Prevalence and risk factors for addictive and potentially addictive behaviours among Swiss adults: a general population study

Roxane Dumont, Mayssam Nehme, Stephanie Schrempft, Hélène Baysson, Anshu Uppal, Aminata Rosalie Bouhet, Shannon Mechoullam, Julien Lamour, Silvia Stringhini & Idris Guessous

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Addictive and Potentially Addictive Behaviors in Swiss Adults: A Population-Based Study, Journal of General Internal Medicine, April 2026, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-026-10371-0

Abstract

Background and objectives

Modern environments expose individuals to stimuli likely to encourage seemingly harmless but potentially addictive behaviours. This study examined the prevalence, co-occurrence and risk factors for substance-related and non-substance-related addictive behaviours in adults, in order to better guide clinical practice and screening strategies.

Methods

Data were collected from the Specchio cohort in Geneva, Switzerland (2023-2024). Addictive and potentially addictive behaviours included smoking, recreational drug use, binge drinking, gambling, excessive use of screens for leisure purposes and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Analyses included prevalence rates adjusted for the Geneva population, logistic regressions adjusted for sex and age for risk factors, and diagrams for behavioural co-occurrence profiles.

Results

Among the 4575 participants (mean age 52; 59.3 % female), smoking had the highest prevalence (15.7 %, 95 % CI 14.0-17.5), followed by excessive alcohol consumption (12.3 %), gambling (9.9 %), excessive screen time (9.7 %), consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (9.6 %) and recreational drug use (5.8 %). While smoking alone was most common (21.1%), substance-related behaviours co-occurred frequently (4.3%). Men had higher odds for all behaviours, particularly gambling (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.18, 95% CI 1.76-2.70), excessive alcohol consumption (aOR = 2.10, 95% CI 1.73-2.55) and recreational drug use (aOR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.55-2.79). Socioeconomic disadvantage was strongly correlated with gambling (aOR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.89-2.90) and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (aOR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.41-2.37). Lower psychological well-being was significantly associated with excessive screen time (aOR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.36-2.36), sweetened beverage consumption (aOR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.01-2.13) and smoking (aOR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.20-1.71).

Conclusions

This study highlights varied profiles of addictive and potentially addictive behaviours, and highlights three major risk factors: male gender, lower socio-economic status and poorer psychological well-being. These results underline the need for targeted prevention strategies and systematic screening in primary care, including for new potentially addictive behaviours such as screen time and the consumption of sugary drinks.

Link tothe article in English

This text was automatically translated from French using artificial intelligence