The Youth Insights Survey (YIS)

The Youth Insights Survey (YIS) is a nationally representative school-based survey of Year 10 students (predominantly 14 and 15 year olds). The YIS collects in-depth information on tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, as well as a wide range of information on youth culture and lifestyles. It monitors the broad spectrum of risk and protective factors that relate to smoking uptake among young people. The YIS is conducted every two years with around 3,000 Year 10 students, and forms part of the New Zealand Youth Tobacco Monitor, a collaborative effort by the HPA and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). The data presented in this website have been adjusted (weighted) to ensure they are representative of the New Zealand Year 10 student population.

Graph list:
1.   Early uptake of cigarette smoking (first tried a cigarette before age 10)
2.   Tried a cigarette for the first time in past year
3.   Number of cigarettes smoked in life
4.   Perception of whether it would be difficult to quit once someone has started smoking
5.   Perception of whether student could get cigarettes from friends
6.   Perception of whether student could get cigarettes from their family or home
7.   Perception of whether student could get cigarettes from a shop
8.   Past-week exposure to second-hand smoke at home
9.   Past-week exposure to second-hand smoke in a vehicle
10. Agreement that parents have set rules about not smoking cigarettes
11. Agreement that parents would be upset if student was caught smoking cigarettes
12. Agreement that there is no harm in having a cigarette once in a while
13. Agreement that don't want to end up a smoker
14. Agreement that by 2025 hardly anybody will be smoking
15. Agreement that smoking in cars should be banned when children are in them
16. Agreement that tobacco companies should not be allowed to promote cigarettes and tobacco with cool looking packs
17. Agreement that want to live in a country where no one smokes
18. Agreement that smoking should be banned in all outdoor places where young people go
19. Ever tried electronic cigarettes

Available filter variables:
Ethnicity, gender, parental smoking, smoking status, school decile status, susceptibility to smoking

Definitions:
Ethnicity: Māori; non-Māori: Multiple responses from list, coded, and categorised as to whether respondent was identified Māori

School decile (Low; Mid; High): School decile used as a measure of each student's socioeconomic status. Decile 1 to 10 provided by the Ministry of Education for participating schools reclassified as 1 to 4 (low), 5 to 7 (mid), and 8 to 10 (high).

Never smoker: Answered 'no' when asked if they had ever smoked.

Current smoker: Smoked at least once a day, once a week or once a month when asked how often they smoked.
Determined by answers to the following questions:
"Have you ever smoked a cigarette, even just a few puffs?"
"How often do you smoke now?"


Susceptibility to smoking:
Non-susceptible never smoker - Answered 'definitely not' to both questions below.
Susceptible never smoker - Answered anything except 'definitely not' to both questions.
Determined by answers to the following questions:
"If one of your best friends offered you a cigarette, would you smoke it?"
"At any time during the next year (12 months) do you think you will smoke a cigarette?"

Other information:
The base population for each graph, unless noted otherwise, is all Year 10 students.
Specific analysis, such as short fact sheets, can be accessed here.
For more information on the Youth Insights Survey and the wider NZYTM, please click here.