Publications by authors named "Jonetta Mpofu"

Article Synopsis
  • This study focuses on the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) self-reported by U.S. high school students, using data from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey across 16 states.
  • The findings reveal that a significant percentage (80.5%) of adolescents have experienced at least one ACE, with emotional abuse (65.8%) being the most common, and notable disparities based on demographic factors such as sex and sexual orientation.
  • The research suggests that collecting ACE data directly from adolescents reveals a higher prevalence than parent-reported data, highlighting the need for targeted prevention efforts based on these disparities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is a set of surveys that tracks a broad range of behaviors, experiences, and conditions that can lead to poor health among high school students. The system includes a nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and separate school-based YRBSs conducted by states, tribes, territories, and local school districts. For the 2023 national YRBS, CDC made changes to the sampling method, survey administration mode, and questionnaire.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are trauma-inducing events that happen before age 18 and can be prevented, but many cases, especially violence-related incidents, are underreported in the US.
  • A 2023 national survey explored the prevalence of self-reported ACEs among high school students, revealing that about 76.1% experienced at least one ACE, with emotional abuse being the most common.
  • The study also examined links between ACEs and various health risk factors—like substance use and mental health issues—and calculated the potential benefits of preventing these traumas on overall adolescent health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To explore the prevalence of Multiracial/ethnic identity and its association with mental health among high school students.

Methods: The 2021 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N=17,232) data were used. Respondents were classified as monoracial/ethnic or Multiracial/ethnic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted pediatric health care in the United States, and this disruption layered on existing barriers to health care. We sought to characterize disparities in unmet pediatric health care needs during this period.

Methods: We analyzed data from Wave 1 (October through November 2020) and Wave 2 (March through May 2021) of the COVID Experiences Survey, a national longitudinal survey delivered online or via telephone to parents of children aged 5 through 12 years using a probability-based sample representative of the US household population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) monitors behaviors, experiences, and conditions affecting the health of high school students nationwide. This study examined the test-retest reliability of the 2021 national YRBS questionnaire.

Design: Respondents completed a Time 1 and Time 2 paper-and-pencil questionnaire approximately 2 weeks apart during February to May 2022.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: As part of efforts to modernize the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is moving from paper-and-pencil instrument (PAPI) administration to electronic administration using tablets. This study aimed to examine differences in demographic characteristics and the reporting of health behaviors and experiences between the PAPI- and tablet-administered 2021 national YRBS questionnaire.

Methods: High school students (grades 9-12) in classrooms from 57 schools participating in the 2021 national YRBS were assigned randomly to complete the survey using PAPI (n = 4,684 students) or using tablets (n = 3,645 students).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Commercial tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Despite declines in overall tobacco product use among youths, disparities persist. This report uses biennial data from the 2015-2021 cycles of the nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey to assess prevalence and trends in electronic vapor product (EVP) use among high school students, including ever use, current use (past 30 days), and daily use.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is the largest public health surveillance system in the United States, monitoring a broad range of health-related behaviors among high school students. The system includes a nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and separate school-based YRBSs conducted by states, tribes, territories, and local school districts. In 2021, these surveys were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There has been increasing national attention to the issue of racial disparities in pregnancy-related deaths. Federal legislation can support approaches at multiple levels of intervention to improve maternal health. As part of the CDC Policy Academy, a team of CDC staff completed a policy analysis to determine the approaches addressed in federal legislation to reduce racial disparities in pregnancy-related deaths.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Perceived racism in school (i.e., a student's report of being treated badly or unfairly because of their race or ethnicity) is an important yet understudied determinant of adolescent health and well-being.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hypertension is one of the largest modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the United States, and when it occurs during pregnancy, it can lead to serious risks for both the mother and child. There is currently no nationwide or state surveillance system that specifically monitors hypertension among women of reproductive age (WRA). We reviewed hypertension information available in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS) health surveys, the Health care Cost and Utilization Project administrative data sets (National Inpatient Sample, State Inpatient Databases, Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, and State Emergency Department Database and the Nationwide Readmissions Database), and the National Vital Statistics System.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This review describes the context of health equity and options for integrating equity into public health practice. We first discuss how the conceptualization of health equity and how equity considerations in US public health practice have been shaped by multidisciplinary engagements. We then discuss specific ways to address equity in core public health functions, provide examples of relevant frameworks and promising strategies, and discuss conceptual and measurement issues relevant to assessing progress in moving toward health equity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Understanding and addressing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk has implications for maternal and child health outcomes. Heart age, the modeled age of an individual's cardiovascular system based on risk level, and excess heart age, the difference between a person's heart age and chronological age, are alternative simplified ways to communicate CVD risk. Among women with a recent live birth, we predicted heart age, calculated prevalence of excess heart age (≥5 years), and examined factors associated with excess heart age.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF