The Youth Insights Survey (YIS) collects data on smoking-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, as well as students’ interests, lifestyles, activities and media use, and responses to tobacco control initiatives. It monitors the broad spectrum of risk and protective factors that relate to smoking uptake among young people. This methodology report details the procedures and protocols followed to ensure the YIS produces high quality, robust data.

Young people’s perceptions of parental attitudes and rules about smoking are associated with youth smoking, and these perceptions may be an even stronger influence on youth smoking than parental smoking behaviour. Participants in the Health Promotion Agency’s (HPA’s) Youth Insights Survey (YIS) were asked to ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’, or to indicate ‘don’t know’ in response to the following statements - 'My parents or caregivers would be upset if I was caught smoking cigarettes/tobacco' and 'My parents or caregivers have set rules with me about not smoking cigarettes/tobacco'.