Comparing Self-Reported and Aggregated Racial Classification for American Indian/Alaska Native Youths in YRBSS: 2021.

This article examines the reclassification of race and ethnicity data for adolescents self-reporting as American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) in the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), a survey conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It finds that only 17.7% of those who self-identified as AI/AN were classified as such in the YRBSS’s computed "raceeth" variable, which aggregates race and ethnicity into singular categories and prioritizes Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, thereby substantially underrepresenting AI/AN youth. The study highlights that misclassification and aggregation into broad categories like "multiracial" or "other" can obscure health disparities and affect resource allocation for the AI/AN population. The authors recommend disaggregating data, including self-reported race variables in research, and involving AI/AN leadership in data collection and analysis to improve accuracy and representation.