A substance abuse survey series was conducted from 1982 to 2000 in England and Scotland to provide national information on young people's smoking, drinking, and drug use. Scotland began conducting an independent series in 2002 through the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) in order to provide policymakers with information for developing and evaluating policies to reduce the prevalence of substance use in Scotland and to evaluate the progress towards Scottish Government goals.

The 2015-2016 SALSUS survey included a sample of 31,147 students from 382 schools. A total of 25,304 students from 264 schools were successfully interviewed using self-completed questionnaires.

The survey covered substance use, health status, mental health symptoms, peer relationships, leisure activities, and social behavior.