Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People: Regional Data, 2006-2008

<P>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</P><p>The <i>Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People</i>&nbsp;surveys began in 1982, under the name Smoking among Secondary Schoolchildren. The series initially aimed to provide national estimates of the proportion of secondary schoolchildren aged 11-15 who smoked, and to describe their smoking behaviour. Similar surveys were carried out every two years until 1998 to monitor trends in the prevalence of cigarette smoking. The survey then moved to an annual cycle, and questions on alcohol consumption and drug use were included. The name of the series changed to <span style="font-style: italic;">Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young Teenagers</span> to reflect this widened focus. In 2000, the series title changed, to <span style="font-style: italic;">Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People.&nbsp;</span>NHS Digital (formerly the Information Centre for Health and Social Care) took over from the Department of Health as sponsors and publishers of the survey series from 2005. From 2014 onwards, the series changed to a biennial one, with no survey taking place in 2015, 2017 or 2019.</p><p>In some years, the surveys have been carried out in Scotland and Wales as well as England, to provide separate national estimates for these countries. In 2002, following a review of Scotland's future information needs in relation to drug misuse among schoolchildren, a separate Scottish series, <span style="font-style: italic;">Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey</span>&nbsp;(SALSUS) was established by the Scottish Executive.<br></p><br>The survey uses a two-stage probability sample of schools and pupils, designed to be representative of young people aged between 11 and 15. The sample of schools is stratified by sex of intake and school type. Within these strata, the sampling frame is sorted by local authority. This design does not guarantee a representative sample of schools within all regions and so reliable estimates by region cannot currently be derived from any one year’s data.<br>
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This dataset contains regional information as well as key survey variables from the three most recent survey years, 2006 to 2008, combined and weighted to be regionally representative.<br><br><B>Main Topics</B>:<BR><br>The dataset includes core responses from all pupils who completed a questionnaire in survey years 2006 to 2008. Broad topics included: <ul><li>smoking</li><li>drinking</li><li>drug use</li><li>attitudes to smoking, drinking and drug use</li><li>education</li><li>truancy and exclusion</li><li>background information</li></ul>