Citation

Kann L, Brener ND, Warren CW, Collins JL, Giovino GA. J. Adolesc. Health 2002; 31(4): 327-335.

Affiliation

Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA. lkk1@cdc.gov

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12359378

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the effect of data collection setting on the prevalence of priority health risk behaviors among adolescents. METHODS: Analyses were conducted using data from two national probability surveys of adolescents, the 1993 national school-based Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the 1992 household-based National Health Interview Survey (NHIS/YRBS). Forty-two items were worded identically on both surveys. RESULTS: Thirty-nine of the 42 identically worded items (93%) showed that the YRBS produced estimates indicating higher risk than the NHIS. Twenty-four of these comparisons yielded statistically significant differences. The prevalence estimates affected most were those for behaviors that are either illegal or socially stigmatized. CONCLUSIONS: School-based surveys produce higher prevalence estimates for adolescent health risk behaviors than do household-based surveys. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and both can play a role in assessing these behaviors.

Language: en