Parents have an important role in the promotion of healthy adolescent behaviors that can influence positive developmental trajectories and health outcomes. Parental monitoring is a central component of the parent-child relationship with the potential to reduce adolescent risk behaviors. Data from CDC's 2021 nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey were used to describe the prevalence of parental monitoring reported by U.S. high school students and examine associations between parental monitoring and adolescent behaviors and experiences. Behaviors and experiences included sexual behaviors, substance use, violence, and indicators of poor mental health. This report marks the first national assessment of parental monitoring among U.S. high school students. Point prevalence estimates and corresponding 95% CIs were generated in the bivariate analyses between parental monitoring and the outcomes, stratified by demographic characteristics (sex, race and ethnicity, sexual identity, and grade). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the main effects of parental monitoring (categorized as high = always or most of the time and low = never, rarely, or sometimes) for each outcome, controlling for all demographics. Overall, 86.4% of students reported that their parents or other adults in their family know where they are going or with whom they will be all or most of the time. Reports of high parental monitoring were protective for all risk behaviors and experiences, with models controlling for sex, race and ethnicity, sexual identity, and grade. Results highlight the need for public health professionals who develop public health interventions and programs to conduct further research on the relation between parental monitoring and student health outcomes.
School connectedness, defined as students' belief that adults and peers in their school care about their learning as well as about them as persons, has been linked to positive educational, behavioral, and health outcomes in adolescence and into adulthood. Data from the 2021 nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, were used to estimate prevalence of students' perception of school connectedness and examine associations between school connectedness and seven risk behaviors and experiences: poor mental health, marijuana use, prescription opioid misuse, sexual intercourse, unprotected sex, experiencing forced sex, and missing school because of feeling unsafe. Prevalence estimates were generated and pairwise t-tests were used to detect differences among student subpopulations by sex, grade, race and ethnicity, and sexual identity; Wald chi-square tests were used to detect differences in risk behaviors by level of connectedness within a subpopulation. Logistic regression models were used to estimate prevalence ratios comparing the prevalence of risk behaviors and experiences of students with high connectedness with students with low connectedness, stratified by demographics. During 2021, 61.5% of U.S. high school students reported feeling connected to others at school. In addition, school connectedness was associated with lower prevalence of every risk behavior and experience examined in this study, although certain associations differed by race and ethnicity and sexual identity (e.g., school connectedness was associated with better mental health outcomes for youths with heterosexual, bisexual, and questioning or other sexual identities, but not for youths who identified as lesbian or gay). These findings can guide public health interventions that promote youth well-being by creating school environments where all youths have a sense of belonging and feel they are cared for and supported.
Mental health encompasses a range of mental, emotional, social, and behavioral functioning and occurs along a continuum from good to poor. Previous research has documented that mental health among children and adolescents is associated with immediate and long-term physical health and chronic disease, health risk behaviors, social relationships, education, and employment. Public health surveillance of children's mental health can be used to monitor trends in prevalence across populations, increase knowledge about demographic and geographic differences, and support decision-making about prevention and intervention. Numerous federal data systems collect data on various indicators of children's mental health, particularly mental disorders. The 2013-2019 data from these data systems show that mental disorders begin in early childhood and affect children with a range of sociodemographic characteristics. During this period, the most prevalent disorders diagnosed among U.S. children and adolescents aged 3-17 years were attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety, each affecting approximately one in 11 (9.4%-9.8%) children. Among children and adolescents aged 12-17 years, one fifth (20.9%) had ever experienced a major depressive episode. Among high school students in 2019, 36.7% reported persistently feeling sad or hopeless in the past year, and 18.8% had seriously considered attempting suicide. Approximately seven in 100,000 persons aged 10-19 years died by suicide in 2018 and 2019. Among children and adolescents aged 3-17 years, 9.6%-10.1% had received mental health services, and 7.8% of all children and adolescents aged 3-17 years had taken medication for mental health problems during the past year, based on parent report. Approximately one in four children and adolescents aged 12-17 years reported having received mental health services during the past year. In federal data systems, data on positive indicators of mental health (e.g., resilience) are limited. Although no comprehensive surveillance system for children's mental health exists and no single indicator can be used to define the mental health of children or to identify the overall number of children with mental disorders, these data confirm that mental disorders among children continue to be a substantial public health concern. These findings can be used by public health professionals, health care providers, state health officials, policymakers, and educators to understand the prevalence of specific mental disorders and other indicators of mental health and the challenges related to mental health surveillance.
CDC is the nation's premier health promotion, prevention, and preparedness agency. As such, CDC is an important source of public health and clinical guidelines. If CDC guidelines are to be trusted by partners and the public, they must be clear, valid, and reliable. Methods and processes used in CDC guideline development should follow universally accepted standards. This report describes the standards required by CDC for the development of evidence-based guidelines. These standards cover topics such as guideline scoping, soliciting external input, summarizing evidence, and crafting recommendations. Following these standards can help minimize bias and enhance the quality and consistency of CDC guidelines.
Tobacco product use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. This report used data from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey to assess the following among U.S. high school students: ever use of cigarettes and electronic vapor products, current use (≥1 day during the 30 days before the survey) of tobacco products, frequent use (≥20 days during the 30 days before the survey) among current users of tobacco products, trends in use over time, and usual source of electronic vapor products among current electronic vapor product users. In 2019, a total of 50.1% of U.S. high school students had ever used electronic vapor products, and 24.1% had ever tried cigarette smoking. Current electronic vapor product use was 32.7%, current cigarette smoking was 6.0%, current cigar smoking was 5.7%, and current smokeless tobacco use was 3.8%. Approximately 36.5% of students were current users of any tobacco product, and 8.2% were current users of two or more tobacco products. Frequent use among users of individual products was 32.6% for electronic vapor products, 28.5% for smokeless tobacco, 22.2% for cigarettes, and 18.4% for cigars. Among current electronic vapor product users who were aged ≤17 years, the most commonly reported source was borrowing them from someone else (42.8%). Significant decreases occurred in current cigarette smoking (1991: 27.5%; 2019: 6.0%), cigar smoking (1997: 22.0%; 2019: 5.7%), and smokeless tobacco use (2017: 5.5%; 2019: 3.8%). However, significant increases occurred in current electronic vapor product use (2015: 24.1%; 2019: 32.7%) and any tobacco product use (2017: 19.5%; 2019: 36.5%). Although current cigarette smoking, cigar smoking, and smokeless tobacco use has decreased among high school students, the increased prevalence of electronic vapor product use among youths is concerning. Continued surveillance for all tobacco product use is warranted for guiding and evaluating public health policy at the local, state, tribal, and national levels.