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Fairfax County Youth Survey Pilot 2009

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2009 Youth Survey Pilot

The Fairfax County Youth Survey is a comprehensive, anonymous, and voluntary survey that examines the risk and protective factors and various health behaviors that influence the health and well-being of our county's youth. Beginning in Fall 2009, the survey will be administered every year in Fairfax County Public Schools to all students in 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. To prepare for the administration of the redesigned survey instruments, a pilot administration will take place in March 2009 within selected schools in Cluster 5.

The surveys' focus areas include:

use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD)
violence
delinquency
bullying and aggression
mental health concerns such as suicide, depression, and body image
sexual health (8th, 10th, and 12th grades only)
nutrition and physical activity
risk and protective factors at home, school, and in the community

In order to gather the breadth of information desired by community stakeholders and to manage the length of the survey, questions for 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students are divided among two shorter survey forms ("Risk and Protective" and "Healthy Behaviors"). Both survey forms have a common set of core questions. The additional questions on the "Risk and Protective" survey are largely pulled from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Communities That Care Survey. The additional questions on the "Healthy Behaviors" survey are largely derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey. These questions are predominantly health related.