Britain’s youth are among the most badly behaved in Europe, a study by a think-tank has suggested.

On every indicator of bad behaviour – drugs, drink, violence, promiscuity – the UK was at or near the top, said the Institute for Public Policy Research. The institute looked at the results of a number of studies of adolescents conducted in recent years.

The researchers believe the country’s record can be explained by a collapse in family and community life in the UK Free time. Measured against German, French and Italian youngsters, British 15-year-olds are drunk more often and involved in more fights, and a higher proportion have had sex.

The institute says young Britons are marked out by how they spend their free time. In England, 45 % of 15-year-old boys spend most evenings out with their friends, and in Scotland the figure is 59 %. In France just 17 % of boys spend their time in the same way. On the other hand, European teenagers tend to sit down for meals with their parents far more often. Some 93 % of Italian teenagers eat regularly with their families; in the UK just 64% of 15-year-olds do the same.