National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence III, 1997-2014 [United States] (ICPSR 36523)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

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).

Study Design View help for Study Design

A nationwide sample which excluded any phone numbers with area codes assigned within the state of New Hampshire was constructed using four frames: (1) an address-based sample (ABS) of 80,000 addresses from which 37,101 cell and residential numbers were dialed; (2) a pre-screened sample of 5,726 telephone numbers of households with children from recent national random-digit dialed (RDD) surveys; (3) a listed landline sample with 113,461 telephone numbers (targeted on child in the household based on commercial lists); and (4) 2,184 cell-phone numbers drawn from a targeted RDD sample frame. The compiled frame yielded at total of 4,000 completed interviews, with 1,011 interviews from the ABS frame (651 from those who replied to the study mailing and 360 from those with matched telephone numbers on file), 520 from the pre-screened sample, 2,443 from the listed landline sample, and 26 from the cell phone RDD sample.

Sample View help for Sample

Children aged 0-17 at the time of the survey and households (located in the contiguous United States excluding New Hampshire) with such a child were eligible to participate. The final sample included 4,000 children aged 0-17. Of these 4,000 children, 52% were male and 48% were female; 51% were aged 0-9 while 49% were 10-17; 77% resided in a household with two parents, 4% with one parent and a step parent or partner, 15% with a single parent, and 4% with another adult caregiver. With respect to race/ethnicity, 76% were white, non-Hispanic; 8% were black, non-Hispanic; 5% were another race, non-Hispanic; and 10% were Hispanic, of any race.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Children and youth less than 18 years of age residing in the contiguous United States excluding New Hampshire

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NATSCEV) III consists of multiple 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, bullying, delinquency, interpersonal dependency, parental conflict, parenting items, and alcohol use. Each section has been derived from the data collection instrument and is described in detail below. The dataset includes 2,947 variables with a total of 4,000 observations.

1. Parent Screener - Variables pertaining to demographic information such as social economic status, race and ethnicity, age of respondent, date of birth, marital 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 victimization events 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. Bullying - Variables pertaining to aggressive behavior from other children, physical violence from other children, and approximate length of occurrence longer than a week.
12. Delinquency - Variables pertaining to self-reported delinquency including physical violence, graffiti, drug use, and theft.
13. Interpersonal Dependency - Includes variables pertaining to the child's attachment to friends and loved ones, and personal sensitivity.
14. Parental Conflict - Includes variables pertaining to how often a respondent sees their parents arguing and whether the respondent's parents get really mad when arguing.
15. Parenting Items - Variables pertaining to the types of activities parents engage with their children and types of parenting styles.
16. Alcohol Use - Variables pertaining to the frequency and amount of alcoholic beverages consumed.

In addition to variables derived from the data collection instrument, variables related to basic demographics (e.g., race, income), victimization that occurred in the past year, and indirect victimization have been calculated by the Principle Investigators and included in the dataset.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

The American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Cooperation Rate #4 (the proportion of all cases interviewed of all eligible units ever contacted excluding those incapable of cooperating but including partial interviews), averaged across sampling frames was 55.0 percent, and the average AAPOR Response Rate #4 was 24.1 percent.

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

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 III obtains reports on 55 forms of offenses against youth that cover six general areas of concern: conventional crime, child maltreatment, peer and sibling victimization, sexual assault, witnessing and indirect victimization, and internet victimization.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2016-09-29

Version History View help for Version History

Weight View help for Weight

The provided weight (N3weight - FINAL HOUSEHOLD WEIGHT) can be used to obtain analysis estimates that are representative of the national population of 0 to 17 year-olds. The weight was developed to account for differential probability of selection within and across the sampling frames and to adjust for nonresponse. The sampling design of the NatSCEV III survey is based on 5 frames representing different ways to reach a given adult respondent. Some of the frames have limited coverage (listed landline; selected cell phone rate centers) and/or differential probabilities of selection (different sampling rates for mail surveys; varying final weights in the prescreened frame). Response rates were low on all frames, requiring extensive nonresponse adjustments. Weight calibration for child and parent/guardian demographic characteristics was successfully applied, meaning that the sample reflects the household, child and parent/guardian demographic characteristics of the general population when the weights are applied.

Additional information as to the construction of the final sampling weight can be found in the Methods Report included in this study release.