Version Date: Oct 31, 2024 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Richard A. Miech, University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research. Survey Research Center;
Lloyd D. Johnston, University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research. Survey Research Center;
Megan E. Patrick, University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research. Survey Research Center
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39171.v1
Version V1
These surveys of 8th- and 10th-grade students are part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students in each grade are randomly assigned to complete one of four questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions but containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and substance use. There are more than 450 variables across the questionnaires. Substance use covered by this survey includes: amphetamines (stimulants), sedatives/barbiturates (tranquilizers), other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, vaping, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, marijuana, hashish, LSD, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and injectable drugs such as heroin.
Highlights for 2023:
Export Citation:
Census Region
Users are reminded that these data are to be used solely for statistical analysis and reporting of aggregated information and not for the investigation of specific individuals.
This study was conducted by the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
To protect the anonymity of respondents, all variables that could be used to identify individuals have been collapsed or recoded in the public use files. These modifications are noted in the codebook. They should not affect analytic uses of the public use files.
Variables omitted from the Western region questionnaires are noted in the codebook.
A cross-time question index is included with the available documentation for the MTF 8th- and 10th-grade data. The document is sorted by subject area and covers the time period 1991 to 2023.
Frequency and percentage distributions displayed in the 2023 codebook are unweighted, rather than weighted as they had been in previous years. This change was made to simplify both the production of the codebook and their interpretation by the analyst.
MTF does not release detailed geography codes in its public use files because of the disclosure risk it would cause. The MTF sample is drawn to generate representative samples of the four Census Bureau regions of the country (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West), but it does not generate representative samples of smaller geographic areas such as states, counties, or cities. For additional information about data that are withheld from the public use files, please see the study codebook.
A total of 14,734 students completed a survey in 2023. There were 6,240 8th graders and 8,494 10th graders. The number of students completing each form were:
The split is approximately equal between forms completed by 8th graders and 10th graders.
In 2023, MTF continued the web-based survey administration. Depending on the school, surveys were completed in-person, remotely, or a combination of modes, and MTF survey proctors were permitted in the classrooms.
A multistage area probability sample design was used involving three selection stages: (1) geographic areas or primary sampling units (PSUs), (2) schools (or linked groups of schools) within PSUs, and (3) students within sampled schools. Of the 72 PSUs, 8 were selected with certainty, 10 were selected with a probability of .50, and the remainder were selected using a probability based on their 2010 Census household count. Generally speaking, in schools with more than 350 students in the grade, a sample of students or classes was drawn. In schools with fewer than 350 students in a grade, all students were asked to participate unless logistical challenges required a sample be taken. For the 8th-grade survey, schools with fewer than 20 8th graders were generally excluded from the sample. For the 10th-grade survey, schools with fewer than 25 10th graders were excluded, with very few exceptions. Each school was asked to participate for two years so that each year one-half of the sample would be replaced. Schools refusing participation were replaced with similar schools in terms of geographic location, size, and type of school (e.g., public, private/Catholic, private/non-Catholic). The participation rate among 8th and 10th grade schools has been between 78 and 91 percent since the inception of the study.
Enrolled 8th- and 10th-grade students in the contiguous United States.
The downloadable data file contains a total of 655 variables (612 survey questions, 11 administrative variables, and 32 recoded variables). The Principal Investigators created the 32 recoded variables to aid in analysis and utility. Not all of the 620 survey questions were asked on each form.
All of the survey questions are categorical in nature. The majority of questions fall into one of seven types of response options.
The student response rates for the 2023 8th- and 10th-grade surveys were 80 percent and 85 percent, respectively.
Hide2024-10-31
2024-10-31 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
The file contains a weight variable, V5. It originally varied by school but was modified to protect respondent confidentiality. Users should include the weight variable in all analyses, the results of which will differ slightly from published data tables that used original data.
OF SPECIAL NOTE: As the MTF respondents are sampled using a multi-stage sampling design, it is often desirable to incorporate the complex sample design information into analyses. However, in order to protect respondent confidentiality, the variables that represent the complex sample design of the MTF, i.e., sampling stratum and cluster, are omitted from the public use files. For researchers who wish to incorporate the unaltered weight variable and complex sample design variables into their analyses, these variables are now accessible through restricted access from NAHDAP. Please see Monitoring the Future (MTF) Restricted-Use Cross-Sectional Datasets for details.
HideThe public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
