neither greater psychological distress nor increased substance use among adolescent daily smokers was observed.

Nondaily smoking: a population-based, longitudinal study of stability and predictors.

BACKGROUND: Nondaily smoking appears to have remained stable in Western countries in recent years, alongside a steep decline in daily smoking. Nondaily smoking increases the risk of several diseases and premature mortality, but our knowledge about nondaily smoking is limited. The present study was designed to examine the stability of nondaily smoking during young adulthood, and to identify adolescent factors predictive of nondaily smoking compared with nonsmoking and non-nicotine-dependent and nicotine-dependent daily smoking. METHODS: A population-based sample (n = 942) of Norwegians was followed up by surveys for 13 years, from adolescence to young adulthood. Information about smoking patterns, nicotine dependence, school achievement, parents' and peers' smoking, and parental monitoring was collected. Data on parental and participants' education were obtained from a national register. RESULTS: Of all nondaily smokers at age 21 years, 26% were still nondaily smokers at 27 years, while 17% had become daily smokers and 57% had quit. Bivariate analyses revealed that young adult nondaily smokers did not differ from nonsmokers on any of the included variables, while a number of differences in parental, peers' and individual characteristics were observed between nondaily smokers and the two categories of smokers in young adulthood. Longitudinal analyses revealed that unorganized leisure time activities and peers' smoking differentiated nondaily smoking from nonsmoking. Higher educational achievement and less parental binge drinking predicted nondaily smoking and differentiated it from both categories of daily smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The degree of nondaily smoking-stability from 21 to 27 years of age was modest, and most nondaily smokers quit smoking in the course of young adulthood. Young adult nondaily smokers were quite similar to nonsmokers, but differed substantially from both nicotine-dependent and nondependent daily smokers. The study suggests that nondaily smoking--at least in the absence of traditional risk factors for smoking--is usually a transitory behavior, with most people returning to nonsmoking.

The medicalisation of revolt: a sociological analysis of medical cannabis users.

In a qualitative study, we investigated the medical motives of 100 Norwegian cannabis users, none of whom had legal access to medical cannabis. Cannabis was used therapeutically for conditions such as multiple sclerosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and rheumatism, as well as for quality of life conditions such as quality of sleep, relaxation and wellbeing. The borders between medical and recreational cannabis use were blurred. This article identifies strategies of medical cannabis users to gain social acceptance. Several respondents downplayed effects such as intoxication and euphoria. Others used the language of medicine and knowledge of current research in psychopharmacology. Cannabis was contrasted with the potential for abuse of prescription medicines. The medical cannabis movement has had little success in Norway. Medical professionals are unable to accept that users may be more knowledgeable than experts and medical users cannot discard the values of traditional cannabis culture. Calls for medical cannabis use are thus perceived as a gambit in attempts to have cannabis legalised. We argue that, despite having had little effect on health authorities, the medical cannabis movement may be having the unintended effect of medicalising cannabis use and using it as a cure for everyday problems.

[Abstainers: a risk group?]. / Alkoholavholdende--en risikogruppe?

BACKGROUND: Abstinence from alcohol has been associated with higher mortality than a moderate consumption of alcohol. However, there is evidence to indicate that the abstainers constitute a select group which is exposed to various psychosocial risk factors. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A population-based sample (N=1978) from the study Young in Norway - longitudinal was followed with repeated surveys from their teens until approaching the age of 30. This data set was linked to various registries. The collection of data included their use of alcohol, social integration and symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as sexual behaviour. Data on receipt of social benefits were collected from registries. RESULTS: At age 21, altogether 211 individuals (10.7%) had remained abstinent from alcohol throughout their entire lives. At age 28, their number had fallen to 93 individuals (4.7%). At age 21, abstinence was associated with weak networks of friends, loneliness and a higher likelihood of not yet having had a sexual debut. At age 28, the abstainers also reported a higher prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression. They were also more frequent recipients of social benefits. INTERPRETATION: Abstinence from alcohol in adulthood is associated with psychosocial problems and weak integration. These may introduce confounding factors in studies of the health effects of alcohol consumption.

Adolescent and Young Adult Drunkenness and Future Educational Attainment and Labor Market Integration: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study.

OBJECTIVE: Drunkenness is common among youth and has been linked to injuries and other acute consequences as well as subsequent alcohol problems. Less is known about the long-term consequences of drunkenness regarding future education and labor market integration, and how risk changes during the developmental course. We identified trajectories of drunkenness from early adolescence to young adulthood and examined how drunkenness was associated with subsequent outcomes in the domains of education, income, unemployment, and disability. METHOD: We used four-wave longitudinal data from 3,116 participants (1,428 men; 1,688 women) from the population-based Young in Norway Study (ages 13 to 31). Questionnaire data on drunkenness were linked to register data on subsequent educational and occupational outcomes. RESULTS: The frequency of drunkenness during the past 12 months increased from ages 13 to 21, followed by a levelling off and decline from age 25 to 31. Early drunkenness (at age 13) was related to lower educational attainment, lower income, and higher risk for disability and unemployment at age 32; yet, after control for covariates, most of these associations became nonsignificant. Later drunkenness (>21 years) was either not associated or inversely associated with educational and employment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the effect of drunkenness changes during the developmental course. In early teenage years, drunkenness seems to be a marker of risk and is linked to poor educational outcomes and weak labor market integration. From the early twenties, drunkenness instead seems to be related to positive educational and work-related outcomes.

Privileged background protects against drug charges: A long-term population-based longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the importance of indicators of parental socio-economic status (SES) for getting an official drug charge, while we controlled for self-reported drug law infractions (use of illegal drugs and/or drug trafficking) and potential variables confounding the association. METHODS: We used data from the long-term, population based longitudinal Young in Norway Study (N = 2,549). Participants were followed up over four survey-based data collections with linkages to crime registers from adolescence to adulthood. Data on drug charges were assessed based on official registers. The use of illegal substances, involvement with drug trafficking and potential covariates such as involvement with other types of crime, academic resources, and risk factors in the family, were assessed by means of self-reports. RESULTS: Two per cent had been charged for drug-related offences, and 37% reported drug offending. Use of cannabis was the primary infraction statistically related to a criminal charge. Having parents with 4+ years university education (14% of the sample) was associated with lower risk for being charged than having parents with no higher education (OR 4.87; 95% CI: 1.16-20.52) or with a short university education (OR 4.76; 1.05-21.48). The association between parental education and drug charges remained stable when controlling for self-reported drug law infractions and other potential covariates. CONCLUSION: In Norway, adolescents who have parents with higher university education, may be protected from getting a drug charge, even though they report similar levels of drug law infractions as other adolescents.