Data and Documentation

ASCII

Access

ASCII

Access

ASCII

Access

ASCII

Access

Using ASCII files

1. Save the ASCII data file to a folder on your computer.
2. Specify column locations for each variable as needed by the software you are using.

Note: SAS and SPSS programs need to be used to convert ASCII into SAS and SPSS datasets. How to use the ASCII data varies from one software package to another. Column positions for each variable usually have to be specified. Column positions for each variable can be found in the documentation for each year's data. Consult your software documentation for more information.

Using Access files

1. Save the Access file to a folder on your computer.
2. Uncompress the Access file.

Note: The file is stored in compressed form to improve download time; it will need to be uncompressed before it can be used. See file formats help for more information on uncompressing the file.

Using SAS files

1. Save the SAS Format Program, SAS Input Program, and the ASCII data files to a folder on your computer.
2. Open the SAS Format Program in SAS and edit it according to the instructions included in the comments in the program.
3. Run the program. This will create a permanent format library in the folder specified in the SAS program.
4. Open the SAS Input Program in SAS and edit it according to the instructions included in the comments in the program.
5. Run the program. This will read the ASCII data file and convert it into a permanent SAS dataset for the particular year in the folder specified in the SAS program.

Note: Each year of YRBSS data should go in its own folder because each year has its own format library. Format libraries are not comparable across years.

The SAS format library contains the formats used to make SAS output more readable. Formats are linked to the data so that results are displayed as words ("Male" or "Female", for instance) instead of numbers (1 or 2). The SAS YRBS data file is designed to use its companion format library.

The following example SAS program shows how to use the format library. It assumes that both the data file and the format library are in "c:data". Note that the program contains two libname statements. The first libname statement indicates where the data file is located; the second libname statement indicates where the format library is located.

Using the format library is recommended but technically is optional. If you do not want to use the format library, include the following statement at the start of your SAS program:

Please note that each year of YRBS data has its own format library. Format libraries are not the same across years of data.

For further information on using format libraries, please consult your SAS documentation.

Using SPSS Files:

1. Save the SPSS syntax file and the ASCII data files to a folder on your computer.
2. Open the SPSS syntax file in SPSS and edit it according to the instructions included in the comments in the file.
3. Run the syntax file. This will read the ASCII data file and convert it into a permanent SPSS data file that includes labels and formats.

YRBSS data are not available by zip code, census tract, or school. Sample size limitations and confidentiality requirements do not support analyses at these levels.

YRBSS data are available for a small number of specifically funded local school districts or counties. CDC funds certain local school districts to conduct the YRBSS. Some of those local school districts are county-based. See Participation Maps & History for more information about county-based local school districts with YRBSS data. Data are only available for local school districts or counties on the list; no other local YRBSS data are available.

County-level identifiers are not available in the national YRBS dataset or in most state datasets.

YRBSS datasets are available for the United States overall, most states, some territories, some local school districts, and some tribal governments. Availability depends on YRBSS participation, data quality, and data-sharing policies. See Participation Maps & History for more information about data availability.

National YRBS datasets and documentation are available for download at YRBSS Data & Documentation. There is no charge for the data nor is permission needed to download or use the data.

Results are not available from every state for several reasons. First, four states (Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming) do not participate in the YRBSS. Second, some states that do participate do not achieve a high enough overall response rate to receive weighted results. Therefore, their results are not posted on the CDC website and CDC does not distribute their data.

The Participation Map and the Participation History & Data Quality tables provide more details on which states participated in the YRBSS and whether they obtained weighted data.

National YRBSS datasets and documentation are available for download at YRBSS Data & Documentation. There is no charge for the data nor is permission needed to download or use the data.

The national YRBS datasets posted on the YRBSS website do not contain state or region identifiers because the national samples are not constructed to provide representative data at state or region levels. However, national YRBS datasets with state identifiers included are available upon request using the YRBSS Data Request Form.

The national YRBS datasets will not contain data from every state because the national YRBS is an independent sample; it is not the aggregate of individual state and local datasets.

No, the national YRBS results are not the combination of state and local school district data. The national YRBS data are a separately drawn sample of high school students in grades 9–12 in the U.S. Some states may not have any schools chosen as part of the sample. States and local school districts each use a sample design that produces a representative sample of students in grades 9–12 for their state or local school district.

If you want to analyze state or local school district data please see Participation Maps & History for more information about data availability.

No. The national YRBS sample is designed to be representative of students in grades 9–12 in the United States overall but does necessarily include students from every state.

National YRBS datasets are available in two file formats: Access and ASCII. Additionally, SAS and SPSS programs are provided to convert the ASCII data into SAS and SPSS datasets. They can be downloaded at YRBSS Data & Documentation.

State, local school district, territory, and tribal government data sets from surveys conducted since 1999 are available in SAS, SPSS, ASCII, and Access formats. State, local school district, territory, and tribal government datasets from surveys conducted prior to 1999 are available in ASCII only.