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Healthy Youth Survey - Background
In Washington, multiple State agencies have been organizing
statewide surveys of youth health behavior since 1988. The surveys
have been based on two different national surveys: Monitoring the
Future Survey (MTF), supported by the National Institute of Drug
Abuse and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth
Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). In 1995 the Communities that Care (CTC)
survey, developed by the University of Washington, became an
important component of the survey effort, and more recently, the
Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) was incorporated.
These survey efforts reflect a growing need for data to support
planning and evaluation of science-based prevention and health
promotion programs. While these surveys have differed in content and
administration, questions related to substance use have been
relatively constant, thus providing state-level information about
trends in youth substance use beginning in 1988. Other health
behaviors have been measured more sporadically, and the combined
survey effort provides valuable insight to the health of Washington
youth.
To better coordinate these survey efforts, and to minimize the
burden on schools, State agencies resolved to cooperate on the
administration of only one survey of youth behaviors every two
years. The agencies formed a
Joint Survey Planning Committee to develop a coordinated survey
process. The goals for the continuing collaborative effort are to:
- Describe youth health behavior habits, risks, and outcomes
- Describe school, community, family, and peer-individual risk
and protective factors
To achieve these goals, the survey must:
- Gather state-level data in a consistent way (with
predictable timing and using comparable measures over time), and
- Support local-level data collection and use for
planning/assessment and evaluation of programs to serve youth.
Planning for the 2010 Healthy Youth Survey
The Joint Survey Planning Committee, with input from an advisory
body made up of key constituents, decided to plan for one survey
every other year. Key features of the plan are listed here. For more
details on the administration of the 2010 Healthy Youth Survey, see
Survey Administration in the
Technical Notes.)
Participation
- A simple random sample of schools was recruited at the state
level. Methods used to identify a state-level sample have
changed over time. These changes can have some impact on
results, complicating year-to-year comparisons. Identification
of a simple sampling plan makes the survey easier to manage and
analyze.
- Efforts were made to collect high quality data for use by
school districts and local level community health and prevention
service providers. Schools and communities that wanted
local-level data could "piggyback" (voluntarily participate) to
gather local-level data. County samples were drawn for counties
that were large enough to do so.
- If a school building had fewer than 15 students per grade,
then that building did not receive results to protect the
confidentiality of the students. In rural areas, this meant that
many buildings were not eligible for results. Small schools were
encouraged to contribute to the overall district or county-level
estimates.
- The survey will be consistently administered in the Fall of
even years (2004, 2006, etc.). This consistent timeline avoids
conflicts with Spring academic testing, allows school and
communities to have data available for Spring grant writing/
needs assessment activities, and helps school administrators to
plan ahead for participation. Gathering of data in the Fall
might make comparison to some national surveys (YRBS, YTS) more
difficult, because those surveys are collected in Spring months,
when youth are older and more likely to engage in risky
behaviors.
- The survey will be given to 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders.
Data collection from these grades on a two-year cycle will
enable communities and state agencies to watch "cohorts" of
youth over time. In other words, the 6th graders who take the
Fall 2006 survey will participate as 8th graders in the Fall
2008 survey, and so on.
- Questionnaires:
- Participating agencies compromised on content to keep
the survey a practical length.
- Efforts need to be made to keep the wording of specific
questions the same from administration to administration to
ensure the collection of meaningful trend data.
- The survey for grades 8, 10, and 12 is a two-form
"interleaved" survey. To manage the length of the survey
with the breadth of information desired by agencies and
stakeholders, there is "form A" and "form B" for the survey.
Alternately seated students receive form A and form B, but
it is not obvious to youth sitting next to each other that
they have different versions.
- The questions on form A were identified by a working
group of Office of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the Division of Behavioral Health and
Recovery, Department of Commerce, and
constituents of these organizations
- The questions on form B were identified by a working
group of the Department of Health, Local Health
Jurisdictions, the Office of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction and constituents of these
organizations.
- All youth have the same "core" questions in their surveys. Youth who
complete form A answer additional questions about
risk/protective factors (similar to surveys in 1995,
1998 and 2000) while youth who complete form B answer
additional questions about health, health risks and
outcomes (similar to past YRBS 1995 and 1999).
- The 6th grade survey is a single version, with fewer
questions, but including most of the core items.
- The survey uses a separate sheet for students to record
their responses. In comparison to some past school surveys in
which students recorded responses directly in the questionnaire
booklet, a separate answer sheet increases the speed of scanning
and delivering results. It decreases the cost of printing and
makes it easier to provide the survey in different languages.
However, it is possible that this change will increase the
number of mistakes that youth might make as they "bubble" their
answers on a separate page from the questions, and might also
increase the time it takes for youth to complete the survey.
- Superintendent of Public Instruction: Office of Learning and
Teaching Support and Safe and Drug Free Schools
- Department of Social and Health Services: Division of
Behavioral Health and Recovery
- Department of Health: Tobacco Prevention and Control
Program, Office of Maternal and Child Health, Office of
Epidemiology, Injury and Violence Prevention Program, Community
Wellness and Prevention
- Department of Commerce:
Community Mobilization
- Governor's Family Policy Council
- Liquor Control Board
Questions about HYS:
Kevin Beck
360-236-3492
Toll free: 877-HYS-7111
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