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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce bullying of lesbian, gay, or bisexual high school students — LGBT‑05 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), CDC/NCCDPHP

Baseline: 24.9 percent of sexual minority students in grades 9 through 12 reported that they were bullied on school property in the past 12 months in 2021

Target: 20.7 percent

Numerator
Number of sexual minority (lesbian, gay, or bisexual) students in grades 9 through 12 who reported they were bullied on school property during the past 12 months.
Denominator
Number of sexual minority (lesbian, gay, or bisexual) students in grades 9 through 12.
Target-setting method
Minimal statistical significance
Target-setting method details
Minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline.
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. The standard error was used to calculate a target based on minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline. This method was used because it was a statistically significant improvement from the baseline.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System

Numerator:

During the past 12 months, have you ever been bullied on school property?

  1. Yes
  2. No

Methodology notes

YRBS uses the term sexual minority to include those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or unsure; and those whose sexual behavior includes same-sex contacts. However, for statistical reporting, sexual identity and sexual behavior are reported separately. This objective only tracks lesbian, gay, and bisexual identity.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective IVP-35 in that objective IVP-35 tracked bullying reported by all high school students, while this objective tracks bullying reported by sexual minority high school students.
Revision History
Revised. 

In 2023, the baseline was revised from 33.0 percent in 2017 to 24.9 percent in 2021, due to a change in the response options for the sexual orientation question on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The target was revised from 25.1 percent to 20.7 percent using the original target-setting method, minimal statistical significance.