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Nutrition, Health and Safety

Youth Risk Behavior Survey

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education - in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health - conducts the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) in randomly selected public high schools in every odd-numbered year. The YRBS focuses on the major risk behaviors that threaten the health and safety of young people. This anonymous survey includes questions about tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, sexual behaviors that might lead to unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease, dietary behaviors, physical activity, and behaviors associated with intentional or unintentional injuries. Data from the YRBS provide accurate estimates of the prevalence of risk behaviors among public high school students in the Commonwealth, and are important for planning health education and risk prevention programs. Links to the executive summary and full report summarizing results of the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Department of Public Health's 2009 Youth Health Survey appear below. Detailed tables showing group differences by gender, grade level, and ethnicity and showing 1993-2009 trends for major variables are available on request; see contact information below. The 2011 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey and DPH's Youth Health Survey are currently being implemented in a sample of Massachusetts secondary schools. 2011 results should be available in mid-2012.

The YRBS results are never reported for individual districts , or towns or regions. However, many schools choose to conduct a local survey to gather data about the risk behaviors of their own students. ESE staff are available to provide technical assistance around how best to implement a survey project, how to notify parents, where to seek assistance with data analyses, and how to use the results to inform program and policy decisions.

Contacts:

Chiniqua Milligan, MPH
YRBS Coordinator
(781) 338-6307
cmilligan@doe.mass.edu

Related Resources:

  

2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire

  

2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire

  

2009 Health and Risk Behaviors of Massachusetts Youth

  

2009 Executive Summary, Health and Risk Behaviors

  

2007 Health and Risk Behaviors of Massachusetts Youth

2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results