Healthy Youth Survey

Healthy Youth Survey, Helping Washington’s students thrive and lead healthier, happier lives.

  • The survey shows trends over time and helps parents, schools, and communities address issues impacting youth.
  • Schools and districts get reports of their results – helping them understand their students’ needs. 
  • About 200,000 students in grades 6 -12 across the state take the survey every two years. 
  • Participation is voluntary and anonymous.
  • Free for schools in Washington State. 
Explore Results

Latest Updates

2025 HYS: Recruitment for the fall 2025 HYS will begin in the spring of 2025. 

Press Release:2023 Healthy Youth Survey results offer signs of hope and resiliency among Washington students

Watch the new HYS video about the collaborative effort to assess and improve lives of Washington's youth. 

Thank you to schools and students for participating in the 2023 HYS! The content on this site was updated on March 13, 2024 to reflect the 2023 data. 

Highlights from the 2023 Healthy Youth Survey

Mental Health and Well-being

  • 6 in 10 10th-graders reported feeling nervous, anxious, on edge, or not being able to stop or control worrying.
  • Mental health outcomes among 10th graders are improving, but remain highly concerning, especially for youth who already face more barriers to mental health support. 
  • According to the new data, depressive feelings and contemplation or planning suicide significantly decreased from 2021 to 2023. Even so, 30% of 10th graders reported persistent depressive feelings, and nearly 15% reported contemplating suicide. While this is an unacceptable level of youth struggling with suicidal thoughts, it is also the lowest rate we have seen in Washington in 20 years.
View Survey Results
High school boy, in classroom, wearing a hoody, looking directly into the camera.

Hope

About 7 in 10 10th-graders reported feelings of moderate to high hope – meaning they have set meaningful goals or pathways and are motivated to achieve them.

View Survey Results
Two high school girls with colorful hair, and a high school boy. All with big smiles looking at the camera.

Social Support

In 2023, more students reported:

  • Having adults to turn to when feeling depressed 
  • Having people from school who would help them 
  • Receiving information from their school about the warning signs of suicide
  • Greater levels of success on academic indicators
View Survey Results
Group of four students against an exterior wall looking at their phones.

Substance Use

  • In 2021, there was a big decrease in substance use among youth. In 2023, we saw that this mostly stayed the same across substances. This is good news!
  • Among 10th-grade participants, 8% reported vaping, 9% reported using alcohol, and 8% reported using cannabis. 
View Survey Results
Group of high schoolers, outside, arm in arm, smiling.

The Healthy Youth Survey

  • The Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) is a collaborative effort of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Department of Health, the Health Care Authority - Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery, and the Liquor and Cannabis Board.
  • The Healthy Youth Survey provides important survey results about the health of adolescents in Washington. Schools, school districts, local health jurisdiction, county prevention coordinators, community mobilization coalitions, community public health and safety networks, and others use this information to guide policy and programs that serve youth. 
About HYS
Students
215K

More than 215,000 students participated in the 2023 HYS. 

SCHOOLS
873

About 873 schools participated in the 2023 HYS. 

COUNTIES
39

Students from schools in all 39 counties participated in the 2023 HYS. 

News & Announcements

Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Survey Results for 2023 are now available. Explore the new results now.
Read More
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Press Release: 2023 Healthy Youth Survey results offer signs of hope and resiliency among Washington students
Read More