Printer-friendly version

The second round of the Young Persons' Behaviour and Attitudes Survey was carried out by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in October and November 2003. The research outlines the behaviour and attitudes of young people towards a range of different issues including: school, nutrition, sports, smoking, alcohol, solvents, drugs, policing, personal safety, sexual experience and knowledge, relationships, the environment and travelling to school.

Main findings

The key findings of the report in relation to solvents and drugs for 2003 are as follows:¹

Solvents

• 19% of pupils have been offered solvents on at least one occasion.
• Nearly three quarters (73%) of pupils who could remember what age they were when they started using solvents had started to use by the age of 13.
• 10% of pupils had inhaled solvents at some stage, with 6% having inhaled them in the last year.
• On the last occasion that pupils used a solvent, the most commonly used were aerosols (30%). The other types of solvents used included glue (18%), petrol (18%), correcting fluids (14%), butane gas or lighter refills (13%).
• 7% stated that they had used other types of solvents such as permanent marker or nail varnish.
• On the last occasion that pupils had used solvents, 32% reported that they got them from "a friend/other person around my age I knew", 24% got them by "myself" and 22% got them from a shop.

Drugs

• Over a quarter (29%) of pupils say they have been offered drugs. More than one quarter of pupils (27%) reported having been offered cannabis on at least one occasion.
• 88% of pupils were 14 years of age or younger when they were first offered drugs.
• 14% of pupils had tried cannabis in the last year.
• Of those pupils who have tried drugs, 16% have been in trouble with their parents or family, 15% in trouble with friends, 7% in trouble with the police, 7% in trouble with local people and 3% in trouble with school authorities, because of having used or tried drugs.
• Over a third of all pupils (38%) say that they know a lot about the effects or risks of taking drugs.
• In the previous school year, the majority (82%) of pupils reported having had some form of education on the use of alcohol and/or drugs at school, while over a quarter (30%) had received education at a youth club, community centre or somewhere else (21%).

Copies of the report and the entire survey results (in PDF format) are available from the NISRA website at:
www.csu.nisra.gov.uk/surveys/survey.asp?id=11

The secondary analysis of the 2003 Young Persons Behaviour and Attitudes Survey commissioned by the Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit (DAIRU) is available from: www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/stats_research/stats-pubs/stats-ypbas_2003.htm¹

Further information and copies of the report can be obtained by contacting:
Ms Moira McKee
Central Survey Unit
McAuley House
2-14 Castle Street
Belfast, BT1 1SA
Tel: 028 9034 8212
Email: moira.mckee.csu@nics.gov.uk
 

Reference

1. Social and Market Research. Secondary analysis of the 2003 Young Persons Behaviour and Attitudes Survey (Drugs, Solvents and Alcohol). Belfast: DAIRU, 2005.