Passive versus active parental permission in school-based survey research: does the type of permission affect prevalence estimates of risk behaviors?

This study investigates whether the type of parental permission affects prevalence estimates for risk behaviors from the national 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Participants were 13,195 students from 143 schools, of which 65% used passive permission and 35% active permission. Student participation rates were 86.7% in passive permission schools and 77.3% in active permission schools. For 24 of 26 behaviors tested, no significant differences were seen in the prevalence of risk behavior by type of parental permission. As long as high response rates are obtained, type of parental permission does not affect prevalence estimates for risk behaviors that are based on self-report.