IRB Application
IRB Application
Collaborators in Outside Institutions:
1.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30329-4027, USA
Tel: 1-800-232-4636
2.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) that monitors health-risk behaviors associated with death and disability in adolescents and young adults. Although national-level data sets are publically available for download, the CDC will be asked to provide the data sets for the state of California obtained through the YRBSS.
Purpose of the Study:
The purpose of this study is to determine how alcohol compares to other health risk behaviors in students and determine which sub-groups have the highest risk for alcohol abuse among students. The level of alcohol consumption will be compared among ethnic groups and between first-generation and non-first-generation students.
The first objective is to determine how excessive alcohol use compares to other health risk behaviors displayed by students. It is expected that alcohol use will have a higher prevalence than tobacco, sexual behaviors, and behaviors that contribute to injuries or violence, but it is possible that unhealthy eating behaviors and tobacco smoking might have a similar or higher prevalence when compared to alcohol intake. However, excessive alcohol intake is considered to be one of the more prevalent forms of risk behavior in students because beliefs about the benefits of alcohol (e.g. improves social status among peers) is prevalent in the student population.
It is also considered that ethnicity has a statistically significant relationship with excessive alcohol intake. Specifically, it is expected that non-White participants will be more likely to excessively consume alcohol than White participants because acculturation stress can increase alcohol consumption to cope with stress or socialize. Although ethnically diverse participants can be domestic students that are not necessarily affected by acculturation stress, some ethnic groups within the United States are associated with a culture that supports excessive alcohol intake. Therefore, it is important to determine which ethnic groups are at the highest risk for alcohol abuse in college, and that is the second objective of this study. Acculturation stress is also not exclusive to international students. Domestic students with parents who never went to college also experience acculturation stress, especially in their first year of college. Therefore, the third objective of this study is to determine whether first-generation students and non-first-generation students have a different prevalence of alcohol consumption. It is expected that first-generation students will show higher levels of alcohol consumption than non-first-generation students, possibly because of the higher acculturative stress levels and the need to socialize with other students.
Expected start and end dates are currently unknown.
Funding Source: N/A
Inclusion/exclusion: N/A
Archival/Existing Data:
1. The YRBS mainly targets adolescents in middle schools and high schools, but the national survey on risk behaviors in college students was conducted in 1995.
2. The dataset is named “National College YRBS Data.”
3. The subjects cannot be identified because the survey did not collect their personally identifiable information, such as names or institutions.
4. The data is publically available, so no specific permission is required to use it.
Vulnerable and Special Populations: N/A
Recruitment/Screening:
1. No
2. The participants will not be recruited because this study will use existing data.
3. N/A
Description of the Study
1. N/A
2. N/A
Risks of the Research:
Because of the retrospective nature of the study, there are no risks to report.
Benefits of Participation:
N/A
Compensation for Participation:
N/A
Confidentiality
1. Check “Other” – the existing data used did not collect any of the information listed.
2. Personally identifiable information will not be collected.
3. Publically available data without personally identifiable information does not warrant specific measures for protection during storage and disposal.
