This is measuring whether or not students feel they are most of the time or always able to talk to an adult in their family or another caring adult about their feelings (during their life). 

The target is a 10% increase in all Positive Childhood Experiences by 2029. 

This indicator highlights a very important and impactful protective factor for a lot of different negative health outcomes and behaviors. It is also an example of a positive childhood experience that research shows can mitigate the negative impacts of adversity and set a child up for greater success and well-being in adulthood. Utah data indicates that the state has opportunities to ensure that more Utah youth feel they have caring adults with whom they can feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings more often. According to 2023 data, that is over 2 of every 5 9-12th graders. Since we only have two years of data for the YRBS data, it makes it hard to speak to trends, but we did see an increase between 2021 and 2023. We also have seen increases in the proxy measure, youth feeling able to share their thoughts and feelings with parents/caregivers, from 2021 through 2025, which is positive.