Impacts of smoke-free public places legislation on youth smoking uptake

Although the ban on smoking in public places has improved health by reducing exposure to second-hand smoke, it is not yet clear whether this has had any impact on youth smoking uptake. Particularly, we do not know whether this has changed the long-standing trend for youths from more disadvantaged backgrounds to be more likely to take up smoking. We will use annual survey data on 11-15 year olds from 1994-2015 to understand the impacts of the smoking ban on inequalities in the chances of young people trying smoking, becoming occasional or daily smokers, or quitting after starting smoking. We will look to see if there is an immediate impact, or a more gradual impact that increases over time.

In addition, it is well known that the smoking behaviour of parents can be an important influence on smoking uptake among their teenage children. It is unclear how a smoking ban will affect the smoking behaviour of parents. A ban on smoking in public places may mean that parents of young people smoke more at home to compensate for restrictions on their smoking elsewhere. Alternatively, it may lead to it being viewed as less acceptable to smoke around young people, and parents may smoke less at home around their children. Either effect would be an important influence on youth smoking uptake, and effects could vary depending on how disadvantaged the home is. We will therefore investigate what effects the smoking ban has had on the smoking behaviour of young people's parents, and how much of any impact on youth smoking uptake is explained by this.

The smoking ban is not the only important change happening in the UK that might impact on youth smoking uptake. We will use differences in the timing of these events to differentiate between the impacts of the smoking ban and other changes such as the raising of the legal age for purchasing cigarettes from 16 to 18 years, and the increasing availability and use of e-cigarettes within the UK.

Beneficiaries from this work would include:

UK Government: the findings will be of benefit to the UK government as they will provide information on important impacts of an existing policy. This information will be of use if the policy is ever considered for repeal or modification. The evidence that we will generate around the mechanisms of impact on young people's smoking uptake via their parents will be particularly valuable as extensions to smoke-free policies are considered (eg to more private spheres such as cars and homes).
ASH & ASH Scotland: these groups have an active interest in tobacco control and contribute widely to public debates and policy consultations in this area, and the evidence we will generate around the impacts of this policy and mechanisms of action are likely to be of use to them as they advocate for effective tobacco control policy.
NHS Health Scotland: this national health board work within Scotland to reduce inequalities and improve health. The evidence we generate will help inform their work, and help evaluate one of the existing policies in place within this context.
Academics with an interest in public policy and tobacco control: the findings will be of interest to academics within these and similar fields as noted above in the section on academic beneficiaries.
The UK General Public: issues around tobacco control are of wide public interest and our evidence will contribute to these wider public debates. Prior studies by members of the project team in this area have been picked up by national news media and we would expect similar interest in the findings of this study.
Policymakers in other countries: The findings will be of international relevance as many countries have not yet implemented smoke-free public places legislation. The understanding of impacts and mechanisms gained from this study will help policymakers evaluate whether similar effects could be gained by implementing such policies within their own countries.