Weapon Carrying—Youth Risk Behavior Survey/NYC Youth Violence Survey

Abstract

The Weapon Carrying module constitutes a critical tool for public health surveillance, integrating key questions derived from the established Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the New York City Youth Violence Survey (YVS). This specialized instrument is meticulously designed to assess the prevalence and contextual factors associated with carrying weapons—specifically firearms, knives, or clubs—among the adolescent population in the United States. It gathers granular data on the frequency of weapon carrying across various locations, including general public settings, while commuting to or from school, and crucially, on school property itself. The resulting epidemiological data are indispensable for tailoring effective public health interventions and developing targeted violence prevention strategies aimed at mitigating high-risk behaviors among youth.

Keywords

Weapon Carrying, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, YRBS, NYC Youth Violence Survey, YVS, Adolescent Violence, Delinquency, Public Health Surveillance, High School Students, Risk Behaviors, Incidence Rates

Authors

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)

Purpose

The primary purpose of combining the Weapon Carrying items from the YRBS and YVS is to establish a robust, standardized framework for gathering epidemiological data concerning the frequency and circumstances of weapon carrying among middle and high school students. This measurement capability is essential for tracking both national and localized trends in youth violence over extended periods. By providing reliable trend data, the instrument empowers public health officials and relevant law enforcement agencies to efficiently allocate resources and objectively evaluate the efficacy of existing violence prevention programs.

Beyond simple prevalence rates, the scale delves into contextual specifics, quantifying the frequency of carrying weapons such as guns, knives, and clubs, and investigating motivational factors. These factors include carrying for protection versus carrying due to delinquency or social influence. Furthermore, the survey seeks to determine the source from which firearms are obtained. This detailed inquiry moves beyond superficial incidence counting, allowing researchers to understand the underlying mechanisms that drive adolescent involvement in high-risk behaviors, thereby supporting the design of highly targeted interventions.

Construct

The instrument primarily operationalizes the complex construct of Delinquency and associated high-risk behaviors centered specifically on weapon carrying and exposure to violence among youth. The scale effectively captures two dimensions of risk: active behavior, which involves the self-reported act of carrying a weapon, and passive exposure, which involves being threatened or injured by a weapon on school grounds.

The structure of the questions is designed to measure the frequency of these behaviors over specified retrospective periods (30 days or 12 months). This focus on frequency allows researchers utilizing the data gathered by the YRBS and YVS to calculate precise incidence rates. Incidence rates are a fundamental and critical measure in epidemiological studies focused on understanding the scope and burden of violence within defined population groups.

Validity

As a widely deployed tool within the governmental public health surveillance infrastructure, the YRBS, including its weapon carrying components, adheres to stringent procedural standards to ensure high levels of data quality and face validity. The development process involves consensus among experts in public health and education to ensure that all questions are clear, unambiguous, and directly relevant to the target behavior.

A key strength of the instrument’s validity lies in the consistency of its administration. The biennial, standardized application of these items across numerous survey cycles—for both YRBS and YVS—provides a robust foundation for monitoring reliable temporal trends. This established consistency strongly supports the instrument’s criterion validity in the context of large-scale public health reporting. While detailed psychometric validation studies (e.g., assessing convergent or discriminant validity against clinical measures) are typically found in peer-reviewed academic literature, the core items’ validity is primarily affirmed by their consistent application in large, nationally representative samples, ensuring the accurate reflection of self-reported risk behaviors within the adolescent population.

Reliability

The reliability of the YRBS and YVS measures is strongly supported by the rigorous, standardized protocols governing their biennial administration. This standardization is crucial, as it effectively minimizes potential sources of error such as interviewer bias and procedural variance. Although specific metrics for internal consistency, such as Cronbach’s alpha, are not typically reported within the scale documentation itself, the standardized methodology employed by the CDC ensures robust test-retest reliability for tracking population-level estimates across survey administrations.

Furthermore, the methodology relies on anonymous, self-reported data collection within school settings. This approach is standard practice in sensitive adolescent risk behavior research, as the anonymity is intended to enhance the honesty and, consequently, the reliability of student responses regarding sensitive and potentially incriminating topics like weapon carrying.

Factor Analysis

Explicit details regarding formal factor analysis (e.g., confirmatory or exploratory methods) are not typically provided for this specific module, as the items are often treated as distinct indicators or aggregated into broader indices of violence-related behaviors within the comprehensive CDC framework. Therefore, researchers often analyze the items individually to report specific prevalence rates rather than relying on a single, derived factor score.

Nevertheless, the organization of the items suggests a natural multi-faceted factor structure rooted in the context of the behavior. The questions inherently cluster into distinct content domains: carrying in Anywhere, carrying To/From School, and carrying On School Property. Additionally, the type of weapon (general weapon vs. gun) provides further differentiation, reflecting varying contexts and levels of risk exposure that researchers frequently use for segmented prevalence reporting.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire/Epidemiological Surveillance Tool

Format: Multiple-choice questions assessing the frequency and context of weapon carrying over specific retrospective periods, typically the past 30 days or 12 months.

Language Available: Primarily English (for official U.S. national administration), although localized or translated versions may be developed for specific regional or state surveys.

Population Group: Adolescents enrolled in school settings.

Age Group: Typically students in grades 6 through 12, encompassing both middle school and high school populations.

Population Details: The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) generally targets students in grades 9–12. The NYC Youth Violence Survey (YVS) specifically covers students across grades 6–12 within New York City.

Test Methodology: Anonymous, standardized, group-administered survey, typically conducted within school environments under controlled conditions. Data analysis employs complex statistical formulas to accurately calculate weighted incidence rates and standard errors based on the proportion of subjects reporting the behavior.

Keywords

Weapon prevalence, Adolescent health, School violence, Gun violence, Youth risk assessment, CDC, DOHMH, Incidence rate calculation, Psychometric scale, Survey development

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Administered by governmental agencies, not individual researchers)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Contact CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) for official inquiries)

Correspondence Address: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Atlanta, GA, USA

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The core instruments of the YRBS and YVS are designated as public domain tools utilized for governmental surveillance and research purposes. Permission for their use is typically granted for non-commercial research, provided users adhere to established Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The New York City Youth Violence Survey (YVS) components were first developed and utilized starting around 1993.

The comprehensive instrument containing these items is published in Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf (pages 267-269).

Reference’s

• Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. New York City Youth Violence Survey. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1993.

• CDC. Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 1999.

Items of the Weapon Carrying—Youth Risk Behavior Survey/NYC Youth Violence Survey

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Anywhere

1. During the past 30 days‚ on how many days did you carry a weapon such as a gun‚ knife‚ or club?

   • a. 0 days

   • b. 1 day

   • c. 2 or 3 days

   • d. 4 or 5 days

   • e. 6 or more days

2. During the past 30 days‚ on how many days did you carry a gun?

   • a. 0 days

   • b. 1 day

   • c. 2 or 3 days

   • d. 4 or 5 days

   • e. 6 or more days

3. What is the single most important reason that you carried a weapon such as a gun‚ knife‚ or club during the past 30 days?

   • a. I did not carry a weapon such as a gun‚ knife‚ or club during the past 30 days

   • b. For protection against attacks by other people

   • c. Because my friends carry weapons

   • d. Because it makes me feel important

   • e. To “show off” and impress my friends

   • f. Because I wanted to hurt someone

   • g. Other

4. During the past 30 days‚ the last time you carried a handgun‚ from where did you get the handgun?

   • a. I did not carry a handgun during the past 30 days

   • b. Parent or other family member’s handgun taken from home

   • c. Purchased from a store that sells handguns

   • d. Purchased “on the street”

   • e. Borrowed from a friend or someone I know

   • f. Stolen

   • g. Other

To/From School

5. During the past 30 days‚ on how many days did you carry a weapon such as a gun‚ knife‚ or club going to or from school?

   • a. 0 days

   • b. 1 day

   • c. 2 to 3 days

   • d. 4 to 5 days

   • e. 6 to 9 days

   • f. 10 to 13 days

   • g. 14 to 17 days

   • h. 18 or more days

6. During the past 30 days‚ on how many days did you carry a handgun going to or from school?

   • a. 0 days

   • b. 1 day

   • c. 2 to 3 days

   • d. 4 to 5 days

   • e. 6 to 9 days

   • f. 10 to 13 days

   • g. 14 to 17 days

   • h. 18 or more days

On School Property

7. During the past 30 days‚ on how many days did you carry a weapon such as a gun‚ knife‚ or club on school property?

   • a. 0 days

   • b. 1 day

   • c. 2 or 3 days

   • d. 4 or 5 days

   • e. 6 or more days

8. During the past 12 months‚ how many times has someone threatened or injured you with a weapon such as a gun‚ knife‚ or club on school property?

   • a. 0 times

   • b. 1 time

   • c. 2 or 3 times

   • d. 4 or 5 times

   • e. 6 or 7 times

   • f. 8 or 9 times

   • g. 10 or 11 times

   • h. 12 or more times

Note: Items 3, 4, 5 and 6 are specifically derived from the NYC Youth Violence Survey (YVS).