The Association of Survey Setting and Mode with Self-Reported Health Risk Behaviors among High School Students

This study examined whether the prevalence of self- reported health risk behaviors among high school students varied by survey setting (school versus home) and mode of administration (paper and pencil versus computer). Students in grades 9 and 11 were assigned randomly to one of four conditions—school paper-and-pencil instrument (PAPI), school computer-assisted self-interview (CASI), home PAPI, and home CASI. During the spring of 2004, 4,506 stu- dents completed identically worded questionnaires based on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses con- trolling for sex, grade, and race/ethnicity revealed that setting was associated significantly with the reporting of 30 of the 55 risk behav- iors examined, and mode was associated significantly with the report- ing of 7 of the 55 behaviors. For all behaviors with a significant setting main effect, the odds of reporting the behavior were greater among students who completed questionnaires at school than among students who completed questionnaires at home. For all behaviors