One of the main sources of New Zealand data on youth smoking is the Health Promotion Agency’s (HPA’s) Youth Insights Survey (YIS). The YIS monitors Year 10 students’ behaviours, attitudes and knowledge on a range of tobacco-related topics, including their opinions on the acceptability of exposure to second-hand smoke.
Respondents in the 2014 YIS were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that, “It’s not okay for other people to smoke around me where I can breathe their smoke”.
Methodology
Respondents in the 2014 YIS were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that, "It’s not okay for other people to smoke around me where I can breathe their smoke".
Agreement was examined by gender, ethnicity, smoking status1 and susceptibility to smoking (among never smokers)2 (see the ‘About the Youth Insights Survey’ section for more detail and relevant comparison groups). When looking at differences by gender and ethnicity, we have controlled for smoking status. This means that we took into account whether or not the respondent smoked to ensure that any difference found by gender or ethnicity is not in fact due to the respondent’s smoking status. Only statistically significant (p < .05) differences between groups are reported.
Agreement with this statement was also assessed in 2012, therefore further analysis was undertaken to examine change over time.
Key Results
• More than two-thirds (70%) of young people felt that it is not okay for other people to smoke around them where they can breathe the smoke.
• Different patterns in response were seen by smoking status, with those who had never smoked showing the highest rate of agreement.
• While remaining high, the proportion of young people who agreed with the statement has decreased since 2012.