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Description & Citation--Study No. 2833 | |
Bibliographic Description | |
| ICPSR Study No.: | 2833 |
|---|---|
| Persistent URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02833 |
| Title: | National Survey of Adolescents in the United States, 1995 |
| Principal Investigator(s): | Dean G. Kilpatrick, Medical University of South Carolina, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center |
| Benjamin E. Saunders, Medical University of South Carolina, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center | |
| Funding Agency: | United States Department of Justice. National Institute of Justice |
| Grant Number: | 93-IJ-CX-0023 |
| Bibliographic Citation: | Kilpatrick, Dean G., and Benjamin E. Saunders. National Survey of Adolescents in the United States, 1995 [Computer file]. ICPSR02833-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2009-02-25. doi:10.3886/ICPSR02833 |
Scope of Study | |
| Summary: | The goal of this study was to test specific hypotheses illustrating the relationships among serious victimization experiences, the mental health effects of victimization, substance abuse/use, and delinquent behavior in adolescents. The study assessed familial and nonfamilial types of violence. It was designed as a telephone survey of American youth aged 12-17 living in United States households and residing with a parent or guardian. One parent or guardian in each household was interviewed briefly to establish rapport, secure permission to interview the targeted adolescent, and to ensure the collection of comparative data to examine potential nonresponse bias from households without adolescent participation. All interviews with both parents and adolescents were conducted using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) technology. From the surveys of parents and adolescents, the principal investigators created one data file by attaching the data from the parents to the records of their respective adolescents. Adolescents were asked whether violence and drug abuse were problems in their schools and communities and what types of violence they had personally witnessed. They were also asked about other stressful events in their lives, such as the loss of a family member, divorce, unemployment, moving to a new home or school, serious illness or injury, and natural disaster. Questions regarding history of sexual assault, physical assault, and harsh physical discipline elicited a description of the event and perpetrator, extent of injuries, age at abuse, whether alcohol or drugs were involved, and who was informed of the incident. Information was also gathered on the delinquent behavior of respondents and their friends, including destruction of property, assault, theft, sexual assault, and gang activity. Other questions covered history of personal and family substance use and mental health indicators, such as major depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, weight changes, sleeping disorders, and problems concentrating. Demographic information was gathered from the adolescents on age, race, gender, number of people living in household, and grade in school. Parents were asked whether they were concerned about violent crime, affordable child care, drug abuse, educational quality, gangs, and the safety of their children at school. In addition, they were questioned about their own victimization experiences and whether they discussed personal safety issues with their children. Parents also supplied demographic information on gender, marital status, number of children, employment status, education, race, and income. |
| Subject Term(s): | adolescents, child care, delinquent behavior, demographic characteristics, family violence, life events, mental health, school violence, substance abuse, victimization |
| Geographic Coverage: | United States |
| Time Period: | January 1995 - June 1995 |
| Date(s) of Collection: | January 1995 - June 1995 |
| Unit of Observation: | Individuals. |
| Universe: | Adolescents aged 12-17 in the United States. |
| Data Type: | survey data |
| Data Collection Notes: | The user guide, codebook, and data collection instruments are provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet. |
Methodology | |
| Purpose of the Study: | Childhood victimization has been found to be strongly related to substance use/abuse/dependence, delinquent behavior, and a variety of other mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. In the past, studies have either examined victimization by studying family violence and ignored other victimization experiences, or have assessed criminal violence and disregarded violence perpetrated by family members. This study assessed both familial and nonfamilial violence. The goal of the study was to test specific hypotheses generated by a theoretically and empirically constructed conceptual framework that illustrated the relationships among serious victimization experiences, the mental health effects of victimization, substance use/abuse, and delinquent behavior. The research objectives were (1) to provide descriptive information about cases of familial and nonfamilial violent assault, delinquent behavior, mental health problems, and substance use, abuse, and dependence, broken down by age, gender, family income, and racial/ethnic group among American adolescents, (2) to test a risk factor model that hypothesized relationships between violent familial and nonfamilial victimization in childhood and adolescence and risk of post traumatic stress disorder, delinquent behavior, and substance use, abuse, and dependence, and (3) to examine potential differences between gender and ethnic minority groups in the correlates and consequences of substance use/abuse/dependence and delinquent behavior. The primary hypothesis of this study was that victimization during childhood and/or adolescence increased the risk of developing significant psychological distress and substance use, which in turn increased risk for substance abuse or dependence, delinquent behavior, and subsequent victimization. |
| Study Design: | The study was designed as a telephone survey of American youth between the ages of 12-17 who (1) were living in United States households with telephones, (2) resided with a parent or guardian, and (3) could converse in English or Spanish. All sample selection and interviewing was done by Schulman, Ronca, and Bucuvalas, Inc. (SRBI), a New York-based survey research team. All interviews with both parents and adolescents were conducted using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) technology. After determining that the household contained one or more eligible adolescents, interviewers asked to speak to a parent or guardian. One parent or guardian in each household was interviewed briefly to establish rapport, secure permission to interview the targeted adolescent, and to ensure the collection of comparative data to examine potential nonresponse bias from households without adolescent participation. Parents and guardians were provided the opportunity to call a toll-free number to confirm the authenticity of the study. Whenever possible, adolescents were interviewed immediately following the parent or guardian interviews. Otherwise, appointments were scheduled when possible or blind callbacks at different times of the day or days of the week were made. As an incentive for participation, adolescent participants received a certificate of participation in the "National Survey of Adolescents" and a check for five dollars as compensation for their time. From the surveys of parents and adolescents, the principal investigators created one data file by attaching the data from the parents to the records of their respective adolescents. |
| Sample: | Stratified random sample. |
| Data Source: | telephone interviews |
| Description of Variables: | Adolescents were asked whether violence and drug abuse were problems in their schools and communities and what types of violence they had personally witnessed. They were also asked about other stressful events in their lives, such as the loss of a family member, divorce, unemployment, moving to a new home or school, serious illness or injury, and natural disaster. Questions regarding history of sexual assault, physical assault, and harsh physical discipline elicited a description of the event and perpetrator, extent of injuries, age at abuse, whether alcohol or drugs were involved, and who was informed of the incident. Information was also gathered on the delinquent behavior of respondents and their friends, including destruction of property, assault, theft, sexual assault, and gang activity. Other questions covered history of personal and family substance use and mental health indicators, such as major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, weight changes, sleeping disorders, and problems concentrating. Demographic information was gathered from the adolescents on age, race, gender, number of people living in household, and grade in school. Parents were asked whether they were concerned about violent crime, affordable child care, drug abuse, educational quality, gangs, and the safety of their children at school. In addition, they were questioned about their own victimization experiences and whether they discussed personal safety issues with their children. Parents also supplied demographic information on gender, marital status, number of children, employment status, education, race, and income. |
| Response Rates: | Parents in 90.1 percent of eligible households completed interviews and parents in 78.9 percent of eligible households gave permission for their adolescents to be interviewed. Adolescent interviews were completed in 75 percent of eligible households, 83.2 percent of households with completed parent interviews, and 95 percent of households with parental permission. |
| Presence of Common Scales: | Several Likert-type scales were used. |
Access and Availability | |
| Note: | A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest. |
| Original ICPSR Release: | 2000-06-05 |
| Dataset(s): |
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