Now available! The 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data has been released on HHDW.org and HawaiiHealthMatters.org. Explore the state of Hawaiʻi’s high school and middle school students in 6 categories of health-related behaviors: unintentional injuries and violence, sexual behaviors, alcohol and other drug use, tobacco use, unhealthy dietary behaviors, and inadequate physical activity. Get data at the state and county level for more than 175 indicators of health behavior and risk.
While the 2021 data is highly anticipated, users should be aware that the 2021 data may be different from previous years for a few reasons.
- This is the first assessment since the pandemic and students likely had very different experiences in the past two years than previous cohorts.
- The survey was administered in the fall instead of the spring. Therefore, the students were younger and earlier in their school year, which may affect their experiences.
- When asked about the previous 12 months, it is likely that a good portion of those months involved full or partial online schooling. This difference in environment may also affect their responses.
Highlights from the 2021 YRBS data in Hawaiʻi:
- More than a quarter (26.6%) of high school students report getting 5 hours or less of sleep on an average school night. This is a decrease from 2019 (29.1%).
- More than 1 in 3 (34.8%) high school students report depression lasting 2 weeks or more in the past 12 months. There are significant differences by sex with 46.9% of girls reporting depression compared to 23.4% of boys. Self-reported depression has increased among girls from 35.2% in 2011 to 46.9% in 2021. Overall, the rate changed very little from 2019 (34.7%) to 2021 (34.8%).
- Current alcohol use among high school students decreased from 20.4% in 2019 to 16.6% in 2021. Overall, substance use (alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes) decreased in 2021 compared to 2019.
- About 1 in 4 (25.8%) middle school students report they have ever hurt themselves on purpose (cutting or burning). Among females, this increases to more than 1 in 3 (36.4%) while males demonstrate a rate of 15.4%. The measure is similar to that observed in 2019 (25.4%).
- 78.2% of middle school students report having seen a dentist in the past 12 months. This is a very small decrease from 2019 (80.5%).
- Male middle school students were more likely to report having an adult outside of school they can talk to than female students (66.3% vs. 53.2%). Overall, the rate decreased from 2019 (64.9%) to 2021 (59.4%).
Here is a link to a custom HHM dashboard with all the YRBS indicators by state. Below are links to custom HHM dashboards for YRBS data for each county.
