Cuyahoga County YRBS

Cuyahoga County YRBS

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national surveillance tool developed by the CDC to monitor the leading causes of adolescent morbidity and mortality. Conducted biennially nationwide since 1991, the YRBS tracks behaviors related to injury, substance use, diet, physical activity, violence, sexual health, and more.

In Cuyahoga County, the YRBS has been administered since 1995 and is now conducted annually—surveying grades 7–8 in even years and grades 9–12 in odd years. In 2008, the project became part of a broader community surveillance strategy under the Adolescent Health and Youth Development Hub, which grounds its work in local data to inform policy and practice.

Tailored to reflect local priorities, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga YRBS follows CDC protocols, enabling reliable comparisons with state and national trends. This local-level data is essential for understanding youth health behaviors and shaping effective, evidence-based interventions across schools and communities.

Geographic Regions

The map below provides a visual representation of the six regions of Cuyahoga County.  The division of Cuyahoga County into six regions allows for a geographic examination of the prevalence of different risk behaviors in Cuyahoga County. The six regions are: 

  • Cleveland/CMSD—East: the portion of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District located east of the Cuyahoga River
  • Cleveland/CMSD—West: the portion of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District located west of the Cuyahoga River
  • Inner Ring—East: a city on the east side of the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga County which shares a border with the city of Cleveland
  • Inner Ring—West: a city on the west side of the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga County which shares a border with the city of Cleveland
  • Outer Ring—East: a city on the east side of the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga County which does not share a border with the city of Cleveland, and
  • Outer Ring—West: a city on the west side of the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga County which does not share a border with the city of Cleveland. 

Meet the Team

Kristina Knight, PhD

Principal Investigator

Stephanie Pike Moore, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor 

Joy Yala, MPH

Bioinformatics Research Associate 

For questions about the YRBS projects, please contact Joy Yala by email at jxy790@case.edu.