National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence I, 1990-2008 [United States] (ICPSR 35203)

Version Date: Sep 21, 2016 View help for published

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
David Finkelhor, University of New Hampshire; Heather Turner, University of New Hampshire

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35203.v1

Version V1

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NatSCEV I 2008

The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) series involved three rounds of data collection, this study NatSCEV I (baseline), NatSCEV II, and NatSCEV III. For more information on other parts to the series, please use the following links:

NatSCEV II (ICPSR 36177) - http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36177.v1

NatSCEV III (ICPSR 36523) - http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36523.v1

The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence I was designed to obtain lifetime and one-year incidence estimates of a comprehensive range of childhood victimizations across gender, race, and developmental stage. Conducted between January and July, 2008, it assessed the experiences of a nationally representative sample of 4,549 children aged 1 month to 17 years living in the contiguous United States (excluding New Hampshire).

The primary sample of households was selected from a nationwide sampling frame of residential telephone numbers by random digit dialing (RDD). A second sample was drawn by over-sampling United States telephone exchanges that had a population of 70 percent or more of African American, Hispanic, or low-income households.

A short interview was conducted with an adult caregiver (usually a parent) to obtain family demographic information. One child was randomly selected from all eligible children in a household by selecting the child with the most recent birthday. The survey used an enhanced version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ), an inventory of childhood victimization. This version of the JVQ obtains reports on 48 forms of offenses against youth that cover five general areas of concern including: conventional crime, child maltreatment, peer and sibling victimization, sexual assault, and witnessing and indirect victimization. Follow-up questions for each victimization item gathered additional information about the victimization incident.

The data set has 1,824 variables and 4,549 cases.

Finkelhor, David, and Turner, Heather. National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence I, 1990-2008 [United States]. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-09-21. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35203.v1

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United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2006-JW-BX-0003)

census division

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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1990-01 -- 2008-07
2008-01 -- 2008-07
  1. Users are strongly encouraged to consult the User Guide (available for download with the study materials) for an orientation to analyzing the data.

  2. The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) series involved three rounds of data collection, this study NatSCEV I (baseline), NatSCEV II, and NatSCEV III. For more information on other parts to the series, please use the following links:

    NatSCEV II (ICPSR 36177) - http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36177.v1

    NatSCEV III (ICPSR 36523) - http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36523.v1

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To obtain lifetime and one year incidence estimates of a comprehensive range of childhood victimizations across gender, race, and developmental stage using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ).

Using a nationwide sampling frame of residential telephone numbers, a sample of telephone households was drawn by random digit dialing (RDD). This nationally representative cross-section yielded 3,053 of the 4,549 completed interviews. To ensure that the study included a sizeable proportion of minorities and low-income respondents for more accurate subgroup analyses, there was also an over-sampling of United States telephone exchanges that had a population of 70 percent or more of African American, Hispanic, or low-income households. Random digit dialing (RDD) employed with this second "over- 2 sample" yielded 1,496 of the completed interviews.

In an effort to more accurately reflect total estimates of the national population of families with children, sample weights were generated to correct for disproportionate sampling procedures.

Cross-sectional

Children and youth ages 1 month to 17 years residing in the contiguous United States

individual, household

The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NATSCEV) I are divided into 14 sections: parent screener, background questions, Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ) screener questions, social support, mental health, NATSCEV screener questions, JVQ and NATSCEV follow up questions, lifetime and past year adversity, internet victimization, community disorder, delinquency, self-concept, parental conflict, and alcohol use. Each section is described in detail below.

  1. Parent Screener - Variables pertaining to demographic information such as social economic status, race and ethnicity, age of respondent, date of birth, martial status, household composition and educational level. In addition, variables pertaining to mental health and general health for parent and youth are included.
  2. Background Questions - Respondents were asked school and education related questions, such as, how much does the respondent like to read and how much homework does the respondent usually do. In addition, respondents were asked about extracurricular activities, such as, after school program participation and leisure time.
  3. Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ)Screener questions Variables pertain to conventional crime, child maltreatment, peer and sibling victimization, sexual assault, witnessing and indirect victimization.
  4. Social Support - Variables pertaining to the perceived amount of social support a respondent received. For example, "My family really tries to help me".
  5. Mental Health - Variables pertaining to mental health, such as, difficulty concentrating and focusing, difficulty sleeping, aggression, fear and anxiety.
  6. Supplemental Screener Questions - Variables pertaining to exposure to community violence , exposure to family violence and abuse, and school violence and threat.
  7. JVQ and NATSCEV Follow-up Questions - Respondents who reported events, such as victimization are asked follow-up questions (e.g. How many times did this happen during the lifetime).
  8. Life Time and Past Adversity - Variables pertaining to past adversity such as, family drug use, bad accidents and illnesses, natural disasters, and death of a loved one.
  9. Internet Victimization - Contains two variables that ask about Internet harassment or unwanted sexual encounters experienced.
  10. Community Disorder - Variables pertaining to community disorder, such as drug selling in the community, policing in the community, gangs, and neighborhood environment.
  11. Delinquency -Variables pertaining to self-reported delinquency including physical violence, graffiti, drug use, and theft.
  12. Self-Concept - Variables pertaining to positive and negative self-concept characteristics.
  13. Parental Conflict - Includes two variables pertaining to often a respondent sees their parents arguing and whether the respondent's parents get really mad when arguing.
  14. Alcohol Use - Variables pertaining to the frequency and amount of alcoholic beverages consumed.

The AAPOR Cooperation Rate #3 for the RDD cross-section portion this survey was 71 percent and the AAPOR Response Rate #3 was 54 percent. The cooperation and response rates associated with the smaller over-sample were 63 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ), an inventory of childhood victimization that covers a wide range of events, including nonviolent victimizations and events that children and parents do not typically conceptualize as crimes. The JVQ version used in the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence I obtains reports on 48 forms of offenses against youth that cover five general areas of concern: conventional crime, child maltreatment, peer and sibling victimization, sexual assault, and witnessing and indirect victimization.

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2014-08-14

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • Finkelhor, David, and Heather Turner. National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence I, 1990-2008 [United States]. ICPSR35203-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-09-21. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35203.v1

2016-09-21 The study title has been updated to incorporate current formatting conventions, creating necessary updates to documentation and data files. The study has also been added to the series group.

2014-08-14 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Performed consistency checks.
  • Created variable labels and/or value labels.
  • Standardized missing values.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
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Sample weights were constructed to adjust for differential probability of selection due to: (a) study design, (b) demographic variations in non-response, and (c) variations. The final weights assigned to each record were produced by post-stratifying the sample to match the gender and age of the population among each of the three strata.

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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.