Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data for Middle School Students 1991-2017

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) Middle School dataset contains survey results monitoring six categories of health risk behaviors among youth. Data was collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1991 through 2017. It tracks behaviors related to injury, substance use, sexual health, diet, and physical activity, along with obesity and asthma prevalence.

Use Cases

• Analyzing geographic trends in youth risk behaviors using the `LocationDesc` and `GeoLocation` columns.
• Comparing risk prevalence across demographic groups using `Sex`, `Race`, and `StratificationType` fields.
• Evaluating statistical confidence in survey estimates with `Greater_Risk_High_Confidence_Limit` and `Lesser_Risk_Low_Confidence_Limit` columns.
• Investigating specific health topics like tobacco or alcohol use via the `Topic`, `Subtopic`, and `Greater_Risk_Question` variables.

Strengths

• Provides a 26-year longitudinal view of adolescent health behaviors from 1991 to 2017.
• Includes detailed statistical metadata such as `Sample_Size` and confidence limits for data validation.
• Offers granular demographic stratification through columns like `Sex`, `Race`, and `StratID3`.

Limitations

• Data is not current, with the latest survey year being 2017 and no updates indicated in the metadata.
• Platforms provide conflicting metadata, with one listing a license ('other-license-specified') and another listing none, requiring verification.
• The dataset focuses specifically on middle school students, which may limit generalizability to other age groups.

Provenance

Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).

Collection Method

National school-based survey.

Time Range

1991-2017

Freshness

2026-03-17 16:48:58.343930

Geography

United States, as indicated by state-level `LocationDesc` values.