Official Crime Rates of Participants in Trials of the Nurse-Family Partnership, Denver, Elmira, New York, and Memphis, 1977-2005 (ICPSR 36580)

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

The purpose of the study was to ascertain sentencing outcomes for finger-printable crimes among mothers and their first-born children. It used randomized controlled trials of the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), a program of prenatal and infant/toddler home visiting for low income mothers bearing first children, that has been identified as an effective crime-prevention intervention. The NFP is a program of prenatal and infant/toddler home visiting for low income mothers bearing first children that has been identified as an effective crime-prevention intervention, based upon self-reported arrests and convictions among mothers and their children enrolled in the Elmira trial. It was believed that criminal records, if abstracted completely, have the potential to afford a more comprehensive picture of offending.

Study Design View help for Study Design

The researchers originally intended to employ data from the National Crime Information Center's (NCIC) Inter-state Identification Index (III) to ascertain official arrests, convictions, and sentencing outcomes for finger-printable crimes among mothers and their first-born children. However, the FBI would not release these data so a commercial firm, Direct Screening (DS), was used to carry out criminal record abstractions.

Because DS had incomplete access to criminal justice records, criminal records were obtained directly from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. These data were also found incomplete in criminal-justice measures so analyses were conducted using a simple yes-no for criminal-history outcomes.

In the Elmira trial, the latest surveys conducted with mothers were completed 15 years after birth of the first child, and with children, 27 years after birth of the first child. In the Memphis trial, the most recent survey for mothers and children was completed when the firstborn child was 19 years of age. Surveys of maternal arrests were not conducted in the Denver trial and the children in Denver were too young to have arrest records. Reviews of criminal records were completed in September, 2014, when the youngest child in the Elmira trial was 33, the youngest in Memphis was 22, and the youngest in Denver was 18.

Sample View help for Sample

Samples were selected from primarily low income first-time pregnant mothers living in the following cities and years:

• Elmira, New York: 1978-1980
• Memphis, Tennessee: 1990-1992
• Denver, Colorado: 1994-1996

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

• Denver, CO: Pregnant women from 21 antepartum clinics serving low-income women in the Denver metropolitan area, whom have had no previous live births and either qualified for Medicaid or had no private insurance. Exclusion criteria included families with fetal/child deaths, maternal deaths, adoptions/terminations of parental rights, and study withdrawals.
• Elmira, NY: Young men and women (27-year-olds) who have participated in a randomized controlled trial of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses in Elmira, New York since their mothers registered in the trial during their pregnancies between 1977 and 1980. Mothers that registered were enrolled in the study before the 30th week of pregnancy, 85 percent of whom were either low-income, unmarried, or teenaged. Exclusion criteria included individuals who declined at earlier phases of follow-up, who exhibited severe cognitive impairment, and those whom were adopted.
• Memphis, TN: Pregnant women (ages 25-46) from an obstetrical clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, whom were less than 29 weeks pregnant, had no previous live births, no specific chronic illnesses thought to contribute to fetal growth retardation or preterm delivery, and had 2 of 3 of the following sociodemographic risks: (1) unmarried, (2) less than 12 years of education, and (3) unemployed; The mothers' firstborn children (around age 17) who have participated in a randomized trial of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses in Memphis, Tennessee since 1988, and subsequent children born to the mothers prior to the first child's fifth birthday, were also included.

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

dmom_all.sas7bdat (n=735; 3 variables): the analysis dataset for Denver mothers containing assignment and arrest outcomes. Variables include: ID, treatment group, and arrest/conviction history.

dmom_control.sas7bdat (n=247; 26 variables): the analysis dataset for the Denver mother sample that is restricted to the control group. Variables include: ID, maternal age, housing density, drug usage, and race.

echild_all.sas7bdat (n=374; 4 variables): the analysis dataset for Elmira children containing assignment and arrest outcomes. Variables include: Identification and arrest information.

echild_control.sas7bdat (n=173; 22 variables): the analysis dataset for Elmira children sample restricted to the control group. Variables include: Identification, drug and alcohol usage, child abuse and neglect, and support from grandmother.

emom_all.sas7bdat (n=399; 4 variables): the analysis dataset for Elmira mothers containing assignment and arrest outcomes. Variables include: Identification and arrest information.

emom_control.sas7bdat (n=184; 17 variables): the analysis dataset for Elmira mothers sample restricted to the control group. Variables include: Identification, marital status, age, education, number of months employed, number of months receiving food stamps, and arrest information.

mchild_all.sas7bdat (n=708; 5 variables): the analysis dataset for Memphis children containing assignment and arrest outcomes. Variables include: Identification and arrest information.

mchild_control.sas7bdat (n=482; 46 variables): the analysis dataset for Memphis children sample restricted to the control group. Variables include: Study identification number, cigarettes and alcohol usage, highest grade completed, gambling behavior, conflict with parents, and whether respondent was ever a gang member.

mmom_all.sas7bdat (n=742; 5 variables): the analysis dataset for Memphis mothers containing assignment and arrest outcomes. Variables include: Identification and arrest information.

mmom_control.sas7bdat (n=514; 25 variables): the analysis dataset for Memphis mothers sample restricted to the control group. Variables include: study identification, race, head of household employment status, alcohol and drug usage, substance abuse, conflict with parents, household poverty index, anxiety, depression, and arrest/conviction history.

Demographic variables include race, highest grade completed, household income, marital status, housing density, maternal age, maternal education, maternal race, husband/boyfriend education, and head of household employment status.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

Greater than 95 percent of those originally randomized

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

• Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC)
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT)
• Peabody Individual Achievement Test-R-Norm-Updated (PIAT R-NU)
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WAIS)
• Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (Leiter-R)
• Youth Self Report (YSR)
• Child Behavior Checklist
• Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)-Substance Abuse Module (CIDI-SAM)
• Facial Recognition Task
• Straus Conflict Tactics Scales
• Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT-2)

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2018-12-19

Version History View help for Version History

Weight View help for Weight

Not applicable