Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data for Middle School Students 1991-2017
Updated 3mo ago
4filesCSV
Available on 2 platforms
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Description
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.
License information is inconsistent across platforms; the 'other-license-specified' tag on one platform requires review before use. The most complete column schema is available from the Socrata platform description.