The Vermont Young Adult Survey: Methods and Some Initial Findings Bob Flewelling Amy Livingston

Background Vermont awarded Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success (SPF PFS) in 2012 Focus on underage drinking (including binge drinking) and prescription drug misuse among persons under age 25 Reaching 18-25 year olds to assess substance use and related behaviors a challenge, but necessary for PFS evaluation

2014 Vermont YAS Conducted YAS in 2008 and 2010 as part of evaluation of Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant, along with Core Survey on Drug and Alcohol Use for college students In 2014, revised YAS to incorporate prescription drug objective Baseline conducted in March/April of 2014 Follow-up to be conducted in March/April of 2016

2014 Vermont YAS Methods Online only (developed and hosted by PIRE) Compatible with smartphones and tablets Required about 10 minutes to complete Eligibility: Vermont residents aged 18-25 Anonymous Incentives: Weekly drawings of $100, plus $250 grand prize Contact info for drawing collected on different site (proof of age and residence required of winners) Approved by PIRE’s IRB

Recruitment Methods Postcards Partnered with Vermont DMV to obtain list of licensed drivers aged 18-25 Postcards mailed to 12,459 names on this list on March 5 Included survey web address and QR code on postcard

Facebook ads Designed six ads to appear on Facebook targeted to individuals aged 18-25 living in Vermont Ads ran for 6.5 weeks from March 13-April 27 Also had Facebook page for survey

This is how the ad appeared in newsfeed This was our best performing ad

Percent of Respondents

Cost Effectiveness of Advertising Methods Total number of usable surveys = 3200 Postcards Facebook N = 333 N = 2569 $7.88 per respondent $1.29 per respondent

Vermont Young Adult Survey (YAS): Sample Demographics (Compared to Population) Feature Value N Sample % Pop % Age group 18-20 1198 37.4 43.6 21-25 2002 62.6 56.4 Gender Female 2232 70.0 48.4 Male 938 29.4 51.6 Transgender 18 0.6 -- Student Status Not a student 1606 50.3 Full-time college 1070 33.5 Part-time/Other 520 16.3 Overall participation rate: 4.4% of population Rates varied by county from 3.1% to 6.4%

Making the sample look more like the target population… The magic of weighting the data YAS data were weighted to reflect Vermont population distributions for: County by Gender by Age group

Weighted Prevalence Estimates1 for Key Outcomes: YAS Comparisons to Vermont NSDUH 2011-12 Measure Young Adult Survey (2014) NSDUH (2011-12) Alcohol use in past 30 days 74.7 71.2 Binge drinking in past 30 days 55.3 49.5 Marijuana use in past 30 days 37.3 33.2 Non-medical use of Rx pain relievers in past year 7.4 12.0 1Percent of persons who used

Prevalence Rates for Past Month Alcohol Use: Full-time College Students vs. Other (from YAS) 1

Prevalence Rates for Past Month Marijuana Use: Full-time College Students vs. Other (from YAS)

Prevalence Rates for Past Year Rx Drug Misuse: Full-time College Students vs. Other (from YAS) 1

Perceived Risk of Alcohol and Marijuana Use by Full-time College Students (Vermont YAS)

Next Steps for YAS… Primary purpose is to compare PFS funded and non-funded areas of the state in changes between 2014 and 2016. Meanwhile… Construct statewide tables showing distributions of all items by age group, gender, and student status (for ADAP use) Construct county-specific tables for PFS community grantees (overall frequencies only)

Contact Info and Survey Website Bob Flewelling flewelling@pire.org or Amy Lvingston alivingston@pire.org To access the survey (no data will be recorded), go to: http://ncweb.pire.org/vtsurvey and click on the word “survey” in the graphic at the top of the page.