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In 2011, the US Department of Health and Human Services adopted a minimum set of six standardized questions about disability to be used in population-based health surveys. These questions have been validated for self- and proxy-report use by adults, but how they perform for adolescents is unknown.To describe how 8th grade students, 11th grade students, and young adults aged 18-24 years in Oregon answer these questions.Cross-sectional study design. Data for the 8th and 11th grade students were derived from the Oregon Health Teens survey (OHT; 2017 and 2019); data for young adults aged 18-24 were from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS; 2017 and 2018). Unweighted counts, weighted proportions and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for socio-demographic characteristics, the six disability questions, and overall disability status (yes/no) among 8th graders (n = 14,396), 11th graders (n = 23,517), and young adults (n = 1112).Responses for 8th and 11th grade students were materially consistent for all six questions. Young adults were markedly less likely to report cognitive disability compared to 8th and 11th graders (17.2% vs. 24.9% and 27.0%, respectively) and somewhat less likely to report an independent living disability (6.5% vs. 8.6% and 9.8%, respectively).Differences in cognitive disabilities between adolescents and young adults may either be due to differences in underlying impairment or the result of youth interpreting this question differently than adults. Validation of the standardized disability identifiers for self-report in adolescents is needed.

Background Youth with disabilities experience greater levels of peer victimization and psychosocial distress than non-disabled youth. However, the extent to which exposure to peer victimization mediates the relationship between disability status and psychosocial distress is unknown. Objective To determine whether the relationship between disability status and psychological distress was mediated by exposure to peer victimization, and if so, whether the mediation effects of peer victimization on psychosocial distress was moderated by sex. Methods This cross-sectional study involved a series of regressions to test for mediation and moderated mediation using complex survey data from 6664 Oregon 11th graders. Results Peer victimization partially mediated the relationship between disability status and psychosocial distress. Sex, however, did not significantly moderate the mediating effects of peer victimization on psychosocial distress. Conclusion Exposure to peer victimization mediated the relationship between disability status and psychosocial distress; there was little support for sex as a moderator.