Many teenagers and adults believe the number of serious crimes committed by teenagers is on the rise, according to a government survey on juvenile delinquency released Saturday.

The survey, conducted on teenagers and adults separately in November, showed that 88.1 percent of the teenagers and 92.4 percent of the adults who responded believe that serious crimes are on the increase.

Although the figures were slightly lower -- down 4.8 percentage points for teenagers and 1.9 points for adults -- from the last survey in April 1998, the general tendency remains that many teenagers and adults believe there is a rise in serious crimes by teenagers, a Cabinet Office official said.

The survey was conducted on 2,000 teenagers and 3,000 adults between Nov. 15 and 25, with 66.7 percent and 72.1 percent responding.

Some 53.2 percent of the adults believe crimes committed by teenagers are becoming more heinous, while only 34.1 percent of teenagers feel the same way, the survey showed.

Asked to specify misconduct by young people, about 30 percent of teenagers cited drinking and smoking, refusal to attend school and bullying, but the ratio of adults who chose these problems was smaller.

Both teenagers and adults said the main factor in cases of juvenile delinquency was family environment, surpassing individual character or the influence of friends.

About 40.4 percent of the teenagers said the main problem with teenagers is that they are self-centered, as opposed to 55.1 percent of adults who believed this is a problem, while 36.1 percent said they are impatient and lack endurance, in contrast to 62.9 percent of the adults.

A society in which it is easy to obtain knives was perceived by 41.6 percent of the teenagers as a problem that could lead to crimes being committed, but only 27.6 percent of adults believed this was a reason, the survey showed.

Only 3.8 percent of the teenagers and 14.7 percent of adults said they are aware of government measures to rehabilitate juvenile delinquents and criminals.

On the issue of teenage prostitution, 37.2 percent of teenagers and 46.5 percent of adults said that adults who commit crimes involving underage sex for money should be severely punished, while only about 25 percent of both teens and adults thought that teenagers who are paid for sex should be penalized.