Lead Investigators: Prof. Graham Moore; Doctor Rachel Brown
Background
Today’s primary school children are the first to have been born into a society in which smoking of tobacco is prohibited in public places, and alongside the parallel emergence of electronic cigarettes. Understanding perceptions of tobacco and e-cigarettes among this cohort of young people is important in informing contemporary tobacco prevention policy.
Aims and Objectives
The study aims to:
• Understand perceptions of tobacco and e-cigarettes amongst primary schoolchildren;
• Explore perceived roles of e-cigarettes in shaping smoking norms, or protecting young people from exposure to smoked tobacco, from the perspectives of children, families and schools;
• Establish a longitudinal cohort of young people, whose future smoking and e-cigarette use trajectories can be tracked via the School Health Research Network (SHRN).
Study Design
In this mixed methods study, we first undertook qualitative interviews with pupils, staff and parents in four primary schools in Wales. We then surveyed 2000 pupils within a nationally representative sample of 73 schools across Wales. Our survey data were combined with our earlier CHETS and CHETS 2 surveys in order to understand change over time in perceptions of, and exposure to, tobacco and e-cigarettes among primary schoolchildren in Wales.
Further information & publications
How Do Welsh Primary School Children View Smoking and Vaping?
Start date
April 2018
End date
September 2019
Funders
Cancer Research UK Tobacco Advisory Group
Amount
£126,000