More screen time, less sex: CDC survey tracks risky Connecticut youth behavior
Since 1991, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has collected data on the behaviors of U.S. high schoolers through the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System’s biennial surveys.
A newly released 2021 report provides a window into the experiences of teens, from sex to drugs, to physical and mental health, but what does it tell us about Connecticut’s high-schoolers?
Key takeaways
The trends in the 2021 YRBS report suggest that while Connecticut teens may be spending less time engaging in risky behaviors like substance use, sex and violence, they are spending more time behind screens, and reporting increasing levels of depression.
In Connecticut, 76% of respondents reported spending more than three hours each day on TVs, smartphones and video game consoles for screen time outside of school and work.
Between 2019 and 2021, the share of students reporting persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness rose 5 percentage points to 36%. Another 28% of students reported that they struggled with poor mental health, including stress, anxiety and depression, for all or most of the last month.
During the same period, the percentage of students who had ever used electronic vapor products fell dramatically from 45% in 2019 to 25% in 2021. The percentage of students who had ever used cannabis also fell from 36% to 21%. Current alcohol use also declined from 26% to 18%. Additionally, the share of students who reported having sexual intercourse at some time in their lives fell from 34% to 25%.
Higher rates in female responses
While researchers often suggest that men take more risks than women, the 2021 YRBS shows that this may not necessarily be the case for adolescents.
In 2005, male respondents were more likely to report tobacco use, having their first drink before age 13, and using cannabis, but by 2021 the data somewhat flipped.
In the latest report, 30% of female students in Connecticut reported using vapes at least once in their lifetime compared to 21% of males. They are also twice as likely to currently use tobacco products, with 14% of females reporting current use compared to 7% of male students. Twenty-one percent also reported current alcohol use and 14% current cannabis use compared to 14% and 8% of males, respectively. Another 11% of female students said they had taken a prescription pain medication outside of its prescribed use compared to 6% of males.
Females also reported higher rates of being physically forced to have sexual intercourse (9% vs. 3%), experiencing sexual dating violence (20% vs. 7%), and not using a condom during intercourse (49% vs. 32%).
Perhaps the most striking gender differences arose in the mental health categories. According to the data, 40% of female students “reported that their mental health was most of the time or always not good,” compared to 16% of male students in Connecticut. 48% of females said they felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more consecutive weeks in the last year compared to 24% of males. Additionally, 20% of female students said they seriously considered suicide, and 9% attempted it compared to 9% and 3% of males respectively.
The trend is not exclusive to Connecticut. According to the CDC’s 2011-2021 Data Summary and Trends Report, “Across almost all measures of substance use, experiences of violence, mental health, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, female students are faring more poorly than male students. These differences, and the rates at which female students are reporting such negative experiences, are stark.”
Other interesting stats?
- 20% of Connecticut students said they had witnessed someone “physically attacked, beaten, stabbed, or shot in their neighborhood.”
- 14% of students said they were bullied through texts or social media. 12% said they were bullied on school property.
- 91% of sexually active teens did not use a condom, birth control pills, an IUD or other barrier/hormonal birth control methods to prevent pregnancy during sexual intercourse.
- 38% “did not always wear a seat belt” in cars.
- In the week leading up to the survey, 8% said they did not eat fruit or vegetables and 20% did not eat breakfast.
- On an average school night, 79% did not get at least eight hours of sleep on an average school night.
How does Connecticut compare to the country?
In all but two categories, Connecticut students were less or equally likely to engage in risky behaviors compared to the U.S.-level data.
Connecticut students were more likely to report experiences with sexual dating violence. Among students who had a relationship in the year before the survey, 14% said they had been forced to do sexual activities (including kissing, touching or intercourse) in Connecticut compared to10% nationally.
Connecticut students who used tobacco were also more likely to say that they did not try to quit smoking, vaping or using other tobacco products. In Connecticut, 56% of students did not try to break their habits compared to 46% of U.S. students.
How did they get the numbers? Are they reliable?
The 2021 YRBS collected data from more than 17,000 students across the country, including roughly 1,700 in Connecticut, through surveys administered during the fall 2021 semester.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health explained that in every year prior to 2021, surveys were conducted in the spring semester. The CDC delayed the survey until the fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DPH said this deviation in schedule could have impacted the estimates and trends in the data.
“It has been found that risk behaviors tend to be lower in the fall semester compared to the spring,” The DPH said in its Connecticut School Health Survey summary report.
“Some questions on the CSHS ask students about their behavior in the prior 12 months. In the fall of 2021, that time period would have included when COVID-19 precautions limited opportunities for social interaction both at school and extracurricular.”