Information in this section of the guide focuses on behaviors (including substance use, criminal activity, and sexual activity) and behavioral factors (such as the respondent's current outlook, perceptions of the future, and interactions with his or her parents). Much of this information is collected in the self-administered section of the Youth Questionnaire, a computer-assisted self-interview. Rounding out this section are data on respondents' typical weekly activities and political participation.Table 1 summarizes the NLSY97 topics available in this section.
Table 1. Expectations, Attitudes, Behaviors & Time Use Topics and Universe Restrictions
|
NLSY97 User's Guide Topic |
Rnd 1 |
Rnd 2 |
Rnd 3 |
Rnds 4&5 Universe |
Rnd 6 Universe | Rnd 7 Universe | Rnd 8 Universe | Rnd 9 Universe | Rnd 10 Universe | Rnd 11 Universe | |
|
Details on respondent's use of alcohol, including frequency and amount |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages | all ages | all ages | all ages | all ages | all ages | |
|
Justice Systems Conjecture on events that might follow a hypothetical arrest |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
|
Parents Respondents rate parents' behavior |
12-14 |
12-14 |
12-14 |
12-14 |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
|
Peers Estimates of peers' positive and negative activities and behaviors |
all ages |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Best friend: |
-- | all ages | -- | -- | -- | |
|
School Opinions about school environment, including teacher quality, discipline, and safety |
all ages; enrolled in school |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
|
Self Scale similar to Achenbach's Youth Self Report |
12-14 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Domains of influence Who the respondents turn to for advice for a number of issues |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- | all ages | -- | all ages | -- | -- | |
Mental Health Measures Respondents rate their mental health via Mental Health Inventory |
-- |
-- |
-- |
all ages; round 4 | all ages | all ages | -- | all ages | -- | ||
"Tell Us What You Think" Opinions about different topics; varies by round |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
all ages | all ages | |
|
Perceptions of parental rule setting and discipline |
12, 13 |
12, 13 |
12, 13 |
12, 13 |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
|
Respondent's use of tobacco |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages | all ages |
all ages | all ages | |
|
participation in delinquency and criminal behavior |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages1 | all ages1 | all ages1 | all ages1 | |
|
Respondents' use of marijuana, cocaine, other drugs |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages | all ages | all ages | all ages | |
|
Respondents' and parents' beliefs about what the respondents' future might be |
15, 16 |
-- |
-- |
all ages |
16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Sexual Activity & Dating | |||||||||||
| Dating |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages | all ages | all ages | all ages | |
| Intercourse & Pregnancy |
>14 |
>=14 as of 12/31/97 |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages | all ages | all ages | all ages | |
| Birth Control Use | >14 | >=14 as of 12/31/97 | all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages |
all ages | all ages | all ages | all ages | |
|
Amount of time respondent spends on various activities |
12-14 16--not enrolled or employed |
>=15--not enrolled or employed | >=15--not enrolled or employed | -- |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
|
Voting habits, etc. |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- | -- | all ages | -- | all ages | -- | |
| Note: Age restrictions as of 12/31/1996 unless stated otherwise. | |||||||||||
| 1Beginning in round 8, crime questions were asked only of respondents who had ever reported being arrested, along with a control group for comparison. | |||||||||||
Created Variables. In addition to the variables created by CHRR, Child Trends, Inc., an organization involved in the NLSY97 questionnaire design process, has created a number of scales and indexes from several groups of variables described in this section. These scales and indexes are intended to aid researchers in using the various data items relating to attitudes and behaviors. For these variable descriptions, see the Created Variables listings at the beginning of the following sections:
- Alcohol Use
- Attitudes
- Autonomy & Parental Control
- Cigarette Use
- Crime, Delinquency & Arrest
- Drug Use
- Sexual Activity & Dating
Although these Child Trends created variables are described only briefly in this guide, interested researchers may obtain a detailed discussion of the creation procedures in Appendix 9 of the NLSY97 Codebook Supplement. This document also summarizes statistical analyses of the scales and indexes, as well as related data items, performed by Child Trends researchers. These variables contain the prefix "FP_" in their question names (FP stands for Family Process Measures).