Youth Substance Use Survey

What is the Youth Substance Use Survey (YSUS)?
The YSUS was created to offer a common tool that all Livingston County schools can utilize for gathering information about student substance use and perceptions. The YSUS is an online student health survey offered by the Livingston County Community Alliance (LCCA) to support county and local needs assessment. The YSUS provides student results on youth substance use and perceptions of grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,  and 12. As well as adults. YSUS results will help make data-driven decisions to improve prevention and health promotion programming.

Why was the YSUS developed?
The YSUS was developed in 2018, in response to requests from local districts across Livingston County to have a survey that would provide local-level data on risk and protective factors for schools and the community.

What is the purpose of the YSUS?
YSUS reports help organizations make data-driven decisions
to improve prevention and health promotion programming for students and adults. Intermediate and local school districts and community health agencies use this data to help identify needed programs or services that reduce risk factors and increase protective factors enabling students to be successful in school. Such data is necessary to successfully apply for grants and develop programming to effectively address student needs. YSUS data can also help school leaders identify the most appropriate content to include in health education curricula. YSUS is an important source of data for the Michigan Integrated Continuous Improvement Process (MICIP).

Who can participate in the YSUS?
The YSUS is voluntary and is targeted at students in grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Adults can also take the survey.

How were the questions on the YSUS chosen?
YSUS covers risk behaviors and risk and protective factors. The risk behavior questions are aligned with nationally tested questions on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS); used by nearly all 50 states and large urban school districts across the county as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. The risk and protective factor questions come from the Communities That Care survey. Both national surveys have been through a rigorous review process ensuring questions are both valid and reliable.

Does asking questions increase the likelihood that students will be confused and/or engage in these behaviors?

The published research does not support this conclusion. Some studies suggest that acknowledging these issues may reduce, rather than increase, risk behaviors. If harm came from asking these questions, the various entities that have administered student health surveys for decades across the country wouldn’t include them.

How can parents view the survey questions?
Parents can scan the QR Code or click on the link to see the survey.

Is student participation voluntary?
Yes, student and adult participation is voluntary.

How will student responses be protected and kept anonymous?
Students and adults do not include their
names or any identifying information on the survey. Responses are recorded in summary form, and only the staff of the LCCA and the LCCA Evaluator will see the results.

Who can access the data?
The LCCA houses the data and produces reports but has no authority to share the data.

Is there a participation threshold to have valid and reliable data?
The LCCA data team’s goal is to have a minimum of 5,000 participants.

How will the survey be administered?
The survey can be administered multiple ways – via Facebook, Instagram, our website at www.drugfreelivingston.com, and through Google.

Is the individual level data shared publicly?
Specific individual student data is NEVER shared. The data from all the participating students will be aggregated
and shared only in the aggregated format.