Susceptibility to smoking

Although many of the youngest respodents reported never smoking, youth may be susceptible to smoking in the future. Susceptibility to smoking is defined as “the absence of a firm decision not to smoke,” and can predict future smoking among youth.^xi

In 2018-19, when students in grades 7-9 were asked, “At any time during the next 12 months do you think you will smoke a cigarette?”, most (83.0%^a) reported “definitely not”; 13.2%^b reported “probably not”, 2.5%^c “probably yes” and just 1.3%^d “definitely yes”. Since CSTADS 2018-19 asked only one smoking susceptibility question, while previous surveys made a composite measure from three questions, estimates cannot be compared with previous surveys.