Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency Series

collection: series

About this Collection

The Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency was initiated by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in 1986 in an effort to learn more about the root causes of juvenile delinquency and other problem behaviors. The program comprises three coordinated longitudinal studies: Denver Youth Survey, Pittsburgh Youth Study and Rochester Youth Development Study. The three Causes and Correlates projects used a similar research design. All of the projects were longitudinal investigations involving repeated contacts with youth during a substantial portion of their developmental years.

Researchers conducted regular face-to-face interviews with inner-city youth considered at high-risk for involvement in delinquency and drug abuse. Multiple perspectives on each child's development and behavior were obtained through interviews with the child's primary caretaker and, in two sites, school teachers. Administrative data from official agencies, including police, schools and social services was also collected.

The three research teams worked together to ensure that certain core measures were identical across the sites, including self-reported delinquency and drug use; community and neighborhood characteristics; youth, family and peer variables; and arrest and judicial processing histories.

NACJD is developing a resource guide on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency Data. It will be available soon.

Studies

14 results
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Rochester Youth Development Study Phase 1 Data, 1988-1992 [Rochester, New York]

The Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) is part of the larger "Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency" initiated by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 1986. The RYDS examines causes and consequences of delinquency and drug use in an urban sample of adolescents. A sample of 1,000 seventh and eighth grade students was selected from Rochester, New York, public schools during the 1987-1988 academic year. These students were selected to over-represent youth at high risk for serious delinquency and drug use. In Phase 1 each student was interviewed nine times at six-month intervals from the Spring of 1988 until the Spring of 1992. In addition, interviews with one primary caretaker of each student were conducted eight times at six-month intervals from the Spring of 1988 until the Fall of 1991. The interviews lasted about an hour and cover a wide range of topics including social class position, family structure and processes, educational success, peer relationships, neighborhood characteristics, psychological functioning, social networks, and social support systems, and involvement in prosocial and antisocial behaviors. When appropriate, the research team collected similar information from both the students and parents to provide multiple perspectives on these developmental issues. The research team also collected extensive information about problem behaviors including self-reported delinquency and drug use, gang membership, gun ownership, problem drug use, teenage parenthood, school dropout, and other problem behaviors.
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Pittsburgh Youth Study Drug Constructs, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1987-2001

The Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS) is part of the larger "Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency" initiated by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 1986. PYS aims to document the development of antisocial and delinquent behavior from childhood to early adulthood, the risk factors that impinge on that development, and help seeking and service provision of boys' behavior problems. The study also focuses on boys' development of alcohol and drug use, and internalizing problems.

PYS consists of three samples of boys who were in the first, fourth, and seventh grades in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania public schools during the 1987-1988 academic year (called the youngest, middle, and oldest sample, respectively). Using a screening risk score that measured each boy's antisocial behavior, boys identified at the top 30 percent within each grade sample on the screening risk measure (n=~250), as well as an equal number of boys randomly selected from the remainder (n=~250), were selected for follow-up. Consequently, the final sample for the study consisted of 1,517 total students selected for follow-up. 506 of these students were in the oldest sample, 508 were in the middle sample, and 503 were in the youngest sample.

Assessments were conducted semiannually and then annually using multiple informants (i.e., boys, parents, teachers) between 1987 and 2010. The youngest sample was assessed from ages 6-19 and again at ages 25 and 28. The middle sample was assessed from ages 9-13 and again at age 23. The oldest sample was assessed from ages 13-25, with an additional assessment at age 35. Information has been collected on a broad range of risk and protective factors across multiple domains (e.g., individual, family, peer, school, neighborhood). Measures of conduct problems, substance use/abuse, criminal behavior, mental health problems have been collected.

This collection contains data and syntax files for drug constructs. The datasets include constructs on the use and frequency of use of marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, and hard drugs.

The drug constructs were created by using the PYS raw data. The raw data are available at ICPSR in the following studies: Pittsburgh Youth Study Youngest Sample (1987 - 2001) [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], Pittsburgh Youth Study Middle Sample (1987 - 1991) [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania] , and Pittsburgh Youth Study Oldest Sample (1987 - 2000) [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania].

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Pittsburgh Youth Study Demographic Constructs, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1987-2001

The Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS) is part of the larger "Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency" initiated by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 1986. PYS aims to document the development of antisocial and delinquent behavior from childhood to early adulthood, the risk factors that impinge on that development, and help seeking and service provision of boys' behavior problems. The study also focuses on boys' development of alcohol and drug use, and internalizing problems.

PYS consists of three cohorts of boys who were in the first, fourth, and seventh grades in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania public schools during the 1987-1988 academic year (called the youngest, middle, and oldest cohorts, respectively). Using a screening risk score that measured each boy's antisocial behavior, boys identified at the top 30 percent within each grade cohort on the screening risk measure (n=~250), as well as an equal number of boys randomly selected from the remainder (n=~250), were selected for follow-up. Consequently, the final sample for the study consisted of 1,517 total students selected for follow-up. 506 of these students were in the oldest sample, 508 were in the middle sample, and 503 were in the youngest sample.

Assessments were conducted semiannually and then annually using multiple informants (i.e., boys, parents, and teachers) between 1987 and 2010. The youngest cohort was assessed from ages 6-19 and again at ages 25 and 28. The middle cohort was assessed from ages 9-13 and again at age 23. The oldest cohort was assessed from ages 13-25, with an additional assessment at age 35. Information has been collected on a broad range of risk and protective factors across multiple domains (e.g., individual, family, peer, school, and neighborhood). Measures of conduct problems, substance use/abuse, criminal behavior, mental health problems have been collected.

This collection contains data and syntax files for demographic constructs. The datasets include constructs on repeated grade status, demographic information of participants, participants' biological mother, biological father, female caretaker, and male caretaker, change of caretaker since last phase, number of family members and other adults or children in the home, family structure, followup participation by youth, caretaker, and teacher, and housing characteristics.

The demographic constructs were created by using the PYS raw data. The raw data are available at ICPSR in the following studies: Pittsburgh Youth Study Youngest Sample (1987 - 2001) [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], Pittsburgh Youth Study Middle Sample (1987 - 1991) [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], and Pittsburgh Youth Study Oldest Sample (1987 - 2000) [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania].

Variables

17,535 results
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