Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS): smoking report 2018

Almost all 13 year olds (97%) were non-smokers. 2% were regular smokers and 2% were occasional smokers. Smoking was more common among 15 year olds, but the prevalence was still low: 7% were regular smokers and 5% were occasional smokers (Figure 2.2). 87% of 13 year olds and 70% of 15 year olds reported never having smoked.

Smoking prevalence has decreased substantially over time, since 1996 among 15 year old boys and slightly later (since 2002-2004) among 15 year old girls and 13 year olds (Figure 2.3). However, this has levelled off in 2018, with no statistically significant changes this wave compared to 2015.

Over the previous three decades or so, smoking prevalence tended to be somewhat higher among girls, but this is no longer true among 15 year olds in 2018.

Among 15 year old regular smokers, the mean (average) number of cigarettes smoked in the last week was 50 for boys and 33 for girls. Because the mean can be affected by a relatively small number of pupils smoking a lot, it is also useful to look at the median number,^[7] which was much lower: 28 for boys and 21 for girls (Figure 2.4).

There were no statistically significant differences in the mean or median number of cigarettes smoked among 15 year olds in 2018 compared to 2015.

79% of 15 year old regular smokers had been smoking for 6 months or more. 

The proportion of 15 year old regular smokers who have been smoking for 6 months or more has remained around 80% for almost two decades. The proportion of 15 year old girls smoking for 6 months or more has been fairly steady since 2015, however the proportion among 15 year old boys dipped in last wave but is now back in line with the overall trend (Figure 2.5).

In 2018, the proportion of 15 year old girls and boys who had smoked for 6 months or more was similar.

The mean age that 15 year olds (who had ever smoked) had first smoked a cigarette (‘even just a puff’) was 13 years and 5 months. 

The age at which pupils first tried smoking has been gradually increasing since 2008 (Figure 2.6), although the rate of increase has slowed down between 2015 and 2018.

15 year old girls were, on average, older than 15 year old boys when they first tried smoking (13 years and 8 months among girls, compared with 13 years and 2 months among boys).

Half (50%) of 15 year old regular smokers said they would find it ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ difficult to give up. Among 15 year olds who had smoked for more than a year, 69% said they would find it difficult to give up compared to 33% of 15 year olds who had been smoking for less than a year.

The proportion of regular smokers who say they would find it difficult to give up has remained very similar to 2015, following a general decline over time (since 2000 for boys and since 2004 for girls) (Figure 2.7). 

Since 2002, more girls than boys have said they would find it difficult to give up.

29% of 15 year old regular smokers said they want to give up smoking. A similar proportion (34%) said they would not like to give up. However, the biggest proportion (37%) said they did not know.

The proportion of 15 year old boys who smoke regularly but would like to give up has been decreasing since 2000 (Figure 2.8), although there was no statistically significant difference between 2015 and 2018. A similar but more variable decrease can be seen among girls from 2004 to 2015, although there was no statistically significant difference between 2015 and 2018.

The trend broadly follows the decreasing trend in smoking prevalence. In other words, as the overall level of smoking decreases, fewer of those who do smoke want to give up.

There were no gender differences in 2018.

Just over half of 15 year old regular smokers (53%) had tried to give up.

The proportion of 15 year old regular smokers who have tried to give up has decreased between 2008 and 2015, but remained steady from 2015 to 2018 (Figure 2.9). This is in line with the trend in the proportion who want to give up, and overall prevalence. As the overall prevalence of smoking decreases, fewer of those who do smoke have tried to give up. 

There were no statistically significant gender differences.

17% of 13 year olds and 35% of 15 year olds have ever used an e-cigarette. However, only a small proportion used them regularly (defined as once a week or more): 2% of 13 year olds and 3% of 15 year olds. 

Smokers in both age groups were more likely than non-smokers to have ever used or regularly used an e-cigarette (Figures 2.10 and 2.11).

Between 2015 and 2018, the proportion of 13 year olds having tried e-cigarettes has slightly increased among non-smokers (13% to 15%) but not among regular or occasional smokers. This decreased among 15 year old regular smokers (91% to 84%) but increased among 15 year old non-smokers (24% to 28%). However, there were no significant changes in the proportion of frequent e-cigarette use (Figures 2.10 and 2.11).

Boys were more likely than girls to have ever used e-cigarettes: 29% of boys had ever used e-cigarettes, compared with 22% of girls; and 3% of boys used e-cigarettes regularly, compared with 1% of girls.