Reliability of the 2021 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Health Promot
• Personal Author:
  Jones, Sherry Everett ; Brener, Nancy D. ; Queen, Barbara ; Hershey-Arista, Molly ; Harris, William A. ; Mpofu, Jonetta J. ; Underwood, J. Michael
• Description:
  Purpose:
  
  The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) monitors behaviors, experiences, and conditions affecting the health of high school students nationwide. This study examined the test-retest reliability of the 2021 national YRBS questionnaire.
  
  Design:
  
  Respondents completed a Time 1 and Time 2 paper-and-pencil questionnaire approximately 2 weeks apart during February to May 2022. Data were linked in such a way as to preserve anonymity.
  
  Setting:
  
  Convenience sample of high schools.
  
  Subjects:
  
  High school students (N = 588).
  
  Measures:
  
  Health risk behaviors and experiences assessed on the 2021 national YRBS questionnaire.
  
  Analysis:
  
  Time 1 and Time 2 responses were compared for each questionnaire item using the McNemar’s test. Then, Cohen’s kappa coefficients tested the agreement between Time 1 and Time 2 responses overall, and by sex, grade, and Black, White, and Hispanic race and ethnicity.
  
  Results:
  
  Among the 74 items analyzed, 96% had at least moderate reliability, and 73% had substantial or almost perfect reliability. The mean Cohen’s kappa was .68. McNemar’s test findings showed Time 1 and Time 2 data significantly differed (P < .01) for 9 items (12%).
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Reliable health behavior measures are important in the development of youth-focused public health programs and policies. Findings suggest the national YRBS questionnaire is a reliable instrument. Such findings lend support to relying on adolescent self-reported data when monitoring health behaviors using the YRBS.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adolescent Behavior Female Humans Male Reproducibility Of Results Risk-Taking Students Surveys And Questionnaires United States
• Keywords:
  Reliability Test-retest Study Youth Risk Behavior Survey
• Source:
  Am J Health Promot. 38(6):843-851
• Pubmed ID:
  38491956
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11354317
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  38
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7ea88620452f18f9327e1f89ce85fe9c3c55bfbb531261561fe57824ae2e041720cfcb778b1a77fe051e1ad85ae88664ed94fd5ad0a331dab68cb624ea017c13
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/160680/cdc_160680_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 128.56 KB ]