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.
Addendum (Primary Caregiver)
The data in this collection are from Wave 3 of the Longitudinal
Cohort Study, which was administered between 2000 and 2002. The data
files contain information from the Addendum (Primary Caregiver)
protocol. The Addendum (Primary Caregiver) instrument was administered
to primary caregivers included in Wave 3 but not in Wave 2, and it
consisted of measures or portions of measures from the Wave 2
interview.
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 in the Wave 1 data
collection, 5,338 were interviewed in the Wave 2 data collection, and
4,850 were interviewed in the Wave 3 data collection.
Data collection for Wave 3 began in 2000 and ended in 2002. It
included a letter sent to study participants notifying them that they
would be contacted to schedule an interview. Additional information on
the contact log included the dates and research assistant ID of the
Wave 2 interview (or the status of the case if incomplete in Wave 2),
a list of household composition and ID numbers of other household
members in the study, the name the telephone was listed under, the
recontact information from Waves 1 and 2, and an updated history of
addresses.
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. An abbreviated
telephone interview was conducted for the primary caregivers in
Cohorts 0-15 and Cohort 18 study participants in Wave 3 who lived
outside the nine-county metropolitan area to which research assistants
were able to travel for interviews. In Wave 3, phone interviews were
also conducted with the study participants in Cohort 15. People who
refused to complete the two-hour in-person interview were administered
the phone interview. A total of 391 telephone interviews were
conducted during Wave 3, representing 6.3 percent of the sample.
Proxy interviews were conducted with study participants who were
emancipated minors (under 18 but married or living independently). The
study participants answered questions from the primary caregiver's
interview on the primary caregiver's behalf. In Wave 3, one primary
caregiver and eleven study participants (young adults) were
interviewed in jail. They were located in either the Cook County Jail
or in one of the state prisons. Those study participants in a state
system outside the nine-county area were also interviewed by phone.
Study participants in foster care could not be interviewed. The
Department of Children and Family Services did not allow interviews of
the foster parent or the child. Permission was granted for a brief
period in Wave 1, therefore there are some children in the sample who
could not be followed up in Waves 2 and 3. Some children were not in
foster care in Wave 1 but were placed in foster care by Wave 2 or
3. They were also not followed up. Lastly, some participants were
interviewed in Wave 3 but not in Wave 2, as they were in foster care
during Wave 2.
Some participants in Wave 1 spoke a language other than English,
Spanish, or Polish. In Wave 3, an abbreviated version of the primary
caregiver's protocol was administered, and the research assistant
arranged for someone in the household to translate on the spot. In
Wave 3, the complete protocol was translated into Spanish.
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.
For primary caregivers included in Wave 3 but not in Wave 2, an
addendum interview was administered consisting of measures or portions
of measures from the Wave 2 interview. An addendum was also given to
the Cohort 15 and 18 study participants who were not included in Wave
2. A total of 164 primary caregivers and 62 young adult (Cohorts 15
and 18) addendums were completed in Wave 3.
Addendum (Primary Caregiver)
This addendum collected information from an assortment of
instruments that the primary caregiver had missed in Wave 2. From
PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN):
DEMOGRAPHIC FILE, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR 13609), basic demographic
information was collected regarding the subject, primary caregiver,
subject's father, and the subject's mother. From PROJECT ON HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): MY CHILD'S EXPOSURE TO
VIOLENCE, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR 13619), information regarding the
subject's lifetime exposure to violent events was obtained. From
PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): FAMILY
SUICIDE INTERVIEW, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR 13623), information was
obtained regarding any members of the subject's family who had
committed suicide. From PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO
NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR
13628), information was obtained regarding the composition of the
subject's household, asking the respondent to provide information
about each member of the household including age, gender, and
relationship to the subject. Information for up to 17 possible
individuals could have been listed for this part. From PROJECT ON
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): HEALTH SCREEN,
WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR 13629), information was obtained regarding
the general health condition of the subjects. From PROJECT ON HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): PRENATAL AND EARLY
HEALTH, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR 13644), information was obtained
regarding the mother's pregnancy and delivery of the subject, as well
as questions regarding the subject's early health.
Stratified probability sample.
Children, adolescents, young adults, and their primary
caregivers, living in the city of Chicago in 1994.
individual
survey data
From PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO
NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): DEMOGRAPHIC FILE, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR
13609), the data files contain information regarding the ethnicity of
the subject, the primary caregiver, the subject's father, and the
subject's mother. From PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO
NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): MY CHILD'S EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE, WAVE 2,
1997-2000 (ICPSR 13619), the data files contain information regarding
the subject's exposure to violent acts such as being chased or seeing
someone else chased, being hit or seeing someone else hit, being
attacked with a weapon or seeing someone else attacked with a weapon,
being shot or seeing someone else get shot, being shot at or seeing
someone else get shot at, hearing gunfire, being in a serious accident
or seeing someone else get into a serious accident, seeing someone get
killed, being sexually assaulted, being threatened with violence or
seeing someone else get threatened by violence, finding a dead body,
and being in a natural disaster. From PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN
CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): FAMILY SUICIDE INTERVIEW, WAVE 2,
1997-2000 (ICPSR 13623), the data files contain information regarding
any members of the subject's family who have committed suicide
including the person's relation to the subject, how the suicide was
committed, and whether the family member received medical attention
before dying. From PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO
NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR
13628), the data files contain variables listing the age, gender, and
relationship to the subject of each member of the household. From
PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): HEALTH
SCREEN, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR 13629), the data files contain
information regarding the general health condition of the subjects
including whether the subject ever had any of a long list of
conditions or diseases such as scoliosis, hepatitis, sickle cell
anemia, or meningitis. Information was also collected pertaining to
ways the subject may have been classified by a school or health
professional such as learning disabled, physically handicapped,
mentally retarded, etc. A number of questions were asked regarding
services the subject may have ever received in or out of school. The
services included such things as special education classes, physical
therapy, tutoring, etc. From PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO
NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): PRENATAL AND EARLY HEALTH, WAVE 2, 1997-2000
(ICPSR 13644), the data files include information relating to the
mother's pregnancy and delivery of the subject, as well as questions
regarding the subject's early health. Respondents were asked if the
subject's mother received any prenatal care, whether there were
medical problems during the pregnancy, and how many times the
subject's mother was hospitalized while pregnant. If the respondent
was the biological mother, she was asked whether she had wanted to
become pregnant at that time, how many drinks of alcohol she had had
while pregnant, how many cigarettes she had smoked while pregnant, and
whether she had used drugs while pregnant. Respondents were asked
about the timeliness of the subject's birth, how much weight the
subject's mother gained during pregnancy, and whether the subject's
mother had had serious problems with the delivery. There were also
questions asking how long the mother and the subject had been in the
hospital, whether the subject had had to go into the hospital
overnight since first coming home from the hospital, and if so, for
how long. There was also a series of questions regarding any ear
infections the subject had had.
The overall response rate for Wave 3 of the
Longitudinal Cohort Study was 78.19 percent or 4,850 participants. The
response rates for subjects by cohort were:
- 76.0 percent for Cohort 0
- 80.5 percent for Cohort 3
- 80.2 percent for Cohort 6
- 77.5 percent for Cohort 9
- 74.9 percent for Cohort 12
- 71.3 percent for Cohort 15
- 67.4 percent for Cohort 18
The response rates for primary caregivers by cohort were:
- 76.6 percent for Cohort 0
- 81.3 percent for Cohort 3
- 80.6 percent for Cohort 6
- 79.0 percent for Cohort 9
- 79.1 percent for Cohort 12
- 77.0 percent for Cohort 15
- 0 percent for Cohort 18
none