NCJ Number
192136
Date Published
November 2001
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study compared data from the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) surveys of secondary school children aged 11 to 15 with national aggregated data published by the Schools Health Education Unit (SHEU); three other data sources were also considered: the 1999 ESPAD (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) survey, the 1998/99 Youth Lifestyles Survey (YLS), and the 1997 survey of Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC).
Abstract
These five data sources differed markedly in terms of methods, age groups targeted, questions, response rates, and the availability of data; this made comparisons between the findings difficult. The SHEU showed lower prevalence of drug use than ONS for comparable age groups. There was little difference between boys and girls in the prevalence of drug use in the SHEU results, but all other surveys reported higher prevalence among boys. Comparisons of smoking and drinking were particularly difficult, because the questions were significantly different; it was difficult to explain, for example, why the SHEU data showed much higher proportions of students reporting that they had drunk alcohol in the previous week. The relatively low YLS figures for drug use and drinking were almost certainly due to respondents being interviewed at home rather than at school. Drug use in the ONS and ESPAD surveys was at broadly similar levels. The HBSC showed higher rates of drug use than ONS, but similar prevalence levels for smoking. 17 tables and a 15-item bibliography