Illinois Youth Survey
What is the Illinois Youth Survey (IYS)?
The IYS provides an opportunity for schools to collect local, timely data from their students. Facilitated by the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, it is a free survey administered to 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students across Illinois. The IYS is administered state-wide on even years (2016, 2018, 2020, etc.) and covers a full range of topics, such as physical activity and nutrition, substance use and abuse, perceptions of school climate, mental health, and safety (violence and bullying).
Register for the 2020 Survey
Register for the IYS on the Illinois Youth Survey Registration Page. You can also check the status of your school's registration.
- The Illinois Youth Survey is available to schools for administration via traditional printed format or online.
- Schools will select their survey format at registration and can modify this choice during confirmation before materials are packed or shipped.
- Schools can select a split administration where one full grade surveys online and the other via paper by indicating their choice by grade.
- Both the online and paper surveys are available in English. The Spanish survey is available online only.
How can the data be used?
Benefits to schools: The data from IYS reports can be used by schools to guide programmatic interventions across school systems. Schools may also use the data when seeking funding opportunities. Many schools choose to share their data with local coalitions and stakeholders to enhance collaborative efforts.
Benefits of sharing the data: When schools chose to share their data with Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center (LCHD/CHC) and/or a local coalition, it is used to assess the needs of the students in Lake County, priority areas of need can be identified, and specific interventions can be implemented. All data shared with LCHD/CHC remains confidential and is not released to the public. All participating schools’ data is compiled into a county report. The county report is used for planning purposes by a variety of county organizations, including local coalitions.
What evidence-based strategies exist for issues identified through the IYS?
LCHD/CHC has researched evidence-based strategies to address the issues of substance abuse, mental health, physical activity, and nutrition for schools. LCHD/CHC has expertise in the implementation of school-based substance abuse and tobacco cessation interventions. Please contact [email protected] or 847-377-8770 for further information.
Evidence-Based Strategies
Intervention |
Summary |
Outcome |
Population Served |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Marketing Campaign (1) |
Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors using basic marketing principles. The planning process addresses the elements of the "Four Ps of Marketing”: 1) the conception of a Product, 2) Price, 3) Place (distribution), and 4) Promotion. Social marketing also adds two additional "P's":
Partnership--Social and health issues are often so complex that collaboration between agencies is necessary to increase success.
Policy--Social marketing programs can do well in motivating individual behavior change, but that is difficult to sustain unless the environment they're in supports that behavior change for the long term. |
-Decrease the rate of students who use substances
-Increase the rate of students with healthy behaviors |
Any targeted audience (students, parents, staff, community) |
| School Policies (2) |
School policies establish rules and regulations to ensure a safe and productive environment for students and staff. Policies influence the social environment of the school by playing a crucial role in setting behavioral norms and establishing guidelines for student behavior control. Examples of school policies to reduce and prevent student use of substances:
- Code of conduct
- Discipline consequences
- Evidence-based substance abuse prevention curriculum
- Assessment and screening of substance abuse treatment needs
- Drug-free school zone |
-Decrease the rate of students who use substances
-Increase the rate of students with healthy behaviors |
Students |
| Alcohol Edu® (3) |
AlcoholEdu® for High School takes a public health approach to preventing alcohol abuse, incorporating evidence-based prevention methods to create a highly engaging user experience.
Recommended Grade Level: 9-12
Total Modules: 5 (20-25 minutes each)
Total Time: 2-3 Hours
Subject Fit: Health, Physical Education AlcoholEdu for High School requires funding from the
school, district, or outside source. |
-Reduce negative consequences associated with underage drinking | High school students |
| Youth Prevention Education | Substance abuse prevention curricula is an individual strategy aiming to increase prevention-related drug knowledge and resistance skills. There are over a dozen different evidence-based curricula recommended by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, e.g. Botvin’s Life Skills Training and Too Good for Drugs. | -Decrease the rate of students who use substances
-Decrease permissive social norm of substance use -Increase permissive risk of substance use
|
Typically grades 5-12 |
| Electronic Screening and Brief Intervention | Uses electronic devices (e.g. computers, telephones, or mobile devices) to facilitate delivery of key elements of assessing drinking patterns and behaviors. Then personalized feedback about the risks and consequences of excessive drinking is delivered via a face-to-face interaction or follow-up phone call with a healthcare provider. The screening does not have to take place in a medical setting, but could be implemented in collaboration with a healthcare provider. | -Decrease alcohol use, regular and excessive/binge -Decrease related risky behaviors, e.g. suicide, motor-vehicle crashes
|
Middle school through adults; healthcare providers |
| Compliance Checks | Used to enforce state criminal statutes and/or local administrative ordinances that regulate the sale of alcohol. Enforcement officials supervise undercover youth who attempt to purchase alcohol at a retail outlet; if the attempt is successful, the establishment is penalized. This strategy is most effective when paired with Responsible Beverage Server training, also known as BASSET in Illinois. | -Decrease retail access of youth to alcohol
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Law enforcement, alcohol licensees and youth |
| Merchant Training | Program for owners, managers and staff of establishments that serve alcohol the knowledge and skills to help them serve responsibly and within the law. | -Decrease retail access of youth to alcohol
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Law enforcement and alcohol licensees |
| Shoulder Tap Operations | Similar to compliance check programs except that they target adults who supply alcohol to youth instead of the vendor. During an operation, a minor volunteer works under the direct supervision of law enforcement officers. The volunteer solicits adults outside a licensed packaged alcohol vendor to buy alcohol for the minor volunteer. | -Decrease social access of youth to alcohol -Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Law enforcement, adult community members, and youth |
| Party Prevention and Dispersal | Law enforcement strategy that involves a number of measures to effectively prevent, identify and safely disperse underage drinking parties. Party prevention includes safe party campaigns to provide information to parents and adult sponsors in order to assist them in keeping their party alcohol-free and safe. Party identification can include hotline reports, complaints received from neighbors, keg registration and/or routine patrol. Party dispersal includes effective measures to contain a nuisance or underage party, gain entry, and systematically control the release of the participants for public safety. Dispersal includes legal strategies for holding underage participants and host accountable. | -Decrease social access of youth to alcohol -Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community and law enforcement |
| Sobriety Checkpoints | Law enforcement officials evaluate drivers for signs of alcohol or drug impairment at certain points on the roadway. Vehicles are stopped in a specific sequence. The frequency with which checkpoints occur depends on the personnel available to staff the checkpoint and traffic conditions. These checkpoints are often set up during times when impaired driving is most likely to happen, such as holiday weekends, after public events, late at night or early in the morning. | -Increase permissive risk of substance use
-Decrease youth substance use
|
Drivers and law enforcement |
| Policy – Increase Alcohol Taxes | Alcoholic beverages are far cheaper (after adjusting for overall inflation) today than they were in the 1960s and 1970s. Raising excise taxes has an effect on adult and youth drinking. Taxes can also be a source of revenue for prevention and enforcement strategies aimed at reducing underage drinking and its associated harms. | -Decrease youth alcohol use | Community |
| Policy – Social Host | “Social host” refers to anyone, usually adults, who knowingly or unknowingly host underage drinking parties on property that they own, lease, or otherwise control. These laws often are closely linked to laws prohibiting furnishing alcohol to minors although laws establishing liability for hosting underage drinking parties may apply without regard to who furnishes the alcohol. Social host ordinances give communities a practical tool for holding adults accountable. These laws allow law enforcement to cite the individual who "hosted" the underage drinking party on their property. | -Decrease social access of youth to alcohol
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community |
| Policy – Mandatory Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) Training | Responsible beverage service programs, known as BASSET in Illinois, target both packaged liquor vendors and bars/restaurants are designed to reduce sales to minors and intoxicated adults. They include three critical components: policy development, manager training, and server/seller training. | -Decrease retail access of youth to alcohol
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community and alcohol licensees |
| Policy – Advertising Restrictions | Alcohol ad restrictions reduce the exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol ads promoting unrealistic messages about alcohol use. Restrictions on alcohol advertising include any policies that limit advertising of alcoholic beverages, particularly advertising that exposes young people to alcohol messages. Communities that restrict alcohol advertisers send a message to young people that underage alcohol use is not tolerated by the community. | -Decrease permissive community norm of alcohol use
-Decrease extensive promotion/marketing -Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community |
| Policy – Alcohol Location and Density | Areas with higher alcohol outlet density have higher levels of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems, including violence, crime, alcohol-involved traffic crashes, and injuries. Alcohol outlet density regulation is defined as applying regulatory authority to reduce or limit alcoholic beverage outlet density (the number of alcohol retailers such as bars, restaurants and liquor stores in a given area). Regulation is often implemented through licensing or zoning processes. | -Decrease permissive community norm of alcohol use
-Decrease retail access of youth to alcohol
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community |
| Policy – Event Restrictions | States and/or local governments typically issue special, temporary licenses for alcohol sales at special events such as music concerts, community fairs and celebrations, and sporting events. Alcohol sales at community events create a high risk of underage drinking and related problems, including assaults, drinking and driving, and vandalism. | -Decrease permissive community norm of alcohol use
-Decrease retail access of youth to alcohol
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community |
| Policy – Local Minor in Possession (MIP) Ordinances | Local MIP ordinances shift the focus to the minor, imposing sanctions for possession or consumption. | -Decrease permissive social norm
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community |
| Policy – Keg Registration | Beer kegs can be a popular source of alcohol at teen parties. They provide alcohol at the cheapest price and require only one purchase, usually arranged with a friend over age 21. Keg registration regulations reduce this form of noncommercial availability. They require retailers to attach a tag, sticker, or engraving with an identification number to the keg. At purchase, the retailer requires a refundable deposit and records the purchaser’s name, address, telephone number, and driver’s license or other identification information. | -Decrease retail access of youth to alcohol
-Decrease youth alcohol use
|
Community |
Intervention |
Summary |
Outcome |
Population Served |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe Schools/ Healthy Students (6,7) |
Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) prevents youth violence and substance use in schools and communities, and promotes and improves student access to mental health services. This can be done through a number of strategic approaches including:
- Community collaboration and partnerships
- Use of technology
- Policy change and development
- Capacity building
- System change and development |
-Reducing the number of students who abuse substances
-Improving school climate -Increasing the number of students who receive mental health services
-Reducing the number of students who are exposed to violence |
School aged children
(Pre-School - High School) |
| Families and Schools Together (FAST) (8,9) |
Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a group-based family intervention to improve family functioning and make children more resilient against risks such as school failure and delinquency. The program seeks to help parents improve family relationships and increase social support networks, empowering them to improve their children’s outcomes. Groups of 9-12 families gather for 8 facilitated 2 ½ hour weekly meetings that include a family meal, structured activities, parent support time, and parent-child play therapy. Families then run monthly follow-up meetings for 2 years. | -Improved youth behavior
-Improved mental health -Improved social emotional skills |
School aged children
(Pre-School - High School) |
| SOS Signs of Suicide Program (10,11) |
A school-based suicide prevention program that teaches students that suicide is directly related to mental illness—typically depression—and that it is not a normal reaction to stress or emotional upset. This approach stands in direct contrast to other programs that seek to destigmatize suicide by separating it from mental illness. SOS concentrates on teaching youth to recognize the signs of suicide and depression in themselves and others and the specific actions needed to respond to those signs. | -Reduced suicide attempts -Increased knowledge and awareness of depression and suicide |
Students aged 13-18 years |
Intervention |
Summary |
Outcome |
Population Served |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-component school-based obesity prevention interventions (12) |
Multi-component school-based obesity prevention programs seek to increase physical activity and improve nutrition before, during, and after school. Programs combine educational, behavioral, environmental, and other components such as health and nutrition education classes, enhanced physical education and activities, promotion of healthy food options, and family education and involvement. Specific components vary by program. | -Increased physical activity -Improved weight status -Improved dietary habits |
School aged children (Pre-School - High School) |
| School-Based Physical Activity (13,14) |
Expand or enhance school-based physical education (PE) by lengthening existing classes, increasing physical activity during class or adding new PE classes. Local schools can implement policies or state governments can set standards to expand or enhance school-based PE. | -Increased physical activity -Improved physical fitness |
School aged children (Pre-School - High School) |
| School Fruit & Vegetable Gardens (15) |
School gardens are generally on school grounds, and allow students to garden during school or non-school hours with school staff guidance. School gardens are typically accompanied by nutrition education, food preparation lessons, and fruit and vegetable tasting opportunities. School gardens can also provide students with hands-on learning opportunities in subjects like science, math, health, and environmental studies. | -Increased willingness to try fruits & vegetables -Increased fruit & vegetable consumption |
School aged children (Pre-School - High School) |
Sources of Evidence-Based Strategies:
1. Guide to Community Preventive Services (2010). Health Communication and Social Marketing: Campaigns that include Mass Media and Health-Related Product Distribution. Retrieved from: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/health-communication-and-social-marketing-campaigns-include-mass-media-and-health-related.
2. Oxford Journals Health Promotion International (2004). A Review on School Drug Policies and their Impact of Youth Substance Use. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/19/2/227/604692.
3. EverFi (2016). AlcoholEdu for High School. Retrieved from: https://everfi.com/offerings/listing/alcoholedu-high-school/.
4. Illinois Department of Human Services (2013). Prevention First: Introduction to Evidence-Based Prevention Strategies. Retrieved from: https://www.prevention.org/Professional-Resources/Substance-Abuse-Prevention-Professionals.
5. National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) (2015). Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioners Guide. Retrieved from: https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Practitioner/YouthGuide/YouthGuide.pdf.
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association (SAMHSA) (2016). Safe Schools/Healthy Students. Retrieved from: http://www.samhsa.gov/safe-schools-healthy-students.
7. National Resource Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention (2016). Safe Schools/Healthy Students. Retrieved from: http://www.healthysafechildren.org/sshs-framework.
8. County Health Rankings (2016). Families and Schools Together (FAST). Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/families-and-schools-together-fast.
9. Families & Schools Together (FAST) (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.familiesandschools.org.
10. Healthy Communities Institute (2004). SOS Signs of Suicide Program. Retrieved from: http://cdc.thehcn.net/index.php?module=promisepractice&controller=index&action=view&pid=977.
11. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association (SAMHSA) (2016). SOS Signs of Suicide Program. Retrieved from: https://www.samhsa.gov/.
12. County Health Rankings (2016). Multi-Component School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions. Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/multi-component-school-based-obesity-prevention-interventions.
13. County Health Rankings (2016). School-Based Physical Education. Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/school-based-physical-education.
14. Guide to Community Preventive Services (2013). Physical Activity: Enhanced School-Based Physical Education. Retrieved from: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/physical-activity-enhanced-school-based-physical-education.
15. County Health Rankings (2016). School Fruit and Vegetable Gardens. Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/school-fruit-vegetable-gardens.
1. Guide to Community Preventive Services (2010). Health Communication and Social Marketing: Campaigns that include Mass Media and Health-Related Product Distribution. Retrieved from: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/health-communication-and-social-marketing-campaigns-include-mass-media-and-health-related.
2. Oxford Journals Health Promotion International (2004). A Review on School Drug Policies and their Impact of Youth Substance Use. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/19/2/227/604692.
3. EverFi (2016). AlcoholEdu for High School. Retrieved from: https://everfi.com/offerings/listing/alcoholedu-high-school/.
4. Illinois Department of Human Services (2013). Prevention First: Introduction to Evidence-Based Prevention Strategies. Retrieved from: https://www.prevention.org/Professional-Resources/Substance-Abuse-Prevention-Professionals.
5. National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) (2015). Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioners Guide. Retrieved from: https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Practitioner/YouthGuide/YouthGuide.pdf.
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association (SAMHSA) (2016). Safe Schools/Healthy Students. Retrieved from: http://www.samhsa.gov/safe-schools-healthy-students.
7. National Resource Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention (2016). Safe Schools/Healthy Students. Retrieved from: http://www.healthysafechildren.org/sshs-framework.
8. County Health Rankings (2016). Families and Schools Together (FAST). Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/families-and-schools-together-fast.
9. Families & Schools Together (FAST) (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.familiesandschools.org.
10. Healthy Communities Institute (2004). SOS Signs of Suicide Program. Retrieved from: http://cdc.thehcn.net/index.php?module=promisepractice&controller=index&action=view&pid=977.
11. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association (SAMHSA) (2016). SOS Signs of Suicide Program. Retrieved from: https://www.samhsa.gov/.
12. County Health Rankings (2016). Multi-Component School-Based Obesity Prevention Interventions. Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/multi-component-school-based-obesity-prevention-interventions.
13. County Health Rankings (2016). School-Based Physical Education. Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/school-based-physical-education.
14. Guide to Community Preventive Services (2013). Physical Activity: Enhanced School-Based Physical Education. Retrieved from: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/physical-activity-enhanced-school-based-physical-education.
15. County Health Rankings (2016). School Fruit and Vegetable Gardens. Retrieved from: http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/policies/school-fruit-vegetable-gardens.