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Comparing Health Risk Behaviors of Central Kentucky Middle School Aged Boys with Those of Their State-wide Counterparts: An Ecological Study in the State of Kentucky

Herman Walston, Angela F Meshack, Timothy Latham and Charles Amos Jr

The current study uses baseline data collected in 2017 on participants attending middle schools in Central Kentucky (Fayette, Scott, and Franklin counties) who were administered an abbreviated version of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) and participated in Kentucky State University’s Please Call Me Mister Program (PCMMP) compared to results for their counterparts, who were randomly selected state-wide to complete a CDC national youth risk behavior surveillance survey state-wide referred to as the Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (KYRBSS). PCMMP participants who resided in Central Kentucky were significantly more likely to have reported ever riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, having a physical fight, and being bullied in school. In addition, PCMMP middle school participants reported significantly higher rates of sexual intercourse, alcohol use, and participation on at least one team in the last 12 months. Conversely, students state-wide reported higher rates of rarely or never wearing a bicycle helmet when bicycling and skateboarding as well as carrying a weapon. The data uncovered in this research offer potential direction for larger studies investigating the causal differences in participation in high-risk behaviors among high school students in Central Kentucky and the state of Kentucky.