YRBS: An Overview
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS) was developed
by the Division of Adolescent and School Health, United States Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 1990 to monitor priority
health risk behaviors that contribute markedly to the leading causes
of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults
in the United States. These behaviors, often established during
childhood and early adolescence, include:
- Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence;
- Tobacco use;
- Alcohol and other drug use;
- Sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and
sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection;
- Unhealthy dietary behaviors;
- Inadequate physical activity.
The YRBSS was designed to:
- Determine the prevalence of health risk behaviors;
- Assess whether health risk behaviors increase, decrease, or stay
the same over time;
- Examine the co-occurrence of health risk behaviors;
- Provide comparable data among subpopulations of youth;
- Monitor progress toward achieving the Healthy People 2010 objectives
and other program indicators.
San Francisco Unified School District has taken part in the YRBSS
since 1991. The District data are used to monitor the health related
behaviors of San Francisco’s youth, guide program planning,
and evaluate some of the District’s school-based health programs.
In addition, the District developed a supplemental survey in concert
with ETR Associates, its evaluation contractor, to collect data on
additional safety variables in order to gain a more in-depth student
perspective on school climate issues. This supplemental survey
was administered with the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to the same
students.
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is administered to a random sample
of classes at the middle and high school levels every other year.
The average sample size across the years is approximately 2,000 students
per survey. The last year of the survey was 2004-05. The next survey
is scheduled for fall of school year 2006-07.
