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The Youth Development Study (YDS) was initiated as a school-based study of adolescent children and their parents to examine the consequences of formative experiences in adolescence for mental health, value formation, educational achievement, and multiple facets of behavioral adjustment. Particular attention was directed to the impacts of early work experience. Data were also obtained about parent-child and peer relationships and experiences in school. As the study continued, the focus shifted to adult development and attainment and, most recently, mid-life adjustment and health. This comprehensive longitudinal study now encompasses three generations: the initial cohort studied from adolescence to mid-life (G2), their parents (G1), and their adolescent children (G3). Data from three generations in the same families enable study of intergenerational relationships and differences in the experience of adolescence and transition to adulthood across parent and child cohorts. The YDS covers a wide range of topics of interest to sociologists, social psychologists, developmental psychologists, and life course scholars, including the development and impacts of agentic resources, socioeconomic attainment, processes of inter- and intra-generational mobility, objective and subjective work conditions, family relationships, intergenerational relationships, mental and physical health, and well-being.

In-school administration of paper surveys during the first four years of the study was supplemented by mailed surveys. Subsequent data collection took place entirely by mail, with 19 surveys conducted between 1988 and 2011. A final survey was conducted on-line in 2019. Survey data was obtained from the parents (G1) of this cohort during the first and fourth waves of the study (1988 and 1991). Surveys of the children (G3) began in 2009, continued in 2010 and 2011 (by mail) and in 2019-2020 (online).

The Youth Development Study measures a wide range of formative experiences and both psychological and behavioral variables, using survey methodology.

The G1 surveys obtained information about socioeconomic background as well as attitudes toward teenage employment, the parents' own employment as teenagers, their current work experiences, and educational expectations for their children.

The G2 surveys during the high school years included detailed questions about students' work and volunteer experiences, as well as experiences in their family, school, and peer groups, with an emphasis on the ways that working affected other life domains, mental health, and well-being. Shorter surveys containing many of the same topics were administered to students in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and included questions about current family and living arrangements. In 1995, a full survey was administered covering the wide range of topics included in previous surveys as well as information about career plans and life events that had occurred in the past five years. G2 Waves 9 through 19 (1997-2011) included many of the same questions contained in earlier surveys and additional sections that focused on the respondents' educational experiences, family relationships, sources of living expenses, and health and well-being. The most recent G2 survey (2019), administered on-line, included questions about support of aging parents. The YDS is unique in its coverage of both objective and subjective work experiences from adolescence to mid-life.

The topics covered by the G3 surveys are very similar to the G2 variables described above. Variables in each G2 and G3 wave are included in cross-wave codebooks, available at the Data Archive Codebook website.

For an overview of the Youth Development Study, see Mortimer, Jeylan T. (2012) "The Evolution, Contributions, and Prospects of the Youth Development Study: An Investigation in Life Course Social Psychology." Social Psychology Quarterly 75(1, March):5-27.

This study explored the implications and practices of school context for boys and girls located in Osun State, Nigeria. The study examined the socialization practices, division of labor, gender roles, and access to information and resources. A total of 1,032 students, aged 10 to 14 years old, were surveyed pre-intervention. Two years later 726 of those same students were surveyed once again. The student quantitative data (DS1) was obtained using the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) instrument. The survey is a composite of three instruments - health, vignettes, and gender norm scales. Data obtained explored a series of key health and behavioral factors including:

• schooling status, aspiration, and connectedness;
• neighborhood safety and control;
• pubertal maturation;
• body comfort;
• health literacy;
• mental health including violence, depression and drug use;
• empowerment;
• sexual practices and romantic relationships; and
• future expectations.

Additionally, in DS1, the vignette-based questions and gender-norm scales assess student beliefs exploring perceptions with gender undertone statements. The vignette-based section assesses gender equality in scenarios related with child behavior and development (attraction to opposite sex, teasing / bullying, puberty, and pregnancy).

The school assessment instruments (DS2 and DS3) completed by teachers explored the content and structure of reproductive health topics taught in the schools. Also, overall gender attitudes were asked about.

The qualitative data (DS4) were obtained through small group interviews with parents. The interviews explored parents' perspective on their child's development, their role as agents of gender socialization, and how they view the school's role in teaching health sexuality.

This data collection contains the first four waves of the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP), conducted in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992. The Iowa Youth and Families Project was developed from an initial sample of 451 7th graders from two-parent families in rural Iowa. The study was merged with the Iowa Single Parent Project (ISPP) to form the Iowa Family Transitions Project in 1994, when the target youth were seniors in high school. Survey data were collected from the target child (7th grader), a sibling within four years of age of the target child, and both parents. Field interviewers visited families at their homes on several occasions to administer questionnaires and videotape interaction tasks including family discussion tasks, family problem-solving tasks, sibling interaction tasks, and marital interaction tasks.

The Household Data files contain information about the family's financial situation, involvement in farming, and demographic information about household members.

The Parent and the Child Survey Data files contain responses to survey questions about the quality and stability of family relationships, emotional, physical, and behavioral problems of individual family members, parent-child conflict, family problem-solving skills, social and financial support from outside the home, traumatic life experiences, alcohol, drug, and tobacco use, and opinions on topics such as abortion, parenting, and gender roles. In addition, the Child Survey Data files include responses collected from the target child and his or her sibling in the study about experiences with puberty, dating, sexual activity, and risk-taking behavior.

The Problem-Solving Data files contain survey data collected from respondents about the family interactions tasks.

The Observational Data files contain the interviewers' observations collected during these tasks.

Demographic variables include sex, age, employment status, occupation, income, home ownership, religious preference, frequency of religious attendance, as well as the ages and sex of all household members and their relationship to the head of household. Demographic information collected on the parents also includes their birth order within their family, the ages and political philosophy of their parents, the sex, age, education level, and occupation of their siblings, and the country of origin of their ancestors.

The Married and Cohabiting Couples, 2010 NCFMR Pilot Data is a nationally representative sample of U.S. married and cohabiting adults aged 18-64. Data are available for 1,504 married individuals representing 752 married couples and 646 cohabiting individuals representing 323 couples. Basic demographic characteristics are available related to age, income, educational attainment, gender, and race, and individual- and couple-level data. Knowledge Networks conducted a study on married and cohabiting couples' relationships with heterosexual couples 18-64 years of age. The data collection took place from July 26, 2010, to October 13, 2010. The main data collection was preceded by a small pretest to verify the data collection accuracy. The NCFMR Married and Cohabiting Couples pilot data offers rich data concerning relationship dynamics, both at the individual- and couple-levels including measures of relationship quality for both married and cohabiting individuals; measures of relationship stability, formation, and dissolution for married and cohabiting individuals; measures of role strain and conflict between work and family ties; measures concerning health decisions, power of attorney, and expected plan of care in later life; and detailed information on social support concerning each of these measures.

The 1985 Detroit Area Study surveyed life events of respondents. Questions addressed alcohol and drug use, emotional state, incidents of depression and fear, stress caused by children and work, and respondent's general health. Information on the respondent's family background was also collected, with specific emphases on children, parenting, and marriage. Gender comparison questions were posed to explore in detail issues such as the benefits/responsibilities of marriage, marriage roles and careers, and division of housework tasks. The survey also included items on the respondent's financial situation, social life, social support network, and demographic characteristics such as age, race, sex, education, religion, and income.

The 500 Family Study was designed to obtain in-depth information on middle class, dual-career families living in the United States. To understand the complex dynamics of today's families and the strategies they use to balance the demands of work and family, over 500 families from 8 cities across the United States were studied. To address different issues facing parents with older and younger children, families with adolescents and families with kindergartners were included in the sample. Working mothers and fathers are now splitting their time between their responsibilities to their family, and to their respective occupations. This study of 500 families explores how work affects the lives and well-being of parents and their children.

The study's data allows researchers to explore a broad range of questions:

• How do dual-career families manage and organize their resources and time between family and work?
• How do work conditions, including characteristics of the job and workplace environment, affect the quality of relationships among household members?
• How do dual career parents manage the moral and social development and learning experiences of their children?
• How do the work-related responsibilities of working parents affect their child's moral, social, and educational development?
• What effect is consumerism and technology having on how working families direct the moral and social development of their children?
• What do parents believe is their role regarding the child-care of their children and how they should fulfill that role both in terms of time and in the allocation of economic and social resources? What are some of the resources in the community that parents use to supervise their children?
• How do families regard the "free time" of adolescents and how they allocate adolescent "free time" in maintenance of the household?
• What is the quality of relationships among family members?

To obtain a detailed picture of work and family life, mothers, fathers, and their children were asked to complete a series of instruments including surveys, in-depth interviews, and time diaries. These instruments were designed to provide information about work, marriage, child care and parental supervision, management of household tasks, time allocations, coping strategies, and psychological well-being.

The four datasets associated with this data collection are summarized below:

1. The Cortisol Data contains information for a subsample of families that elected to participate in a study of psychological stress. Parents and teenagers who agreed to participate completed an additional two days of ESM data collection. The health survey that was administered reported on a variety of health and lifestyle issues that might affect cortisol (stress hormone) levels such as medication use, consumption of caffeine and alcohol, use of nicotine, timing of menstrual cycle, pregnancy, presence of chronic illness, and respondent's height and weight. Additionally, parents reported on the health of the children (teenagers and kindergartners) participating in the study.
2. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) Data contains a variety of information related to how individuals spend their time, who they spent it with, and what activities they were engaged in over the course of a typical week. Respondents wore programmed wrist watches that emitted signals (beeps) throughout the day. When possible, family members were placed on identical signaling schedules to provide information on a range of family activities. At the time of each beep, participants were asked to complete a self-report form which asked them to answer a number of open-ended questions about their location, activities, who they were with, and psychological states. Several Likert and semantic-differential scales were used to assess participants' psychological states.
3. The Parent Data contains basic demographic information from respondents as well as detailed information about parents' occupation job duties, income, work schedule, benefits (e.g., medical care, flexible work schedules, and family leave), and the consequences of their jobs (e.g. long hours, job stress, having to work weekends). Additionally, the data contain information about the extent to which parents experienced work-family conflict and what changes might help with better balance of the demands of work and family (e.g., more flexible work hours, more help from spouses with household and child care responsibilities, improved child care, and after-school care arrangements). Parental attitudes toward traditional arrangements, how household tasks were actually divided among family members, and how often the family paid for services (e.g., cleaning, yard work, meal preparation) were also captured. The data also contain information about how children are socialized in families with two working parents. Topics about the frequency with which parents engaged in various activities with their children (e.g., talking, eating meals together, attending religious services), how frequently parents monitored their teenager's activities, and how often they talked with their teenager about school activities, plans for college, career plans, friendships, and peer pressure.
4. The Adolescent Data contains data for sixth through twelfth graders, which focuses on family relationships and experiences, school experiences, paid work, psychological well-being and behavioral problems, and plans for the future (e.g., college, career, and marriage -- including expectations regarding spouses' sharing of responsibility for child care, cooking, chores, and paid work). To allow for comparison of parents' and adolescents' responses to similar questions, several items appear in both the adolescent and parent data. These items include the frequency with which parents and adolescents discuss school events, college and career plans, participation in religious and other activities, gender role attitudes and the division of household tasks within the family, and items measuring depression, stress, and anxiety.

Qualitative Data -- Interviews The main purpose of the interviews was to explore topics addressed in the parent and adolescent surveys in greater detail. Parent interviews were designed to examine how working parents cope with the demands of work and family life. Adolescent interviews touched on similar themes but altered questions to gauge the adolescent's perceptions of their parents work and family lives. Kindergartner interviews were brief and focused on children's after-school and child care arrangements and time spent with parents.

The purpose of the Early Years of Marriage (EYM) Project was to determine ways in which the early development of marriage for Black couples and White couples affect the mental and physical health of spouses, marital stability, long-term marital outcomes, patterns of family life and, for those who divorce, individual adjustment to family disruption. The EYM Project began in 1986 with 373 newlywed couples--174 White couples and 199 Black couples. The marriages were all intra-racial and it was the first marriage for both spouses.

Year 1 interviews, which queried the couples on various aspects of married life, began after four to nine months into the marriage. Very few respondents who originally participated in Year 1 of the study refused to participate in subsequent phases of the study. In 1986 (Year 1) and 1988 (Year 3) spouses were interviewed in their homes separately and together, with the interviews conducted by interviewers of the same race. In 1987 (Year 2) and 1989 (Year 4) shorter individual telephone interviews were conducted.

In all four years, respondents were queried on a wide variety of topics such as feelings and perceptions of their own family, spouse, in-laws, and their spouse's friends, family planning, how many children they should have, how the children should be reared, childcare, and household roles and responsibilities. A series of questions was asked about reasons for getting married, how satisfying married life was, what, if any, were the special pleasures and good feelings that came from being married, how often arguments and disagreements occurred, main reasons for arguments, and how they were eventually resolved. A series of questions were also asked regarding the mental and physical health of the spouse, job satisfaction, job security, and how the job affected the family. In Year 2 and Year 4 interviews (Parts 2-4), a series of questions regarding separation and divorce were also asked.

Demographic variables include race, gender, age, level of education, occupation, income, and religious preference.

This Detroit Area Study was primarily devoted to investigating the family from the perspective of males. The survey asked men about their relationships with family members and friends and included questions on contact, intimacy, activities done together, help given and received, serious disagreements, and expectations placed on relatives. In addition, men were queried about their own self-image and their views on gender roles, the value of marriage, and the inappropriateness of certain behaviors for wives and steady girlfriends. Married men were questioned about the distribution of power and the division of labor between themselves and their spouses, e.g., who had more say in decisions about the purchase of major household items, and who did most of the housework. The survey explored satisfaction with fatherhood and the degree of and kind of involvement of fathers with their children, including their child-rearing practices and values. As in previous Detroit Area Studies, the survey gauged attitudes toward abortion, defense spending, the Equal Rights Amendment, school prayer, and unions. Additional information gathered by the survey includes duration of residence in the tri-county area and at the current address, moves planned for the future, home and motor vehicle ownership, political party identification, vote in the 1980 presidential election, social class identification, satisfaction with jobs, use of public transportation, religion and religiosity, employment status, occupation and industry, and information on age, sex, place of birth, marital status, education, income, race, ethnicity, and household composition.

This Detroit Area Study was primarily concerned with investigating the process of mate choice over time and the impact of mate choice experiences on marital success. To this end, the survey questioned ever-married women about their dating and mate choice history, marital history, and satisfaction with and problems in existing marriages. Respondents were questioned about the steady boyfriends they had before their first marriage and whether they seriously considered marrying another man before they married their first husband. Women who answered in the affirmative to the latter were queried about the race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic characteristics of the man they had most seriously considered marrying before marrying their first husband, how long they went out together, and how the relationship broke off. Questions on the respondent's first marriage covered such things as how and where the respondent first met her husband, her age when they met, how long they were engaged, whether or not they lived together before marrying, whether she had doubts or sought advice about the decision to marry before the wedding, and whether her parents or her husband's parents approved or disapproved of the marriage. Women were also questioned about their career expectations before their first marriage, the religion and socioeconomic status of their first husband, and the date, place, and size of the wedding celebration as well as living arrangements in the first six months of marriage. Questions on the current or most recent marriage covered topics such as the marital division of labor, child-rearing practices and values, friendships shared with the husband, and satisfaction and and interaction with the husband, including the degree of communication, affection shown, disagreements, and physical abuse. Additional information gathered by the survey includes number children ever born, number of stepchildren and adoptions, and the age, race, ethnicity, education, religion, religiosity, employment status, occupation, and early family background of the respondent.