 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Rune J. Simeonsson, PhD, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, CB #8185, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185, 9199666634, rune_simeonsson@unc.edu, Janey Sturtz McMillen, PhD, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, CB 8185, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185, Bradley J. McMillen, PhD, Evaluation Section, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 301 North Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, and Donald Lollar, EdD, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Building 101, F29, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724.
The Centers for Disease Control monitors health-risk behaviors corresponding to the leading causes of death among youth and young adults through the administration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Although the YRBS is not explicitly designed to gather data from students with disabilities, North Carolina included disability indicators in its High School YRBS for the first time in 2001 to estimate the prevalence of risk behaviors for students with disabilities. The survey was completed in the Spring of 2001 by 2,548 students in 62 high schools across the state. Of those, 23.5% answered affirmatively to one or more of the disability indicator questions; however, response patterns and frequency of endorsement varied significantly across the three questions. The current study focused on delineating separate risk profiles for students who responded affirmatively to each disability indicator question and on examining differences in personal characteristics, home environments, and school environments as a function of endorsing different disability indicator items. Results showed that risk profiles differed depending upon which indicator item respondents endorsed, particularly in the areas of weapons, violent behavior, and victimization. The likelihood of responding affirmatively to different disability indicator items also varied as a function of respondent demographic characteristics (age, ethnicity, etc.). Discussion will focus on implications for prevention initiatives, validity issues in the development and use of self-report disability indicators, and the importance of tracking the prevalence of health-risk behaviors in children and youth with disabilities in achieving Healthy People 2010 objectives.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Adolescents, Disability
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.