Changes for 2017-2019 YRBS

Changes to ICR for 2017 and 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Location of Change	Change	Reason for Change	Impact on ICR
Appendix F: Data Collection Checklist	Deleted columns for grade and gender. Clarified instructions for column headings. Moved “totals” box to the bottom of the form and marked it “Office Use Only”	This form was overly complicated, and the teachers did not need to complete the “totals” box—it could be done by data collection staff	Negligible reduction in burden but improved clarity
Appendix G: Survey Administrator Script	Changed instructions so that survey administrator introduced the surveys before distributing booklets, pencils, and envelopes	Students were distracted by the distribution of materials and were not giving survey administrators their full attention	Increased adherence to protocol by increasing likelihood that students all hear the instructions
Appendix J: YRBS Questionnaire	Changes are noted in separate chart (see below)	The questionnaire is revised periodically to incorporate content suggested by experts inside and outside of CDC	No impact on burden because questionnaire length is fixed to ensure administration can be limited to one class period. Some questions are revised to improve clarity.
Appendix M: Sampling and Weighting Plan (section 3.5.3)	Primary sampling units will be allocated to oversample black students	Shortfall of participating black students in 2013 and 2015 cycles	Improvement of black student yield resulting in increased precision of subgroup estimates
Appendix M: Sampling and Weighting Plan (section	Increased threshold for minimum school enrollment size for inclusion from 25 to 40 students	Cost of recruiting and collecting data from schools below this threshold outweighed the benefit of adding a relatively small number of students who attend these schools	Eliminates burden for schools with enrollment less than 40 students
Appendix N1: Letter to Teachers in Participating Schools	Added explicit mention of Parental Permission Form Distribution Script.	Mention of the script helps ensure teachers will use the script.	Increased adherence to protocol by increasing likelihood that teachers use script.
Appendix O3b: Letter to Agreeing Schools	Deleted paragraph containing instructions for teachers.	This paragraph appears in the Letter to Teachers in Participating Schools so is not needed here.	Negligible reduction in burden

Changes to Appendix J: YRBS questionnaire

Note: Impact on ICR column has been deleted because changes have no impact on burden (see chart above).

Section	Change	Reason for Change
Injury-related behaviors	Deleted question on how often wore bicycle helmet	Greater interest from CDC subject matter experts (SMEs) on concussions
	Added question on how many times driven a car under the influence of marijuana	Interest from SMEs as a result of legalization of marijuana in certain states
	Deleted question on how many times injured in a physical fight	Greater interest from CDC SMEs on sexual violence
	Added question on sexual violence not specific to dating	Important issue for CDC SMEs and the Office of the Vice President; current question only asked about sexual violence specific to dating but this does not capture all sexual violence among adolescents
	Modified gun carrying question to exclude carrying for sport or hunting	Improvement in ability to interpret responses
	Changed recall period for gun carrying question from 30 days to 12 months	To increase likelihood of assessing gun carrying that might not occur at the same rate each month and to eliminate any seasonal bias
	Updated technology list on electronic bullying question	To reflect how this bullying actually occurs
Tobacco use	Changed age at first cigarette use question to refer to “even one or two puffs” rather than “whole cigarette”	To be consistent with other questions on cigarette use in YRBS and National Youth Tobacco Survey and to capture more students who have experimented with cigarette smoking but may not have smoked an entire cigarette
	Changed question on source of cigarettes to question on source of electronic vapor products	Stronger interest from CDC SMEs on electronic vapor products (EVPs) than cigarettes, as EVPs are an emerging and largely unstudied tobacco product that is very popular among young people
	Modified quitting question to focus on all tobacco products, not just cigarettes	Interest from CDC SMEs on capturing all tobacco products, several of which are very popular among young people
	Modified smokeless tobacco question to include snus and dissolvable tobacco products	To reflect emerging forms of smokeless tobacco (other than electronic vapor products) used by young people
Alcohol and other drug use	Modified binge drinking question to make it sex-specific	To comply with HHS Data Council recommendation to use a sex-specific definition of binge drinking in all HHS surveys
	Changed prescription drug use question from a general question to a question specific to opioid-related prescription drug use	To reflect the significant public health impact of misuse of prescription pain medicine that can lead to dependency, injected drug use, and heroin use
Physical activity	Added question on concussions from physical activity	To obtain comprehensive national estimates of sports- and recreation-related concussions among high school students that are not captured by current surveillance efforts
	Updated technology list on video game and computer use question	To reflect types of technology used by young people