Feeling Connected at School and Teens' Risk Behaviors: Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2021

School connectedness — students' belief that adults and peers at school care about their learning and about them — is linked to better educational, behavioral and health outcomes in adolescence and into adulthood: less emotional distress, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts, less drug misuse and sexual violence, and a protective effect for young people facing stress or marginalization. In 2021, the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) asked about it for the first time.

The survey

• 17,232 students in grades 9–12, public and private schools, 50 states and D.C. — nationally representative, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The question: "Do you agree or disagree that you feel close to people at your school?" — agree or strongly agree counted as high connectedness.
• Seven outcomes: poor mental health, marijuana use, prescription opioid misuse, sexual intercourse, unprotected sex, forced sex, and missing school because of feeling unsafe.

Who feels connected

61.5% of students felt connected to others at school.

Connectedness was lower among AI/AN, Black, Hispanic and multiracial students than White students, and lower among lesbian or gay, bisexual and questioning or other students than heterosexual students.

Connected students report less risk

The pattern held for both sexes and all grades — except sex among 11th and 12th graders.

• Mental health: better with connectedness in every racial and ethnic group (for example AI/AN students 19.7% vs 44.6%; White 21.9% vs 43.8%), and among heterosexual, bisexual and questioning or other students — but not among lesbian or gay students.
• Strongest links varied: forced sex for Asian and Black students; poor mental health for Hispanic and multiracial students (the only link for multiracial students) and for heterosexual and questioning students; missing school for safety for White and bisexual students; opioid misuse for lesbian or gay students.
• Opioids: lower with connectedness overall, but not among AI/AN, multiracial or questioning or other students; marijuana: lower overall, by sex and grade, and among White and heterosexual students.

What schools can do

The survey is cross-sectional, so cause can't be proven — connectedness may protect, or risk may make connection harder. But schools can build environments where every student feels cared for, supported and belonging:

• caring relationships between students and teachers, effective classroom management, family engagement, and staff wellness and training;
• inclusion and culturally informed practices, and partnerships with community health services;
• student involvement in improving school climate, youth development and mentoring programs;
• addressing racism — even connected Asian, Black and multiracial students have mostly experienced it;
• LGBQ+ inclusivity: Gender and Sexualities Alliances (GSAs), enforced anti-harassment policies, safe spaces and staff training. Nearly all schools ban harassment of LGBQ+ students and 80% have safe spaces, but only 44% of secondary schools have GSAs and 30% train staff.

Limits

• Cross-sectional data: no cause and effect.
• A single question can't capture every side of connectedness.
• Small groups meant some estimates were suppressed or imprecise.
• Answers reflect one moment, during a pandemic.

Sources

Based on Wilkins NJ, Krause KH, Verlenden JV, et al., "School Connectedness and Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021," MMWR Supplements, volume 72, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The report's discussion calls 61.5% "approximately one half" and its summary graphic "2 in 3"; the measured 61.5% is used here, and the graphic is not shown.