Overview of key data sources: Health Behaviour in School-aged Children

Organisation responsible: WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Background and purpose: Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is a cross-national research study, which aims to increase our understanding of young people's health and wellbeing, health behaviours and their social context. There are 36 participating countries and regions and data collection is carried out using a common research protocol.

Survey years / frequency: HBSC was initiated in 1982. The first cross-national survey was conducted in 1983/84, the second in 1985/86 and since then data collection has been carried out every four years. The most recent survey, the sixth in the series, was conducted in 2001/02.

Survey content: The survey collects information on self-reported / subjective health and wellbeing, smoking, alcohol consumption, cannabis use, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, eating habits and body image, oral health, bullying and fighting, injuries and sexual health. The survey also collects information on the life circumstances of young people including family, school, peers and socioeconomic circumstances. These are seen as the key social contexts related to the health and health behaviour of young people.

Target population: Young people attending school, aged 11 (P7), 13 (S2) and 15 (S4) years old.

Sample size: The survey is carried out on a nationally representative sample in each participating country. The sample in each country consists of approximately 1,500 children from each age group, giving a total sample size of 4,500 children.

Response rate: The overall response rate for the 2001/02 HBSC survey in Scotland was 65%.

Method of data collection: HBSC is a school-based survey with data collected through self-completion questionnaires administered in the classroom. All participating countries use a standard questionnaire.

Smallest geographical unit reported: Individual country / region (including Scotland).

Availability of results and further information: International reports have been published summarising results from the 1993/94, 1997/98 and 2001/02 HBSC surveys. These reports can be accessed via the HBSC website, which also provides further information on the HBSC survey. It is also possible to access country specific reports through this website. Access to the survey data is restricted to HBSC research teams for a period of three years from survey completion. After this time the data is available for external use by agreement with the International Coordinator and Principal Investigators.