Smoking rates - 13 and 15 year olds

Source: Black C, Eunson J, Sewel K, Murray L. Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) National Report: Smoking, drinking and drug use among 13 and 15 year olds in Scotland in 2010. (pdf) 2011. NHS National Services Scotland. [Accessed 05 January 2012]

The latest survey was carried out during the autumn term of 2010 with a sample of over 37,000 pupils from S2 and S4 classes from across Scotland.

As in previous surveys, the section on smoking contained a prevalence question. Using this question, pupils were classified as ‘regular smokers’ (defined as usually smoking at least one cigarette a week), ‘occasional smokers’ (defined as currently smoking but less than one cigarette a week) or ‘non-smokers’ (pupils who had never smoked or who were not current smokers).

Smoking prevalence and trends

Among 13 year olds, 3% of both boys and girls were regular smokers. Among 15 year olds, 13% were regular smokers: 11% of boys and 14% of girls.
Since peaks in 1996 and 1998, the prevalence of regular smoking has substantially reduced over recent years. Among both 13 year olds and 15 year olds, levels are now the lowest they have been since the survey began in 1982.
Among girls, the proportion of both 13 year olds and 15 year olds who are regular smokers is continuing to decline.
The proportion of 13 year old boys who are regular smokers has levelled off over recent years, having remained at 3% since 2006.
Among 15 year old boys, the recent pattern has been more variable, with the proportion who are regular smokers increasing from 12% in 2006 to 14% in 2008 and now decreasing again, to 11%.
There was an increase between 2008 and 2010 in the proportion of pupils who reported that they had never smoked, from 75% to 79% of 13 year olds, and from 51% to 55% of 15 year olds.
There were no gender differences among 13 year olds in terms of smoking prevalence.
Among 15 year olds, girls were more likely than boys to be current or past smokers: 14% of girls were regular smokers, compared with 11% of boys; 7% were occasional smokers, compared with 5% of boys; 9% used to smoke, compared with 7% of boys; and 52% had never smoked compared with 58% of boys. The same proportion of 15 year old boys and girls said they had tried smoking once (18%).

Where pupils obtain cigarettes

Although it is illegal to sell cigarettes to children under the age of 18, as with previous surveys, pupils reported buying cigarettes from a range of sources.

It was most common for regular smokers to report getting someone else to buy them cigarettes from a shop, with 54% of 13 year olds and 55% of 15 year olds reporting this. Among 13 year old regular smokers, this was most likely to be an unknown adult (35%) and, among 15 year olds, similar proportions reported getting them from a known adult (32%) and an unknown adult (30%).

It was also common for regular smokers to report buying cigarettes directly from shops:

46% of 13 year old and 54% of 15 year old regular smokers reported getting cigarettes in this way
the most frequently reported type of shop was a ‘newsagent, tobacconist
or sweet shop’: 34% of 13 year old regular smokers and 46% of 15 year old regular smokers bought cigarettes from this type of shop
although the proportion of regular smokers buying cigarettes from shops declined between 2006 and 2008 (which is likely to be attributable, in part, to the increase in the legal smoking age from 16 to 18 in 2007), there has been no further decline since 2008.

Smoking dependence

Among regular smokers, 40% of 13 year olds and 42% of 15 year olds say they would like to give up smoking. However, 24% of 13 year olds and 21% of 15 year olds said that they did not want to give up smoking, and a further 36% of 13 year olds and 37% of 15 year olds did not know whether they would like to give up.
Since 2008, the proportion of 13 year old regular smokers reporting that they would like to give up has decreased from 49% to 40%. Almost two-thirds of regular smokers reported that they had tried to give up smoking (65% of both 13 year olds and 15 year olds).
Among 15 year old regular smokers, a higher proportion of girls than boys said they had tried to give up (69% compared with 60%). The proportion of 15 year old regular smokers who have tried to give up smoking has decreased from 71% in 2008 to 65% in 2010.
Pupils’ perception of how difficult it would be to give up smoking increased with the length of time they had been smoking. Among regular smokers, those who had smoked for more than a year were much more likely to say that they would find giving up smoking ‘very difficult’ than those who had been smoking a year or less (46% compared with 14%).

Influence of family and friends on smoking

When asked how their family feel about them smoking, a slight majority of smokers, both regular and occasional, reported that their family don’t know that they smoke (57% of all 13 year old smokers and 52% of all 15 year old smokers).
Regular smokers were more likely than occasional smokers to report that their families do nothing or that they encourage them to smoke (13% of 13 year old regular smokers, compared with 6% of 13 year old occasional smokers and 16% of 15 year old regular smokers, compared with 3% of 15 year old occasional smokers).
Pupils who were smokers were more likely than non-smokers to have friends and family members who smoked. Around three-quarters of regular smokers had at least one parent who smoked daily: 78% of 13 year olds and 70% of 15 year olds. In contrast, the majority of non-smokers reported that neither parent smoked at all: 63% of 13 year olds and 65% of 15 year olds.
Among both 13 and 15 year old regular smokers, 40% reported that ‘all or almost all’ of their friends smoked. This compares with only 1% of 13 year old non-smokers and 2% of 15 year old non-smokers. The majority of non-smokers reported that none or almost none of their friends smoked: 83% of 13 year olds and 62% of 15 year olds.

For more information see chapter two (pages 23-43) of the SALSUS report.
The report was also produced at: