The Department of Health today published the “Young Persons Behaviour & Attitudes Survey 2019: Substance Use (Smoking, Alcohol & Drugs)” bulletin.
The Young Persons Behaviour & Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) is a school based survey carried out among 11-16 year olds (school years 8 to 12). It is commissioned jointly by a number of government departments and includes questions on a wide range of topics. Seven rounds of the survey have now taken place: 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019. This publication presents an overview of the smoking, alcohol and drugs modules from the 2019 survey.
Key Findings
- In 2019, one-in-ten young people reported ever having smoked (10%) with 4% indicating that they currently smoked. This represents a decrease since 2000, when two-fifths (37%) reported ever having smoked and 15% were current smokers.
- Boys (11%) were more likely to report ever having smoked than girls (8%). Young people living in the most deprived quintile were more likely to report ever having smoked (13%) than those in the least deprived quintile (7%) though the rate of current smoking was similar (5% and 3% respectively).
- The majority of young people (95%) had heard of e-cigarettes, with a fifth having used an e-cigarette at least once. Those in the older year groups were more likely to report ever having used, with findings ranging from 4% of those in Year 8 to 38% of those in Year 12. A small proportion (3%) report using e-cigarettes on a regular basis (at least once a week).
- Since 2000, there has been a decline in both the proportion of young people ever having drank alcohol and the proportion of those who drank that report having been drunk.
- Half as many young people reported ever having a drink in 2019 (29%) than in 2000 (59%); boys were more likely to report having taken a drink (32%) than girls (26%) and those in Year 12 (56%) were more likely to have done so than those in Year 8 (9%).
- A small proportion (5%) of respondents reported ever using drugs; boys (6%) were more likely to report having used drugs than girls (3%) and those in Year 12 (10%) were more likely to have used than those in Year 8 (2%).
- Respondents were asked their opinion on whether certain behaviours are ‘ok for someone your age’. Around a quarter (27%) indicated that it is ok for someone their age to drink alcohol once a week, 14% felt it was ok to smoke cigarettes once a week and 6% thought it was ok to take cannabis once a week.
Notes to editors:
1. This publication presents an overview of the smoking, alcohol and drugs modules from the 2019 Young Persons Behaviour & Attitudes Survey. This is the seventh run of the school based survey, with previous surveys in 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016.
2. The fieldwork for the survey was conducted by the Central Survey Unit of NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and covered the period September 2019 to February 2020.
3. A total of 8,118 children in school years 8 to 12 completed the survey. Due to the high level of interest amongst policy makers on the views and behaviours of young people, topics were split across two questionnaires to accommodate additional questions. Version A was completed by 3,892 children and version B by 4,226 children. The smoking, alcohol and drugs modules ran in version B.
3. The results are based on information that has been weighted by year group, sex and religion in order to reflect the composition of the Northern Ireland post-primary population.
4. As the results are based on data collected from a sample of the population, they are subject to sampling error. This should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results. Differences reported are those that are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.
5. The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (NIMDM) was used as a measure of deprivation. The NIMDM 2017 is the official measure of spatial deprivation in Northern Ireland.
7. This publication is available online at: www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/young-persons-behaviour-attitudes-survey
8. Additional information is available from:
Public Health Information and Research Branch
Information Analysis Directorate
Department of Health
Annex 2, Castle Buildings
Stormont
Belfast BT4 3SQ
Telephone: 028 9052 2340
E-mail: PHIRB@health-ni.gov.uk
9. A technical report and information on other topics included in the survey will be available online from NISRA Central Survey Unit at 9.30 on Tuesday 22 September: www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/young-persons-behaviour-and-attitude-survey-2019
10. For media enquiries please contact DoH Press Office by email: pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk.
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