Welcome to the Scottish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Study
Download the latest HBSC National Report!
Currie C, Levin K, Kirby J, Currie D, van der Sluijs W and Inchley J (2011) Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: World Health Organization Collaborative Cross-National Study (HBSC): findings from the 2010 HBSC survey in Scotland. Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit,
The University of St Andrews.
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Download the full report [PDF 5.16MB]
The Scottish HBSC study investigates the health and well-being of Scottish school children and the social contexts in which they are growing up.
The study is conducted every four years and collects data from Primary 7, Secondary 2 and Secondary 4 pupils from all over Scotland. The Scottish HBSC study is part of a larger cross-national study which is conducted in collaboration with the Word Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe. The study currently covers 43 countries and regions in Europe and North America. For more information on the international HBSC study please visit the international HBSC website.
The Scottish HBSC study is conducted by the Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit (CAHRU) at the University of St Andrews. CAHRU is currently the International Coordinating Centre (ICC) of the HBSC study and research network. Professor Candace Currie OBE is the principle investigator for the Scottish HBSC study as well as the elected International Coordinator of the study (1995-2000, 2000-2005, 2005-2009, 2009-2012).
Register your interest in child and adolescent health with CAHRU
We at CAHRU are interested in engaging with our stakeholders. If you are interested in young people's health and wellbeing and would like to be kept appraised of our work please, or if you would like to ask about more information, specific questions or to discuss your specific interests, please contact:
Karen Hunter
tel. 01334 461732
Please have a look at our publications and research activities pages to inform yourself about our activities.
HBSC Scotland news...
01 April 2011 | CAHRU investing in young people conference a big success
On 22 March, CAHRU hosted a very successful one-day conference featuring a host of influential national and international speakers.
The conference, 'Investing in young people to secure Scotland's future', saw the launch of the national report of the 2010 HBSC survey. Latest findings from the study were presented, including two decades of trends in young people's health.
The conference was well attended and presentations, which are available to download from the conference web page, were very well received on the day.
23 March 2011 | New HBSC Scotland National Report published
Download the full report [PDF 5.16 MB]
The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Scotland National Report has been published. The report, produced by CAHRU with funding support from NHS Health Scotland, provides a unique picture of the health of young people aged 11, 13 and 15 years in Scotland over the last two decades.
Set against the social backdrop of family life, school experience, neighbourhood environment and peer relationships the report gives a comprehensive description of young people's health status. Please contact CAHRU (cahru@ed.ac.uk) for further information about this research.
11 February 2011 | Investing in Young People to Secure Scotland's Future
CAHRU is hosting this one-day conference on 22 March 2011. The conference features a host of influential national and international speakers and latest findings from the 2010 HBSC study, including two decades of trends in young people's health.
A must for anybody who wants to make a difference. Help improve young people's future by investing in young people. Come and look at the evidence and see for yourself how young people are doing and how you can make a difference!
A one-day conference providing you the unique opportunity to hear compelling evidence on how the five Scottish Government strategic objectives (Wealthier & Fairer, Smarter, Healthier, Safer & Stronger, and Greener) influence young people. An investment in young people can lead to the fulfilment of all the five objectives, culminating in the more successful Scotland we're all striving for.
23 November 2010 | HBSC report published: Validation of HBSC mental well-being items
A new report 'Validating mental well-being items of the Scottish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey' is published today. The report details findings from a project set up to test the validity and reliability of five items in the Scottish HBSC survey to assess their suitability for measuring mental well-being of young people.
You can download a copy of the report below. This and other HBSC publications are also available in our HBSC publications section.
- Download the full report [PDF 870KB]
- HBSC international website
28 October 2010 | New HBSC Publication: Sexual Health Briefing Paper
HBSC Briefing Paper 18 'Sexual health among young people in Scotland' is out. In a new addition to this series, two supplements are also released. Supplement 18a 'Sources of sexual health information among young people' and Supplement 18b 'Attitudes towards condom use among young people'. These three papers provide a picture in Scotland, of 15 year olds' sexual behaviours, where they are sourcing sexual health information from and who they find it easiest to speak to about sexual matters, as well as how they feel about using condoms. The papers report that trends in sexual intercourse have decreased slightly in Scotland between 1998 and 2006. Approximately two-thirds of 15-year olds report never having had sexual intercourse. Of those who have, the most common age of initiation is 14 or 15 years. The most commonly reported used contraception is condoms, although this is higher among boys than girls. Trends in reported condom use have increased among both genders.
The papers also show that young people report school as being their main source of information on sexual matters; a change from previous surveys which have consistently shown friends to be the main source. Furthermore, young people who report school as their main source of information on sexual matters are less likely to have had sexual intercourse than those who report friends. However, pupils still report friends as being the easiest people to discuss such matters with. Emphasis on improving teacher-pupil communication about personal and sexual matters may therefore be of benefit.
Girls are more likely than boys to feel embarrassed about buying condoms or uncomfortable about carrying condoms. Findings show that pupils who receive sex education are less likely to have negative views about condoms than those who have not received sex education. However, the topics influencing these attitudes vary by gender, highlighting the importance of gender specific sex education and the need to further develop positive attitudes towards condoms among young people.
The Briefing Paper and Briefing Supplements can be downloaded from the Publications page.
23 June 2010 | CAHRU in the Times Educational Supplement.
On the 21st May, the Times Educational Supplement Scotland devoted a two page spread to the Scottish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Study. The article emphasises the importance of the HBSC study, discussing some of the study's previous findings, changes made to the questionnaires and topics that are receiving extra attention in this survey cycle. It also discusses the potential impact of the Curriculum of Excellence on pupils' health and wellbeing.
The HBSC study is conducted every four years in Europe and North America. In Scotland, it was carried out in the first quarter of this year by CAHRU. Currently the data is being cleaned and prepared for analysis. Both the International Coordinating Centre for the WHO collaborative cross-national HBSC study, and the Scottish National team, are based in CAHRU.
The Times Educational Supplement is available online.
13 May 2010 | 2010 HBSC data collection finalised
The data collection for the 2010 Scottish HBSC Survey has been completed. The Scottish HBSC team would like to express its appreciation to all the schools that took part in the study as well as to all the pupils who filled out the questionnaire. Currently the questionnaires are being entered into the database. The next step will be the cleaning of the data set to prepare it for analysis.
We are looking forward to analyse the data and explore trends on data we collected over the last 20 years as well as investigate new and expanded areas.
In addition to the HBSC Pupil Survey, we recently sent to all participating schools a HBSC School Level Questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to gather information on the characteristics, resources and health promoting aspects of all the participating schools. This information will allow us to better understand variations in young people's health and health behaviours.
10 February 2010 | New HBSC Publication
HBSC Briefing Paper 17 "Nutrition and Health among young people in Scotland" is out. The paper reports some gender differences in food and drink consumption among Scottish schoolchildren, with girls more likely to eat fruit and vegetables than boys, whereas boys are more likely to eat chips, biscuits and white bread. There are no gender differences in the consumption of sweets or crisps however, with over a quarter of 11-15 year olds consuming these daily. Boys are more likely to eat breakfast everyday on schooldays, although there is a gradual decrease in breakfast consumption with age. Findings show that pupils who eat breakfast everyday are more likely to rate their school performance as 'good or very good' and their health as 'excellent or good'. Furthermore, pupils who skip breakfast everyday are more likely to consume daily sugary drinks and snack type foods, such as sweets and crisps. A positive association is also shown between the consumption of fruit or vegetables and physical activity participation. This paper highlights the importance of young people's nutrition in relation to well-being, positive health behaviours and school performance. Gender and age differences are apparent in food choices, with young people already engaging in less healthy eating patterns appearing to be most at risk. Interventions to promote breakfast consumption and fruit and vegetable intake should especially be targeted at adolescents in Scotland.
The paper can be downloaded from Publications: Briefing Paper 17
2 February 2010 | 2010 HBSC Survey now in the field
The Scottish HBSC would like to say a big Thank You to all the schools in Scotland who agreed to take part in the HBSC 2010 Scottish National Survey. Over 400 classes from Primary and Secondary schools will be answering the questionnaire, giving a balanced representation of Scottish school children in all regions of the country.
All participating schools will now have received the HBSC 2010 Survey packages and will be administering the questionnaire in January-February 2010.
For any questions relating to the Scottish 2010 HBSC survey, please contact Dr Winfried van der Sluijs
27 January 2010 | Coming Soon...
Seventeenth Briefing Paper in the HBSC Series
The seventeenth Briefing Paper in the HBSC series is due to come out early next month. It examines nutrition and health among young people in Scotland. The paper looks more specifically at breakfast consumption, lunchtime at school, and the frequency in consumption of different food types, such as fruit and vegetables, sweets and sugary drinks. Associations are explored between nutritional behaviours and school performance, perceived health and physical activity.
11 November 2009 | HBSC report published
Young People’s Health in Great Britain and Ireland
The Young People's Health in Great Britain and Ireland Report is published today.
The report is produced by CAHRU with funding from NHS Health Scotland and in cooperation with its counterparts in England, Ireland and Wales. It shows findings from the International HBSC study providing an interesting picture on how Great Britain and Ireland are doing as a whole as well as comparing the individual countries with one another.
Investigating various health issues and behaviours in young people as well as their social environment this report gives a new look at the 2006 HBSC findings. The report is considered to complement previous HBSC publications such as the "HBSC Scotland National Report" and the "Inequalities in Young people's Health" report.
For more information, please contact Cara Zanotti, cara.zanotti@ed.ac.uk Tel +44 (0)131 651 6557
- Young People's Health in Great Britain and Ireland: Findings from the HBSC Survey 2006 [PDF 2.01MB]
- HBSC international website
14 October 2009 | 2010 HBSC Survey News
At the end of September a letter went out to schools asking them to partake in the upcoming 2010 Scottish HBSC survey. A sample was drawn earlier this month in order to achieve an accurate representation of Scottish schoolchildren in all regions of the country. Previous to sending the letters to the schools, permission was acquired from all Directors of Education to approach schools to participate in the above survey.
The survey will take place early 2010. Each school will be sent a package of questionnaires for the class(es) involved. The questionnaires should be completed by all pupils in the class(es) at a time which is convenient to the school during the period January to February. The questionnaires are anonymous and confidential: neither individual pupils nor schools will be identified at any point in the reporting of the subsequent data. Schools will also be provided with parent/pupil information sheets and consent forms along with the questionnaires.
12 October 2009 | New HBSC publication
HBSC Briefing Paper 16: Oral health among young people in Scotland
Kirby J, Akhtar P, Levin K and Currie C
[PDF 159KB]
HBSC Briefing paper 16 "Oral Health among young people in Scotland" is out. The paper reports a steady increase in the proportion of children brushing their teeth at least twice daily between 1990 and 2006, with girls more likely than boys to report brushing their teeth at least twice a day. Young people who live in high affluence families have a higher frequency of twice daily tooth brushing than those living in low affluence families. Furthermore, among boys, living with both parents is associated with a higher frequency of at least twice daily tooth brushing. Young people consuming sugary drinks are less likely to clean their teeth twice a day, while those with a diet which includes daily fruit and vegetables are more likely to clean their teeth at least twice a day. The combined effect of not brushing teeth twice a day and consuming sugary drinks regularly is likely to result in poor oral health. Oral health initiatives should target children who are at particularly high risk of oral diseases.
This and other briefing papers on a range of topics, including mental health, bullying, and physical activity are also available in our publications section.
28 September 2009 | Scottish Learning Festival 2009 update
The Scottish Learning Festival was a great success for the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. HBSC was given the opportunity by NHS Health Scotland to have a presence on their stand. This gave HBSC the chance to showcase the study and their dissemination materials such as briefing papers and reports. The team was very pleased with the level of interest the stand attracted and the positive feedback they received.