Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS): Alcohol Report 2015

4 Attitudes to alcohol use and alcohol education

Acceptability of trying drinking and getting drunk

Less than half of 13 year olds (40%) thought that it was 'ok' for someone their age to try drinking alcohol, while nearly three-quarters of 15 year olds (73%) thought it was 'ok'.

Among 13 year olds, the acceptability of drinking has decreased over time, but with no statistically significant change between 2013 and 2015. Among 15 year olds, there was a small decrease among both genders in the proportion of pupils who thought it was 'ok' for someone their age to try drinking.

Among 15 year olds, girls were more likely than boys to think that trying an alcoholic drink was 'ok'. There was no statistical difference between 13 year old boys and girls. (Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1 Acceptability of trying an alcoholic drink, by age and gender (2006-2015)

Q Do you think it is ok for someone your age to do the following? Try drinking alcohol to see what it's like

Base: all pupils (for full base size information please see Appendix B)

Less than one in ten 13 year olds (9%) thought that it was 'ok' for someone their age to try getting drunk, whereas 38% of 15 year olds thought that it was 'ok'. There has been no change between 2013 and 2015.

There was no difference between 13 year old boys and girls. However, as with trying drinking for the first time, 15 year old girls were more likely than boys to think that to try getting drunk was 'ok' (Figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2 Acceptability of trying "getting drunk", by age and gender (2006-2015)

Q Do you think it is ok for someone your age to do the following? Try getting drunk to see what it's like

Base: all pupils (for full base size information please see Appendix B)

Alcohol Education and Support

Among both age groups, around two-thirds of pupils reported that they had received lessons, videos/DVDs or discussion in class on alcohol in the last 12 months (66% of 13 year olds and 68% of 15 year olds).

There was no relationship between receiving lessons on alcohol and drinking in the last week.

School advice and support

The majority of pupils thought that their school was providing them with enough advice and support about drinking alcohol (71% of 13 year olds and 67% of 15 year olds).

While there was no difference in the proportion of 13 year old boys and girls who thought they had enough advice and support, there was a difference among 15 year olds: 15 year old girls were less likely to agree that they had enough advice and support than 15 year old boys. This was due to a higher proportion of 15 year old girls choosing neither agree nor disagree, rather than disagreeing that they had enough advice and support (Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3 Advice and support about alcohol, by age and sex (2015)

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? 'My school provides me with enough advice and support about…? Drinking alcohol

Base: all pupils (13 year boys (5,744), 13 year old girls (6,169), 15 year old boys (5,158) and 15 year old girls (5,312))

Among both age groups, those that agreed that their school provided enough advice and support about alcohol were slightly less likely to have had an alcoholic drink in the last week (Figure 4.4)

Figure 4.4 Proportion of pupils who drank alcohol in the last week, by whether a pupil feels they receive enough advice and support from their school about alcohol (2015)

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? 'My school provides me with enough advice and support about…? Drinking alcohol

Base: 13 year olds who agree that they receive enough advice and support (8,201), 13 year olds who disagree (1,208), 15 year olds who agree that they receive enough advice and support (6,953), 15 year olds who disagree (1,063)

Amount learned in school about alcohol

Pupils were asked how much they had learned at school about a series of topics relating to alcohol: the risks to health; the effects that alcohol can have on other areas of life; that decision-making can be affected by alcohol; and that people's views about smoking, drinking and drug use can be affected by the things their friends say or do.

Across all four topics, around half, or close to half, of pupils said that they had learned 'a lot' and a further third said they had learned 'a little' (Figure 4.5).

15 year olds were very slightly more likely than 13 year olds to say they had learned about these topics. There were no differences between boys and girls in either age group.

Figure 4.5 Amount learned about alcohol at school, by age (2015)

Q. In school, how much have you learned about the following?

Base: all pupils (for full base size information please see Appendix B)

Across all four alcohol topics, there was a relationship between pupils' drinking behaviour and whether they felt that they had learned something. Those that said they had learned a little or a lot were less likely to have had a drink in the last week than those who said they had learned not much or nothing at all (Figure 4.6).

For example, among 15 year olds, 15% of those who said they had learned a lot about the risks to their health, and 17% of those who said they had learned a little, had a drink in the last week. Of those who said they had learned not much or nothing at all, 22% had a drink in the last week.

Table 4.6 Proportion of pupils who drank in the last week, by how much they said they had learned about alcohol topics at school (2015)

Q. In school, how much have you learned about the following?

Base: all pupils (for full base size information please see Appendix B)

Confidence about health and wellbeing choices

Pupils were asked how confident they were about a series of aspects of health and wellbeing: having the information they need to make the right choices; saying no to something they don't want to do; knowing where to go for information and support; and avoiding getting into risky situations due to alcohol.

Across the four aspects, most pupils reported feeling very confident or fairly confident. 13 year olds were more likely than 15 year olds to say they felt very confident (Figure 4.7).

Boys were more confident than girls on each aspect. This was true among both age groups but the gap was wider among 15 year olds. For example, 63% of 15 year old boys, compared with 56% of 15 year old girls, said they were very confident about saying no to doing something they didn't want to do (64% of 13 year old boys, compared with 62% of 13 year old girls, were very confident about this).

Figure 4.7 Confidence in health and wellbeing choices, by age (2015)

Q Thinking about the future, how confident do you feel about…?

Base: all pupils (for full base size information please see Appendix B)

Confidence in future health and wellbeing choices was associated with drinking behaviour. Across all four statements, pupils who felt confident were less likely to have had a drink in the last week than those who did not.

For example, among 13 year olds, 3% of those who felt very confident and 4% of those who felt fairly confident about saying no to something they didn't want to do, had a drink in the last week. Of those who were not very confident or not confident at all, 8% had drunk alcohol in the last week (Figure 4.8).

Figure 4.8 Proportion of pupils who drank in the last week, by confidence in future health and wellbeing choices (2015)

Base: all pupils (for full base size information please see Appendix B)