Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity Temperament Survey, Wave 1, 1994-1995 (ICPSR 13586)

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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods

The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) was a large-scale, interdisciplinary study of how families, schools, and neighborhoods affect child and adolescent development. It was designed to advance the understanding of the developmental pathways of both positive and negative human social behaviors. In particular, the project examined the causes and pathways of juvenile delinquency, adult crime, substance abuse, and violence. At the same time, the project provided a detailed look at the environments in which these social behaviors took place by collecting substantial amounts of data about urban Chicago, including its people, institutions, and resources.

Longitudinal Cohort Study

One component of the PHDCN was the Longitudinal Cohort Study, which was a series of coordinated longitudinal studies that followed over 6,000 randomly selected children, adolescents, and young adults, and their primary caregivers over time to examine the changing circumstances of their lives, as well as the personal characteristics, that might lead them toward or away from a variety of antisocial behaviors. The age cohorts include birth (0), 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 years. Numerous measures were administered to respondents to gauge various aspects of human development, including individual differences, as well as family, peer, and school influences.

Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity (EASI) Temperament Survey

The Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity (EASI) Temperament Survey was included in the Longitudinal Cohort Study to assess the subject's temperamental disposition. Buss and Plomin, the originators of the EASI Temperament Survey, defined the four temperaments in the following manner. Emotionality refers to the individual's intensity of reaction to a given set of circumstances. Activity is the total amount of energy expended by a person. Sociability is characterized by a desire to be with other people. And Impulsivity is the inclination to respond to various impulses and urges quickly as opposed to constraining those responses. The EASI Temperament Survey was given to both subjects (Cohort 18) and primary caregivers (Cohorts 3-15) in order to ascertain whether or not the subjects participating in the Longitudinal Cohort Study exhibited characteristics describing one or more of the four temperaments.

Study Design View help for Study Design

Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods

The city of Chicago was selected as the research site for the PHDCN because of its extensive racial, ethnic, and social-class diversity. The project collapsed 847 census tracts in the city of Chicago into 343 neighborhood clusters (NCs) based upon seven groupings of racial/ethnic composition and three levels of socioeconomic status. The NCs were designed to be ecologically meaningful. They were composed of geographically contiguous census tracts and geographic boundaries, and knowledge of Chicago's neighborhoods were considered in the definition of the NCs. Each NC was comprised of approximately 8,000 people.

Longitudinal Cohort Study

For the Longitudinal Cohort Study, a stratified probability sample of 80 neighborhoods was selected. The 80 NCs were sampled from the 21 strata (seven racial/ethnic groups by three socioeconomic levels) with the goal of representing the 21 cells as equally as possible to eliminate the confounding between racial/ethnic mix and socioeconomic status. Once the 80 NCs were chosen, then block groups were selected at random within each of the sample neighborhoods. A complete listing of dwelling units was collected for all sampled block groups. Pregnant women, children, and young adults in seven age cohorts (birth, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 years) were identified through in-person screening of approximately 40,000 dwelling units within the 80 NCs. The screening response rate was 80 percent. Children within six months of the birthday that qualified them for the sample were selected for inclusion in the Longitudinal Cohort Study. A total of 8,347 participants were identified through the screening. Of the eligible study participants, 6,228 were interviewed.

For all cohorts except 0 and 18, primary caregivers as well as the child were interviewed. The primary caregiver was the person found to spend the most time taking care of the child. Separate research assistants administered the primary caregiver interviews and the child interviews. The primary method of data collection was face-to-face interviewing, although participants who refused to complete the personal interview were administered a phone interview. Interviews were conducted in Spanish, English, and Polish. In Wave 1 the complete protocol was translated into Spanish and Polish. An interpreter was hired for participants who spoke a language other than English, Spanish, or Polish. Depending on the age and wave of data collection, participants were paid between $5 and $20 per interview. Other incentives, such as free passes to museums, the aquarium, and monthly drawing prizes were also included.

Interview protocols included a wide range of questions. For example, some questions assessed impulse control and sensation-seeking traits, cognitive and language development, leisure activities, delinquency and substance abuse, friends' activities, and self-perception, attitudes, and values. Caregivers were also interviewed about family structure, parent characteristics, parent-child relationships, parent discipline styles, family mental health, and family history of criminal behavior and drug use.

Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity (EASI) Temperament Survey

There have been several versions of the Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity (EASI) Temperament survey, however each successive version attempted to measure the temperamental inclinations of the respondents being observed. The EASI Temperament Survey as it appeared in the PHDCN Longitudinal Cohort Study was a 40-item questionnaire that obtained information about the participant's tendencies regarding four temperaments: sociability, activity, emotionality, and impulsivity. It was administered to parents of subjects, ages 3 to 15. Subjects, age 18, completed the survey for themselves. The response format for questionnaire portion of the EASI Temperament Survey was 1 = uncharacteristic, 2 = somewhat uncharacteristic, 3 = neither, 4 = somewhat characteristic, and 5 = characteristic. Respondents were required to select one and only one answer for each question. The mean response of various questions was taken to form ten different scales that assessed distinct aspects of the subject's temperamental makeup. Scores ranged from 1 to 5 with higher scores suggesting that the particular trait was more characteristic of the subject being observed.

Sample View help for Sample

Stratified probability sample.

Universe View help for Universe

Children, adolescents, young adults, and their primary caregivers, living in the city of Chicago in 1994.

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 Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity (EASI) Temperament Survey data contains a total of 50 variables. The first 40 variables contained the responses of the subjects and primary caregivers to whom the survey was administered during Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Cohort Study between the years of 1994 and 1995. The variables were all numeric due to the absence of open-ended questions in the survey instrument. In addition to the variables containing the respondents' answers, the dataset included ten scale variables. These scales were computed by taking the mean of the numeric responses to various questions found in the survey. For example, the Emotionality scale was determined by taking the mean of the responses to questions 9, 11, 16, 17, and 34 of the EASI Temperament Survey. The values for the scale variables were continuous values from 1 to 5. Variables for the Impulsivity, Inhibitory Control, Decision Time, Sensation Seeking, Persistence, Activity, Sociability, Shyness, and Sociability/Shyness scales were present in addition to the Emotionality scale. Finally, the data also contained administrative variables to record identification numbers for respondents and interviewers, as well as the time and date that the EASI Temperament Survey was completed.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

The overall response rate for Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Cohort Study was 75 percent or 6,228 participants. The response rates by cohort were:

1. 76.2 percent (1,269) for Cohort 0
2. 76.6 percent (1,003) for Cohort 3
3. 75.0 percent (980) for Cohort 6
4. 75.9 percent (828) for Cohort 9
5. 74.3 percent (820) for Cohort 12
6. 71.6 percent (696) for Cohort 15
7. 70.3 percent (632) for Cohort 18

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

Scale variables include: Impulsivity, Inhibitory Control, Decision Time, Sensation Seeking, Persistence, Activity, Emotionality, Sociability, Shyness, and Sociability/Shyness.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2005-07-08

Version History View help for Version History