15 January 2009 - Secondary analysis of the 2007 Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey

The secondary analysis was carried out by Social Market Research (SMR) on behalf of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. It examines lifetime, last year and last month use of a range of drugs, including solvents. It also examines age first used, regularity of use, and number of times pupils used these drugs or solvents. Information on alcohol consumption and smoking tobacco is also presented in the report.

The survey was previously conducted in 2000 and 2003.

Key Findings

The key findings relating to the secondary analysis of the 2007 Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey are:

Drugs and solvents

• Nearly one fifth (19%) of pupils in Years 8 to 12 reported taking any drugs or solvents at some point in their lives; 13% reported taking them in the last year and 7% in the month prior to the survey.
• Boys (19%) and girls (19%) were equally as likely to have ever used any drugs or solvents.
• Younger pupils were less likely than older pupils to have ever used any drugs or solvents (12% of those aged 12 or younger compared to 32% of those aged 16 or older).
• Cannabis (9%) and solvents (8%) were the two most commonly reported substances ever used by pupils; they were also the two most commonly reported substances used by pupils in the last year (7% and 4% respectively) and in the last month (4% and 2% respectively).

Alcohol

• Over half (55%) of pupils in Years 8 to 12 had consumed alcohol at some point in their lives.
• Boys (55%) were just as likely as girls (56%) to have ever taken an alcoholic drink.
• Younger pupils were less likely than older pupils to have ever consumed alcohol (28% of those aged 12 or younger compared to 81% of those aged 16 or older).
• Of those pupils who had taken an alcoholic drink, 55% had consumed so much alcohol that they were drunk on at least one occasion. A larger proportion of girls (58%) than boys (51%) who had consumed alcohol reported that they had been drunk at least once.

Smoking

• Nearly one quarter (24%) of pupils in Years 8 to 12 have ever smoked tobacco.
• A larger proportion of girls (27%) than boys (21%) reported having ever smoked.
• Younger pupils were less likely than older pupils to have ever smoked (8% of those aged 12 or younger compared to 42% of those aged 16 or older).
• Over two fifths of all pupils surveyed (43%) reported that adults in their household smoke; 57% of these pupils reported that the adults smoke inside their home.
• Comparisons between 2003 and 2007:

Drugs and Solvents

• The proportion of pupils who reported ever having used any drugs or solvents has decreased from 23.0% in 2003 to 18.9% in 2007. Decreases were also found since the previous survey in the last year (from 17.9% to 13.4%) and last month (from 11.5% to 7.5%) use of any drugs or solvents.
• Since 2003, decreases were found in the lifetime, last year and last month use of cannabis and magic mushrooms while the use of poppers has increased across all three time periods.

Alcohol

• The proportion of pupils who reported that they have consumed alcohol at some point in their lives has decreased from 59.9% in 2003 to 55.1% in 2007.
• Since 2003, lifetime use of alcohol has decreased for both boys (from 60.8% to 55.3%) and girls (from 59.1% to 55.5%).
• Among pupils who have ever drunk alcohol, there was no change between 2003 and 2007 in the proportions who reported ever being drunk (55.2% in 2003 compared to 54.5% in 2007).

Smoking

• The proportion of pupils who reported that they have ever smoked tobacco has decreased from 32.7% in 2003 to 24.2% in 2007.
• Since 2003, there has been a decrease in the proportion of pupils who reported that adults in their household smoke (from 51.8% to 42.8%).
• Of pupils who reported that adults in their household smoke, there has been a decrease since the previous survey in the proportion reporting that the adults smoke inside their home (from 78.6% to 57.3%).

Notes to Editors:

1. The Public Health Information and Research Branch within Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety commissioned Social Market Research (SMR) to carry out a secondary analysis of the drugs, solvents, alcohol and smoking modules from the 2007 Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey.

2. The survey was conducted by the Central Survey Unit (CSU) of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in autumn 2007. The data from the survey are based on representative samples of Year 8 to Year 12 pupils in post-primary schools from across Northern Ireland. Prior to data analysis the achieved sample was weighted by year group and gender to maximise its representativeness of the population of young people in Years 8 to 12 in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland.

3. The main aim of this report is to provide an in-depth understanding of the current behaviour and attitudes of young people with regard to drugs, solvents, drinking and smoking and an examination of any significant changes since the previous survey.

4. When comparing the findings from the 2003 and 2007 surveys, all changes reported are statistically significant at the 5% level.

5. Additional Information

Further information is available from:

The report is available from the DHSSPS Website

6. Media queries to DHSSPS Press Office on 028 9052 0571, or out of hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 9971 5440 and your call will be returned