What they know… and what they think
The Results of the 2009 Youth Risk
Behavior Survey and the 2009 Attitudes
and Behaviors Survey
The Lingo…
A Risk Factor is simply, something in a teens life
that increases the potential for them to make an
unhealthy choice about their life.
 A Protective Factor is the opposite; something in
a teens life that increases the potential for them
to make a healthy choice about their life.
 Everyone has both risk and protective factors in
their life, the goal of the work of the coalition is
to increase protective factors and reduce risk
factors.
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What is the Youth Risk Behavior Survey?
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is given
to students throughout the state of Vermont
every two years (at participating schools)
 The survey measures student perceptions around
different types of risky behaviors, including
alcohol, tobacco, drugs, sexual behaviors, eating
disorders, etc.
 The survey also measures youth assets (positive
attributes) in their lives.
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The Attitudes and Behaviors Survey
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The Attitudes and Behaviors survey, developed by the
Search Institute, measures our teens “assets” and
determines how our teens perceive themselves with
regards to the 40 Developmental Assets,
The A & B Survey looks at both internal and external
assets.
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Internal Assets are about “inner” things, such as personal
ethics, motivation, etc., and are usually intrinsic in the
values demonstrated.
External Assets are around our teens, in their environment
and their sphere of influence. These might include
infrastructure, signage, community resources, people in
their lives, and attitudes. These are areas where
community coalitions often have more of an opportunity
to provide positive change.
Making sure we’re not in a bubble
Inconsistency in how someone answers a
question (or questions) can lead to their
responses being eliminated.
 We don’t JUST use this data to inform how
we do stuff. We look at other data sources
and use that as well.
 We try to use qualitative as well as
quantitative methods for gaining info. about
what is important for our youth and our
community.
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Why this matters to the coalition
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Looking at data sources helps “drive” the
work of the coalition in the direction that is
most necessary, i.e., if there is a rising need for
interventions around prescription drugs (as
reported by our teens) then we can respond
appropriately.
The What about Alcohol
Percent of students who consumed at least one drink of alcohol during the past 30 days
What’s important about this slide: students are using more as they get older, and data is
showing that the usage is going up over time.
More Data about alcohol trends
Percent of students who binged on alcohol (had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row within a
couple of hours) during the past 30 days.
What’s important about this slide: Binge drinking continues to be an issue with 37
percent of students binging.
First consumed prior to age 13 (early onset)
Percents of students who first consume alcohol, other than a few sips, prior to age 13.
What’s important about this slide: One the whole, early onset seems to be on the
decline, the outlier being the 8th grade students. This might be something we need
to take a look at for the future.
Types of Alcohol Consumed
What’s important about this slide: Our teens are changing their consumption
patterns towards consuming liquor as opposed to beer or wine.
Where are they getting it?
What’s important about this slide: Girls in our community continue to get alcohol
from other people, with a secondary source of giving money to someone else to
purchase it for them. We should take a look at who those people might be that they
are getting it from.
Where are they getting it?
What’s important about this slide: Boys in our community continue to get alcohol
from other people, with a secondary source of giving money to someone else to
purchase it for them. We should take a look at who those people might be that they
are getting it from.
Briefly, what this might say…
Alcohol usage, particularly binge drinking is
increasing in our community.
 Teens are getting alcohol predominantly in the
home and from other people. This indicates a
good way to do some targeted work in Milton.
 Teens are providing alcohol to each other!
 What teens are consuming is changing over to
hard liquor.
 Our restaurants and stores don’t seem to be the
place where teens are getting their alcohol.
Great job store owners!
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Tobacco Trends
Percent of students who have ever smoked a whole cigarette
More About Tobacco
Percent of students who smoked cigarettes during the past 30 days
What’s important about this slide: on the whole, smoking continues to trend downward.
YAY!
Early Onset - Tobacco
Percent of students who smoked a whole cigarette prior to age 13
What’s important about this slide: Early onset continues to trend downward, although
our 8th graders again indicate a higher number than the students in higher grades.
In the Same Room
Percent of students who, during the past seven days, were in the same room with someone who was
smoking cigarettes.
What’s important about this slide: Consistently, outside of the margin of error, students
are reporting increased exposure to secondhand smoke. This is definitely a hot button
concern!
Do most High School students smoke?
Percent of students who think most high school students smoke cigarettes (55%+)
What’s important about this slide: On the whole, our students indicate that they don’t
think that most of their peers are smoking.
What this might mean…
Tobacco is on the decline in most grades and
overall in Milton, this is great news!
 YIKES!!! Second hand smoke is dramatically
higher than it’s been in the past. This is huge!
 Kids are still being exposed at a young age to
smoking and cigarette use.
 It’s nice to see that on the whole, students see
that most of their peers are not smoking.
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The “Other” Drugs
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Some things to consider
Marijuana, because of it’s prevalence is separated
out from some other types of drugs
 Prescription Drug use/abuse is in here this year!
In 2007, the YRBS asked about prescription pain
relievers and stimulants in one question. They
were separated out this year.
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Marijuana – Early Onset
Percent of students who used marijuana prior to the age of 13.
What’s important about this slide: Early onset of marijuana usage is reducing (again,
other than the 8th grade students) and the numbers continue to be low for early onset
with marijuana usage.
Marijuana – Ever Used
Percent of students who used marijuana one or more times during the past 30 days
What’s important about this slide: Marijuana usage continues to be an issue for our
teens, with other half of our seniors reporting having used it before.
Marijuana Use past 30 Days
Percent of students who used marijuana one or more times during the past 30 days
What’s important about this slide: Some of our teens are using marijuana, and there
doesn’t seem to be a specific trend from grade to grade in this area.
Prescription Drug use - 2009
What’s important about this slide: Prescription drug use is something that is
happening in our community, and there seems to be more usage of pain relievers
than stimulants.
Blue = Percent of students who have ever used a prescription stimulant, such at Ritalin or Adderall, not
prescribed to them.
Green = Percent of students who have ever used a prescription pain reliever, such as Oxycontin, Vicodin,
or other prescription pain killer, not prescribed to them.
Other Drug Usage
What this could mean to us…
Prescription drug use is becoming something
to know more about and our community has
an opportunity to address this issue in a timely
way.
 “Harder” drugs continue to be on the very
fringes of our population
 Marijuana is STILL one of our largest issues.
Teens are using it, regularly and it’s also
regularly available.
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What the A&B Survey shows us…
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Some things to keep in mind
This survey was given to our CURRENT 7th-12th
graders (then 6th-11th graders)
 Total sample was 597.
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This survey indicates both thriving (or
protective) and risk factors (yup, that lingo
again!) as well as other areas.
The High Points
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73% of our students indicate that their family life
provides a high level of love and support
72% of our students indicate that their best friends
model responsible behavior
67% of our students indicate that they are out 2 or
fewer nights a week with friends with “nothing special
to do.”
71% of our students indicate that they act on their
convictions and stand up for his or her beliefs
72% say they tell the truth, even when it’s not easy.
Middle of the Road…
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52% of students indicate that they care about his or her school.
52% of students indicated that they place a high value on helping other
people.
54% of students indicated that they place a high value on promoting
equality and reducing hunger and poverty.
48% of students indicated that it is important to not be sexually active or
to use alcohol or other drugs.
48% of our students indicate having a high self-esteem.
45% of our students indicate that they can resist negative peer pressure
and dangerous situations.
49% of our students indicate that they receive support from three or
more nonparent adults.
55% of students indicate that they feel safe at home, school and in the
neighborhood.
53% of students indicate that school provides clear rules and
consequences.
53% of students indicate that their neighbors take responsibility for
monitoring young people’s behavior.
Hot Button Issues…
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15% of our students indicated that they spend 3 or
more hours per week in lessons or practice in music,
theater or other arts.
24% of students indicated that their parents and other
adults model positive, responsible behavior.
29% of students indicated that they spend one or more
hours/week in activities in a religious institution.
27% of students indicate that they read for pleasure
three or more hours per week.
29% of students indicated that they know how to plan
ahead and make choices.
The Assets of our Youth – 2007
What’s important about this slide: Our youth average assets are 18.9 for 2007.
This is out of 40 assets that are indicated as important for youth to succeed in life.
The Assets of our Youth - 2009
What’s important about this slide: Our youth average assets are 19.4 for 2009.
This is out of 40 assets that are indicated as important for youth to succeed in life.
What’s exciting is that it looks like our teens assets are trending upwards!
Assets by Grouping - 2007
What’s important about this slide: This breaks out the assets by group. Notice
the in 2007, the largest number of students fell into the 10-20 and 20-30 brackets.
Assets by Grouping - 2009
What’s important about this slide: This breaks out the assets by group. This
shows that our teens are moving up over time as the bottom group is smallest,
second group is larger, third is smaller and fourth is larger.
What now?
We can create recommendations about how
to build assets in our community and for our
teens based on the results of their feedback.
 Ask a coalition staff member to attend a
meeting of your club or organization to
“spread the wealth” of what our teens are
saying.
 Determine what YOU can do to make a
difference for Milton.
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