Sponsor

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP).

Mode of Administration

School based; administered in classrooms by professional survey administrators. Anonymous self-administered questionnaires. Make-up surveys conducted for absentees.

Survey Sample Design

The YRBSS has several components all of which are administered among samples of 9th through 12th grade students: a national survey, State surveys administered by the States, local surveys administered by 16 of the largest cities, a survey of the Navaho Indian Nation schools, and a census of Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. The national survey uses a three-stage probability sample. It is completed biennially by students in about 150 public and private schools, grades 9-12. African-American and Hispanic/Latino students are over-sampled in the national survey. In the 1999 national survey, N= 15,349; grade 9 = 28.9 percent; grade 10 = 26.0 percent; grade 11 = 23.6 percent; and grade 12 = 21.4 percent.

Response Rates

Primary Survey Content

Six categories of health risk behaviors: injury, tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, sexual behavior, diet and nutrition, and physical activity.

Population Targeted

Students in grades 9-12.

Demographic Data

Gender, age, grade, race/ethnicity, urbanicity of school.

Race/ethnicity data are collected using a single question. Categories are White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino. Respondents can choose one or more categories. Persons who select "Hispanic or Latino" are only counted as Hispanic or Latino, whereas people who select multiple race categories (not including Hispanic or Latino) are classified as "multiracial." (The number in the multiracial category is very small.) When the data are compiled, persons who select White only are classified as nonHispanic White. Person who select Black or African American only are classified as non-Hispanic Black or African American.

Years Collected

1990; biennially since 1991.

Schedule

Biennial (odd-numbered years).

Geographic Estimates

National survey: national and four U.S. Census Bureau regions; State survey: 41 States and the District of Columbia in 1999; Local survey: 16 selected large urban school districts in 1999.

Notes

This is one of the few school-based surveys that conducts a makeup survey for students who are absent during the original survey yielding excellent coverage of the in-school youth population. Other components of the YRBSS include a national alternative school survey, middle school surveys in selected States, and the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey. For the 1999 YRBSS, questionnaire revisions were made to be responsive to the Healthy People 2010 objectives and current trends.

Contact Information

Data system homepage:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/ov.htm

Data system phone: 800-231-6405

Agency homepage:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp

Agency phone: 770-488-5401

References

Kann, L.; Kichen, S.A.; Williams, B.I.; et al. Youth risk behavior surveillance, United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summary 47(SS-3):1-89, 1997.

Kann, L.; Warren, C.W.; Harris, W.A.; et al. Youth risk behavior surveillance, United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summary 45(SS-4):1-83, 1995.

Kann, L.; Kolbe, L.J.; and Collins, J.L. (eds). Measuring the health behavior of adolescents: The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System and recent reports on high-risk adolescents. Public Health Reports 108 (Suppl. 1), 1993.