The Youth19 Rangatahi Smart Survey:

Building on Youth2000

The Adolescent Health Research Group (AHRG) carried out Youth2000 surveys in 2001, 2007 and 2012 with a total of over 27,000 young people from New Zealand high schools, kura kaupapa Māori, alternative education and teen parent units. Youth19 builds on this work, retaining core Youth2000 questions and methods that will allow us to track stability and change over time. We are also examining emerging topics (such as social media and vaping) and exploring new research areas in two distinct Health Research Council-funded projects, detailed below. We also completed a followup School Environment Survey to provide information about participating schools and context for student responses.

  • Harnessing the Spark of Life: Maximising Whānau Contributors to Rangatahi Wellbeing
    Principal Investigator: Terryann Clark (Ngāpuhi) | PhD, MPH, RN | The University of Auckland
    This project will investigate whanaungatanga to help inform work to support the health and wellbeing of rangatahi Māori and their whānau.

  • Integrating Survey and Intervention Research for Youth Health Gains
    Principal Investigator: Terry Fleming | PhD, MHSci, DSW | Victoria University of Wellington
    Imagine surveying thousands of people to identify health needs yet providing no intervention. This is the norm in survey research. It would be shocking in health services and is unnecessary in the age of digital surveys and digital health interventions. Digital interventions are highly scalable and are increasingly important in health strategies. However, uptake of these interventions outside of trials is typically disappointing and may increase disparities.

    This project investigates methodologies for integrating opt-in digital interventions to online health surveys, using the Youth19 survey as a case study. We will explore uptake of digital interventions among participant groups, examine impact on disparities, and identify opportunities to improve intervention uptake. We will examine the potential of this 'integrated survey and intervention research' approach for both participants and for research.

Youth19 is a scientifically and ethically rigorous survey, approved by The University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee. Around 7900 young people took part in Youth19. Each participating school received a summary of results from their own school and we are now working on analyses for broader reports and publications. These results will inform schools, researchers and policymakers about opportunities to support young people.


ACESSING THE DATA

Youth19 data are available to researchers on request. Details for applying for access can be found in our Data Access Policy.

Data Access Policy

Guidelines for requesting access to the Youth19 data for researchers.

Youth19 Questionnaire

A simplified version of the questionnaire listing all the Youth19 questions and response options.

Data Dictionary

This data dictionary details the variables, naming, and branching for the Youth19 Rangatahi Smart Survey and matches them to variables from previous surveys in the Youth2000 series.

 

You can view the original survey at youth19.ac.nz/survey

You can view the original help-options website at support.youth19.ac.nz


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Harnessing
the Spark of Life

Utilising high-quality Kaupapa Māori qualitative and quantitative approaches, this project builds on current Māori knowledge pertaining to whanaungatanga, and will increase understanding of the mechanisms and pathways through which whānau relationships influence a broad range of rangatahi health behaviours and outcomes. It will also address a knowledge gap around the association between whanaungatanga, health care access and rangatahi wellbeing. We will produce resources to promote rangatahi and whānau engagement with health, educational and social services, with the aim of increasing whānau efficacy and positive health outcomes for rangatahi.

 

Integrating Survey & Intervention Research for Youth Health Gains

Digital interventions (such as online tools for depression, mobile tools for smoking reduction and high-quality websites) are highly scalable and increasingly important in health strategies. However, uptake of these interventions outside trials is often disappointing and may increase disparities.

In this project we bring together these two dynamics and work on a new approach to smart, ethical survey research.

We will explore…

• who uses what – the uptake of different digital interventions among different participant groups
• the impact on disparities – are gaps narrowed? widened?
• opportunities to improve reach
• the costs and benefits of this approach, for both participants and researchers
• opportunities for improvement, with adolescents and digital intervention providers.

Resulting in information about…

• health and wellbeing across groups of adolescents
• which young people access which types of online help and how this might be improved
• opportunities and challenges for a paradigm shift in survey research towards ‘smart surveys’.

Smart surveys could…

• provide participants with meaningful, just in time information direct to their devices
• provide researchers with new, much-needed data.