title: Reliability of the 2005 middle school Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the reliability of the middle school version of the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MSYRBS) questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of 232 Midwestern seventh and eighth grade middle school students completed the MSYRBS questionnaire twice in a 2-week period (14 days apart). The MSYRBS questionnaire, which queries a variety of health risk behaviors, was administered in a manner that preserved anonymity but allowed Time 1 and Time 2 matching. This was accomplished by using two questionnaire scantrons coded with the same unique number, and destroying all used materials to ensure that each participant was matched with their code. Kappa statistics were calculated for individual questions and group characteristics using SAS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean kappa was 62.6% and the median was 66.5%. Kappa statistics for each item ranged from -2.4% (injection drug use) to 83.8% (suicide contemplation). Negative kappa values were found for two items that had extremely small cell sizes. Kappas did not differ by gender, grade, or race. Based on nonoverlapping confidence intervals, there were no items that had significantly different prevalence estimates at Time 1 vs. Time 2. Nine items (24.3%) and one category (alcohol-drugs) had kappas below 61.0%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This preliminary study suggests that the reliability of the MSYRBS is high over time. A number of items should be further examined to determine whether they should be amended or omitted from future versions of the MSYRBS. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is recommended, potentially involving children as content experts.
authors.affiliation: Program in Health Promotion, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, USA. zulligkj@muohio.edu
authors.forename: Keith J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Zullig
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pun
authors.forename: Jon M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Patton
authors.forename: Valerie A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Ubbes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D009043:Motor Activity; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012649:Self Concept; D017678:Sex Distribution; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires