Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)

7-17-2014 National:

Youth Online lets you analyze national, state, and local Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) data from 1991 - 2013. Data from high school and middle school surveys are included. You can filter and sort on the basis of race/ethnicity, sex, grade, or site, create customized tables and graphs, and perform statistical tests by site and health topic. ..Source.. by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1991-2013 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. Accessed today.

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Sex questions deleted from teen risk survey

5-3-2010 Wisconsin:

JANESVILLE — Janesville middle and high school students took a survey last week about risky behaviors such as drug use.

But they weren’t asked about sexual activity.

Janesville school officials decided those questions should not be asked.

“The questions were more graphic than what we have given the students before, and we thought parents needed more time to view the questions and decide to opt out if that’s what they wanted to do,” Superintendent Karen Schulte said.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is provided online by the state Department of Public Instruction. Districts can tailor the surveys to their needs.

Students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 took the survey. Parents were informed ahead of time and were given the opportunity to opt out.

The full survey asks questions about sex but also ethnicity, gender, weapons, fighting, bullying, suicide, tobacco and alcohol use, exercise, relations with family and teachers and whether the student wears a bicycle helmet.

Some say knowledge is power when it comes to combating teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Schulte doesn’t disagree.

She said the full survey might be used at some future time, but no decision has been made.

Rock County’s teen birth rate in 2008 was 39.5 per 1,000 teens age 15-19. That’s the ninth-highest rate among Wisconsin’s 72 counties, according to the state Office of Health Information.

Among surrounding counties, the teen birth rate was 18.8 in Dane County, 25.3 in Green County and 26.9 in Walworth County. The state average was 31.3

In 2009, nearly 1,950 teen girls gave birth in Rock County.

Rock County’s sexually transmitted infections rate for teens was fourth in the state in 2008 after Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties.

Statewide, the rate of teens contracting sexually transmitted infections is on the rise.

Janesville administered its own survey from 1990 to 2008. Questions about sex were not a part of that survey. Schulte said injecting new questions was too much, too soon.

“The additional questions, we thought, were much more invasive of personal privacy” than in the old survey, Schulte said.

Schulte said her concern was what parents might think when their children came home and reported they took a survey that asked about oral sex, for example.

“We just thought we might get pushback from the community, so we thought, ‘We have to have more time before we start asking these questions,’” she said.

The middle school version of the state survey asks five questions in its sex section. The high school version asks 10.

The middle school survey asks whether it’s important to the student to delay sexual intercourse; whether the student has ever had sex, and if so, when was the first time; the number of sexual partners the student has had and whether a condom was used the last time the student had sex.

The high school survey also asks how many people the student has had sex with in the past three months, whether the student drank or took drugs prior to the last time she or he had sex, what pregnancy-prevention method was used the last time they had sex, whether the student has had sex with males, females or both and whether the student has had oral sex.

Marge Hallenbeck, director of at-risk and multi-cultural programs, said survey data are used to show needs when applying for grants, they help the district’s alcohol/drugs committee spot trends, and they can be used to steer curriculum changes.

Hallenbeck said the state survey is more useful than the district’s old survey. Officials had to wait months for the local results to be processed, but the online survey results will be available almost immediately.

No decision has been made about what survey to use in the future, Schulte said.

Brian Weaver, school health programs consultant at the Department of Public Instruction, said that of the districts that use the survey, about half remove the sex questions from the middle school surveys.

Weaver said he advises districts that if they think the sex questions will be too controversial, they should remove them.

But if a district scraps the survey altogether, “then you don’t have any data available,” Weaver said.

Weaver said students are told that if they don’t want to answer a particular question, they don’t have to. ..Source.. By FRANK SCHULTZ

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Decline in Teen Sex Levels Off, Survey Shows

7-22-2008 National:

The nation's campaign to get more teenagers to delay sex and to use condoms is faltering, threatening to undermine the highly successful effort to reduce teen pregnancy and protect young people from sexually transmitted diseases, federal officials reported yesterday.

New data from a large government survey (YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System 2007) show that by every measure, a decade-long decline in sexual activity among high school students leveled off between 2001 and 2007, and that the rise in condom use by teens flattened out in 2003.

Moreover, the survey found disturbing hints that teen sexual activity may have begun creeping up and that condom use among high school students might be edging downward, though those trend lines have not yet reached a point where statisticians can be sure, officials said.

"The bottom line is: In all these areas, we don't seem to be making the progress we were making before," said Howell Wechsler, acting director of the division of adolescent and school health at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducts the survey. "It's very troubling."

Coming on the heels of reports that one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease and that the teen birth rate has increased for the first time in 15 years, the data are triggering alarm across the ideological spectrum.

"We have a number of signs that are all going exactly in the wrong direction," said Sarah S. Brown, chief executive of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "All of us in this field are on red alert."

The new report did not examine the reason for the trends, but experts said there could be many causes, including rising complacency about HIV and AIDS, changing attitudes about sex and pregnancy, shifts in ethnic diversity, and the possibility that there will always be teens who cannot be persuaded to wait.

"The truth is that, as a field, we really don't know what the answer is," Brown said. "There are lots of theories: the economy, classroom education, the messages kids are getting in the digital world where they spend their time. They probably all play a role."

The new figures renewed the heated debate about sex-education classes that focus on abstinence until marriage, which began receiving federal funding during the period covered by the latest survey and have come under increasing criticism that they are ineffective.

"Since we've started pushing abstinence, we have seen no change in the numbers on sexual activity," said John Santelli, chairman of the department of population and family health at Columbia University. "The other piece of it is: Abstinence education spends a good amount of time bashing condoms. So it's not surprising, if that's the message young people are getting, that we're seeing condom use start to decrease."

Proponents of abstinence programs dismissed the criticism, blaming "comprehensive" sex education that emphasizes contraceptive use.

"Contraceptive sex education does not provide practical skills for maintaining or regaining abstinence but typically gives teens a green light to activity that puts them at great risk for acquiring STDs or which serve as gateway-to-intercourse activities," said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.

Others blamed the onslaught of movies, books, advertising and cultural messages that they say glamorize sex.

"The No. 1 movie that all teenage girls want to see right now is 'Sex and the City,' " said Charmaine Yoest, a spokesman for the Family Research Council. "Our culture continues to tell them the way to be cool is to dress provocatively and to consider nonmarital sexual activity to be normative."

The proportion of teenagers reporting having sexual intercourse rose steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, fueling a sharp rise in teen pregnancy. The trend reversed around 1991 because of AIDS, changing mores about sex and other factors. At the same time, more sexually active teens started using condoms and other contraceptive measures. Together, the trends have pushed the U.S. teen pregnancy rate to historic lows.

The first sign that trend might be reversing came last summer, when the CDC conducted an analysis for The Washington Post of data collected in 2005 by the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationally representative survey the CDC conducts every two years to track risky behaviors. While the rates still remained far below the all-time highs, the analysis showed that the proportion of teens who said they had ever had sex or had had sex in the last three months had leveled off, beginning in 2001. Researchers, however, were waiting for the next round of data to see whether a real trend was represented.

The new data come from the 2007 survey, which involved 14,103 students in grades nine through 12 at 157 high schools nationwide. The survey found a slight increase between 2005 and 2007 of the proportion who reported they had ever had sex, had begun having sex before age 13, had engaged in sex within the last three months and had had sex with at least four partners.

None of the increases was sufficient to convince statisticians that there is an upward trend. But when the agency analyzed the numbers for The Post, statisticians found that every measure of sexual activity passed the statistical test for having leveled off between 2001 and 2007, and the condom use numbers passed the test for leveling off beginning in 2003.

Because the survey involved only teens who are still in school, it might underestimate the level of sexual activity and overestimate condom use, several experts said.

"What's really important here is we're really running out of steam," Wechsler said. "There's no reason for panic, but there is reason for concern." ..News Source.. by Rob Stein, Washington Post Staff Writer

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Youth Internet Safety Surveys (YISS-1 and YISS-2)

============================================
A Special: 2nd International Symposium on Online Child Exploitation
Toronto May 2007
============================================

The original data and source for YISS-1 is the 1999
"Online Victimization: A Report on the Nation's Youth"

First Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-1)

Summary: The Youth Internet Safety Survey is a telephone survey of a national sample of 1,501 youth, ages 10 to 17, and their parents, to assess the incidence, consequences and risk factors related to unwanted or illegal exposure of children and adolescents to sexual solicitation, harassment and pornography on the Internet and to determine children’s and parent’s knowledge of how to respond to such episodes. Interviews were conducted between August 1999 and January 2000. The survey was funded by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Background
The media have focused attention on cases of children being solicited by adults for illegal sexual activities over the Internet. Law enforcement agencies and parent organizations have also expressed considerable concern about this issue. However, there has been little scientific research to establish parameters about the frequency, type, and consequences of such unwanted or illegal sexual solicitations or the related problem of unwanted exposure of youth to pornography on the Internet. The Youth Internet Safety Survey gathered data on these issues by interviewing a national sample of 1,501 youth, ages 10 through 17, who used the Internet in the year prior to the interview, and their parents.

Goals and Objectives

Determine the incidence of young people receiving unwanted or illegal sexual solicitations, pornography, and harassment over the Internet;

Gather information about the context of these experiences;

Assess young Internet users’ knowledge of how to avoid or respond to such experiences, including their awareness of help sources and their beliefs about the circumstances under which they might seek help or report such episodes; and

Ascertain the risk factors for unwanted sexual solicitation, unwanted exposure to pornography, and harassment.

Methodology
The Youth Internet Safety Survey used telephone interviews to gather information from a national sample of 1,501 young people, ages 10 through 17, who had used the Internet at least once a month for the past six months. The sample included a range of both "heavy" and "light" Internet users. Households with youth in the target age group were identified through another large household survey, the Second National Incidence Study of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART 2).

Upon reaching a household, interviewers screened for regular Internet use by a child in the household age 10 through 17. Interviewers, speaking with an adult, identified the child in the household who used the Internet most often. They then conducted a short interview with the parent who knew the most about the child’s Internet use. The interview included questions about household rules and parental concerns about Internet use, as well as demographic characteristics. At the close of the parent interview, the interviewer requested permission to speak with the previously identified youth. With parental consent, interviewers described the survey to the child and obtained his or her oral consent. Youth interviews lasted from fifteen to thirty minutes. They were scheduled at the convenience of youth participants and arranged for times when they could talk freely and confidentially. The survey was conducted under supervision of the University of New Hampshire Institutional Review Board, and conformed to the rules mandated by research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. Detailed information about the methodology of the survey can be found in the final report and other publications.

Summary of Findings
Approximately one in five youth received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet in the last year.

One in thirty-three received an aggressive sexual solicitation - a solicitor who ask to meet them somewhere, called them on the telephone, sent them mail, money, or gifts.

None of the youth were physically or sexually assaulted by someone they met online.

One in four had an unwanted exposure to pictures of naked people or people having sex in the last year.

One in seventeen was threatened or harassed online in the last year.

A small percentage of young people who reported these incidents were distressed by them.

Only a fraction of all episodes were reported to authorities such as a law enforcement agency, an Internet service provider, or a hotline.

About one-quarter of the youth who encountered a sexual solicitation or approach told a parent. About 40% of those reporting an unwanted exposure to sexual material told a parent.

Only 17% of youth and approximately 10% of parents could name a specific authority (such as the FBI, CyberTipline or an Internet service provider) to which they could make a report, although more said they had “heard of” such places.

In households with home Internet access, one-third of parents said they had filtering or blocking software on their computer at the time they were interviewed.

The survey suggests that youth encounter a substantial quantity of offensive episodes, some of which are distressing and most of which are unreported. A comprehensive strategy to respond to the problem would aim to reduce the quantity of offensive behavior, better shield young people from its likely occurrence, increase the level of reporting, and provide more help to youth and families to protect them from any consequences. ..source..

Click here for a list of reports and studies generated from YISS-1 data.


============================================

The original data and source for YISS-2 is the 2006
"Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later"

Second Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-2)

Summary. The Second Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-2) was designed to update and expand upon the previous Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-1) conducted in 1999/2000. This study involves telephone interviews with a national sample of 1500 youth Internet users, ages 10 to 17. The interviews take place five years after the YISS-1 interviews and measure changes in the frequency and nature of unwanted online exposures to sexual solicitations and pornography since YISS-1. Additionally, YISS-2 goes beyond the findings of YISS-1 by pursuing in greater detail topics about which we gathered initial data in the earlier study, including more details about the impact on youth of unwanted exposure to sexual solicitations and pornography and the use and efficacy of filtering and blocking software -- to what extent it achieves its goals and is well regarded by its users. YISS-2 also addresses the receptivity of young people to a variety of different messages about online safety and reporting.

Background
The previous survey, YISS-1, established several important conclusions, including that large numbers of youth Internet users were exposed to unwanted sexual solicitations and pornography online; some youth were highly upset by these exposures; few incidents were reported to authorities; most parents and children did not know where to make reports; and the use filtering or blocking software was not widespread. In addition, we found that, among other characteristics, frequent Internet users, chat room users, online risk takers and those who communicated online with people they had never met face-to-face were at greater risk for receiving both unwanted sexual solicitations and exposures to pornography. The goals of the YISS-2 stem from these findings.

Goals and Objectives

Determine whether the frequencies of online exposures to unwanted pornography, sexual solicitations and harassment have changed among youth Internet users, ages 10 to 17, since YISS-1 was conducted;

Evaluate the impact on youth Internet users of unwanted pornography, sexual solicitations and harassment;

Evaluate the use and effectiveness of filtering and blocking software and the factors associated with its adoption and discontinuation;

Assess youth receptivity and reactions to a variety of different prevention messages aimed at reducing risky behavior online and increasing the reporting of incidents.

Methodology
The YISS-2 telephone interviews will be designed and implemented similarly to those in YISS-1. Interviewers form a professional interviewing firm will use random digit dialing to construct a sample of 1500 households with children, ages 10-17, who have used the Internet at least once a month during the six months prior to the interview. Upon reaching a household, interviewers will screen for regular Internet use by a child in the household age 10 through 17. Interviewers will identify the child in the household who uses the Internet most often and then ask to speak with the parent who knows the most about the child's Internet use. Interviewers will then conduct a short interview about use of filtering and blocking software and other prevention methods, as well as household demographic characteristics. At the close of the parent interview, the interviewer will request permission to speak with the previously identified youth. Parents will be assured of the confidentiality of the interview, told that young participants will receive checks for $10, and informed the interview will include questions about "sexual material your child may have seen."

With parental consent, interviewers will describe the study to the child and obtain his or her verbal consent. Youth interviews will last about twenty minutes. They will be scheduled at the convenience of youth participants, and arranged for times when they can talk freely. Respondents will be promised complete confidentiality and told they can skip any questions they do not want to answer and stop the interview at any time. The survey will be conducted under the supervision of the University of New Hampshire's Human Subjects Committee and conform to the rules mandated by research projects funded by the Department of Justice. Youth respondents will receive brochures about Internet safety as well as checks for $10. ..source..

Click here for a list of reports and studies generated from YISS-2 data.

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Second Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-2) Publications

Wolak, J., Ybarra, M., Mitchell, K., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Current research knowledge about adolescent victimization on the Internet. Adolescent Medicine State of the Art Reviews, 18(2): 325-341. (CV165)

Ybarra, M. & Mitchell, K. (2007). Prevalence & frequency of Internet harassment instigation: Implications for adolescent health. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(2): 189-195. (CV157)

Mitchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D., & Wolak, J. (2007). Online requests for sexual pictures from youth: Risk factors and incident characteristics. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 196-203. (CV155)

Wolak, J., Mitchell, K. J., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Unwanted and wanted exposure to online pornography in a national sample of youth Internet users. Pediatrics., 119(2), 247-257. (CV153)

Ybarra, M., Mitchell, K., Finkelhor, D., & Wolak, J. (2007). Internet prevention messages: Targeting the right online behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 161: 138-145. (CV77)

Mitchell, K., Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Trends in youth reports of unwanted sexual solicitations, harassment and unwanted exposure to pornography on the Internet. Journal of Adolescent Health,40: 116-126. (CV135)

Wolak, J., Mitchell, K., & Finkelhor, D. (2006). Online victimization of youth: Five years later. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Bulletin - #07-06-025. Alexandria, VA. (CV138)

Ybarra, M. L., Mitchell, K. J., Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2006). Examining characteristics and associated distress related to Internet harassment: Findings from the Second Youth Internet Safety Survey. Pediatrics, 118(4), 1169-1177. (CV141)
..Master Listing..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

First Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS-1) Publications

Ybarra, M.L. & Mitchell, K.J. (2005). Exposure to Internet pornography among children and adolescents: A National Survey. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(5), 473-486. (CV76)

Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., & Wolak, J. (2005). Protecting youth online: Family use of filtering and blocking software. Child Abuse & Neglect 29:753-765. (CV49)

Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K.J., & Wolak, J. (2005). Online victimization: What youth tell us. In S.W. Cooper, R.J. Estes, A.P. Giardino, N.D. Kellogg, & V.I. Vieth (Eds.), Medical, legal, and social science aspects of child sexual exploitation: A comprehensive review of pornography, prostitution, and Internet crimes, Vol. 1 (pgs. 437-467). St. Louis, MO: GW Medical Publishing, Inc. (CV47)

Ybarra, M.L., Alexander, C., & Mitchell, K.J. (2005). Depressive symptomatology, youth Internet use, and online interactions: A national survey. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36(1), 9-18. (CV74)

Ybarra, M.L. & Mitchell, K.J. (2004). Youth engaging in online harassment: Associations with caregiver-child relationships, Internet use, and personal characteristics. Journal of Adolescence, 27(3), 319-336. (CV63)

Ybarra, M.L. & Mitchell, K.J. (2004). Online aggressors, victims, and aggressor/victims: A comparison of associated youth characteristics. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 45(7), 1308-1316. (CV75)

Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., & Wolak, J. (2004). Victimization of youths on the internet. In J.L. Mullings, J.W. Marquart & D.J. Hartley (Eds.) The Victimization of Children: Emerging Issues (pgs. 1-39). Haworth Press, Binghamton, NY. (CV90)

Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., & Wolak, J. (2003). Victimization of youth on the internet. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 8(1/2), 1-39. (CV89)

Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., & Wolak, J. (2003). The exposure of youth to unwanted sexual material on the internet: A national survey of risk, impact and prevention. Youth & Society, 34(3), 330-358. (CV43)

Wolak, J., Mitchell, K.J., and Finkelhor, D. (2003). Escaping or connecting? Characteristics of youth who form close online relationships. Journal of Adolescence, 26(1), 105-119. (CV51)

Wolak, J., Mitchell, K.J., and Finkelhor, D. (2002). Close online relationships in a national sample of adolescents: A description. Adolescence, 37(147), 441-456. (CV50)

Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. (2002). Youth online victimization. In David Levinson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Crime & Punishment, 3, 1109-1112. Newbury Park, CA: Berkshire Reference/Sage Publications. (CV48)

Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. (2001). Risk factors and impact of online sexual solicitation of youth. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285 (23), 1-4. (CV42)

Mitchell, K.J. (2001). Youth on the Internet: Who is at Risk? The LINK: The official newsletter of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. (CV129)

Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K.J., and Wolak, J. (2001). Highlights of the Youth Internet Safety Survey. Juvenile Justice Fact Sheet – FS200104 (pgs. 1-2). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. (CV46)

Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K.J., & Wolak, J. (2000). Online victimization: A report on the nation’s youth. Alexandria, VA: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (CV38)
..Master Listing...

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...