In 1990, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) to monitor the risk behaviors of youth and adults. The survey is not without its critics, but for the most part the YRBSS has helped to find trends of alcohol and drug abuse, unhealthy sexual behaviors and unhealthy dietary behaviors in young people. This has led the CDC and other agencies to address these problems to prevent death, disabilities and social problems for vulnerable populations. The latest findings of the YRBSS indicate that lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are at risk to experience bullying and violence at much higher rates than their heterosexual counterparts. In addition, LGBT teens were more likely to attempt suicide.
Understanding the Methodology of the YRBSS
According to the CDC, since 1991, data has been collected from about 3.8 million high school students to examine their behavior. The YRBSS not only monitors behavior but also assesses how health behaviors change over time. The data from the YRBSS is provided to many different agencies and is used to measure the outcomes of different programs. The CDC gathers data by surveying middle school, high school and college students. The CDC does not keep the information from the YRBSS secret, but releases it into the public domain. Students who participate in the YRBSS do need parental permission, and the survey is voluntary. It takes about one class period to complete the questionnaire and all answers are confidential. In fact, the results are not even available by zip code or school because the sample size is not large enough to support confidentiality at those levels.
LGBT Teens Risks Identified
Although the YRBSS is designed to monitor sexual behavior among youth, until this past year, it had not asked about sexual orientation. Researchers had never been able to study how sexual orientation affects the teens’ risks when it comes to drug and alcohol use, violence and depression. The recent survey included answers from over 15,000 students in public and private schools. Of those, almost 89 percent identified as heterosexual, while 2 percent identified as gay or lesbian and 6 percent as bisexual. Students were asked many different questions, not only about their sexual behavior, but about whether they ever used their smartphone while driving, whether they wore seatbelts and other at-risk behaviors.
What the researchers discovered was sobering. Across the 18 violence-related risk behaviors, the prevalence of 16 of them were higher in the lesbian, gay and bisexual students than heterosexual students. Almost 18 percent had been subjected to physical violence by someone they had been dating, and 34 percent of the lesbian, gay and bisexual teens had been subject to bullying. Over 30 percent reported a suicide attempt in the past year. The prevalence of alcohol and drug use was higher among these students also.
Taking Action
The CDC recommends multiple policies and practices that schools should implement to address risk behaviors in students before they become lifelong problems in adulthood. The first recommendation is to “encourage respect for all students and do not allow bullying, harassment, or violence against any student.” In addition, schools should identify safe places for students to get support from staff. The CDC also recommends promoting parent engagement to help sexual minority youth deal with the issues they face. Students also need access to healthcare providers who understand the needs of the LGBT community. These students are facing a crisis, and must have the affirmation of community members to grow into adults who are healthy and have the tools to manage their lives. Make sure the young people in your life know that you’ll listen to them.