Examined demographic characteristics of high school tobacco-users across gender and ethnicity using data from the 1991-1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Current smoking increased, with one-third of 9th and 12th graders currently smoking in 1995 and 11% of all students using smokeless tobacco. Many students used tobacco before high school. Tobacco…

Reviews data from four surveys using national samples that include questions about violence that were administered to school-aged youth. Assesses risk factors for weapon-carrying and the level of the school violence program. Results show that students' involvement with violence in the community, both as perpetrator and victim, is the most…

Using 1993 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, this study assessed Texas high school (N=6,015) and college students' (N=1048) alcohol use, tobacco use, and sexual behavior. Results indicated that the high school students initiated risk behaviors at much earlier ages than the college students, but college students reported a higher incidence of the…

Determined predictors of and prevalence rates for U.S. high school students who carried weapons, were threatened or injured with weapons, or were involved in fighting on school property from 1993 to 1995. Youth Risk Behavior Survey data indicated that gender, race, and grade predicted school-related violence. Males, minorities, and younger…

In 1990, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was completed by a random sample of 1,448 West Virginia public-school students in grades 9-12. The sample was 51 percent male and 89 percent white. About 71 percent of subjects were aged 15-17; 39 percent were in the ninth grade. The YRBS covered behaviors producing vehicle-related or other injuries,…

Well-designed school health education should provide students with the knowledge and skills to prevent the health risk behaviors most responsible for the major causes of morbidity and mortality. This paper reports the methodology and findings of a West Virginia statewide health education assessment initiative and describes how the findings are…

This study compares the prevalence of drinking behaviors and violence (fighting, weapon carrying, being threatened and feeling unsafe) among Hawaiian, other Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and Caucasian students, using data collected from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Hawaii in 1997 and 1999 (N = 2,146). Native Hawaiians and…

Mattering is the belief that one makes a difference in the lives of others. We explore the effect of mattering on adolescent suicide ideation. The data source is the 2000 Youth At Risk Survey, composed of interviews with 2,004 youths, age 11-18 and screening interviews with their parents. Our analysis reveals that those who matter more are…

In the United States, nearly two-thirds of all deaths among young people 10-14 years of age result from only five causes: motor-vehicle crashes (22.1%), other unintentional injuries (16.7%), cancer (12.9%), suicide (6.8%), and homicide (4.7%). Leading causes of illness and death in all age groups in the United States are related to the following:…

The "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" ("MMWR") Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data in the weekly "MMWR" are provisional, based on weekly reports to CDC by state health departments. This issue of "MMWR" contains the following studies: (1) Youth Risk Behavior…

The 2012 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 48th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…

The 2011 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 47th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…