The research work Use of psychotropic medication in the European child and youth population by Dr. Laura Gisbert and Dr. Josep Antoni Ramos Quiroga, researchers at the http://en.vhir.org/portal1/grup-equip.asp?t=psiquiatria-salut-mental-i-addiccions&s=recerca&contentid=186872 Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addictions research group at VHIR, in collaboration with other centers, has received the runner-up award at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Catalan Society of Infantile-Juvenile Psychiatryheld November 30th in Barcelona. As in previous editions, the event became a meeting point for psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals working in Catalonia.The work collected data on the evolution of the prescription of psychotropic medication in the child and youth population in Catalonia compared to the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) between 2007 and 2017.The preliminary results of the research work show that during the last decade in Catalonia the prescription of psychotropic medication in young people under the age of 18 has decreased by 19%, a totally different trend compared to that from the other countries analyzed where the consumption of this type of medication has increased significantly: 68% in Denmark, 57% in Norway and 195% in Sweden. While in Sweden, 62 out of every 1,000 children and youth take psychotropic medications, in Catalonia only 17 out of every 1,000 do so.The study analyzed the consumption of antipsychotic, anxiolytic, hypnotics/sedatives, antidepressants and psychostimulants. All of them psycho-drugs, which replace the role of neurotransmitters when the brain is unable to maintain an adequate amount, so mood, sleep, senses, pain and many other functions can be altered.In the male group aged 10 to 14, the most commonly used medication was psychostimulants whereas antidepressants were more commonly used in females aged 15 to 19.So far, the detailed consumption of psychoactive drugs by the child and youth population of Catalonia had not been analyzed. This work is important because, despite the use of psycho-drugs, they are being overused by the population at the state level and consumer values in Spain are above the European average. In this sense, this work is necessary to know the prescription of these medicines among youth population that would allow to identify problems in their prescription.This work has been developed within the framework of a PERIS project (Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation in Health) in 2018 and has involved the participation of researchers from the University Institute for Primary Health Care Research (IDIAP Jordi Gol), researchers of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, of the Catalan Health Institute, and staff at the Barcelonès Nord and Maresme, Alt Penedès-Garraf and Bages-Berguedà Primary Care Services. Data from the Nordic countries have been obtained from their prescription database covering 99% of the population and the Catalan data come from the Information System for the Development of Primary Care Research (SIDIAP) that covers an 80 % of the Catalan population.