Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People 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 Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young Teenagers to reflect this widened focus. In 2000, the series title changed, to Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People. 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.

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, Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) was established by the Scottish Executive.

Main Topics:

The dataset includes variables from the questionnaire, diary and cotinine analysis. Topics covered in the questionnaire include: smoking prevalence rates, consumption levels, smoking experience, smoking behaviour of pupils and families, sources of cigarettes, passive smoking, health education/advertising. For the diary, pupils were asked to record by retrospective recall all cigarettes smoked in the previous seven days.