Attitudes & Expectations

Attitudes & Expectations

 

Child

The NLSY79 Child surveys contained a range of information about child attitudes from both the child's and mother's perspective. For the younger children (not young adults) these questions were administered primarily in the Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS), completed by children 10 years of age and older. Mothers also reported on their children's attitudes and prospects in the Family & Schooling section of the Mother Supplement. 

In 2000 the more sensitive attitude items were moved into the Computer Assisted Self-Interview (CASI) portion of the Child CAPI Supplement that is directed to the mother. After 2000 these same questions were in CASI format in the Mother Supplement. Mothers responded, in CASI format if preferred, to questions about how things were going in each child's life and to rate:

  1. how much trouble it has been to bring up this child
  2. the child's health
  3. the child's relationships with friends, siblings, and with her
  4. and the child's feelings about himself or herself

Each round of the NLSY79 Young Adult survey includes a questionnaire section devoted to attitudes. The details of these items for young adults are explained in the Young Adult section below. Readers who are unfamiliar with the NLSY79 mother data will find that main Youth respondents have been administered several scales, a number of which parallel those administered in the Child and Young Adult Surveys, such as the Rotter, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), sociability and Pearlin Mastery Scales (Pearlin and Schooler, 1978; Pearlin et al., 1981), neighborhood quality, attitudes toward women working (family attitudes), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale or CES-D (Radloff, 1977). More information about the attitude scales in the main Youth for NLSY79 mothers can be found in the Attitudes & Expectations section of the NLSY79 User's Guide.

Gender roles

From the 1994 through the 2014 surveys, children 10-14 responded to a series of questions on whether girls should be treated differently than boys. This 6-item scale appeared in the Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS). Children were asked how much they agreed with the following:

  1. GIRLS AND BOYS SHOULD BE TREATED THE SAME AT SCHOOL
  2. A GIRL SHOULD NOT LET A BOY KNOW SHE IS SMARTER THAN HE IS
  3. COMPETING WITH BOYS IN SCHOOL WOULD MAKE A GIRL UNPOPULAR WITH BOYS
  4. A GIRL SHOULD PAY HER OWN WAY ON DATES
  5. IF THERE IS NOT ENOUGH MONEY FOR ALL THE CHILDREN IN A FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE, THE BOYS SHOULD GO TO COLLEGE INSTEAD OF THE GIRLS
  6. IT IS PERFECTLY OK FOR A GIRL TO ASK A BOY FOR A DATE, EVEN IF HE HAS NEVER ASKED HER

These items are assigned to the CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT area of interest. Starting in 2000, these questions are named CSAS030A to CSAS030F. 

Peer pressure

Starting in 1992, children age 10 and older (10-14 starting in 1994) were asked whether they felt pressure from friends to engage in certain behaviors (beginning in 2002, the same questions are asked of Young Adults under age 19). They reported on the following items in the CSAS:

CHILD FEELS PRESSURE FROM FRIENDS TO TRY CIGARETTES
CHILD FEELS PRESSURE FROM FRIENDS TO WORK HARD IN SCHOOL
CHILD FEELS PRESSURE FROM FRIENDS TRY MARIJUANA/OTHER DRUGS
CHILD FEELS PRESSURE FROM FRIENDS TO DRINK ALCOHOL
CHILD FEELS PRESSURE FROM FRIENDS TO SKIP SCHOOL
CHILD FEELS PRESSURE FROM FRIENDS TO COMMIT CRIME/VIOLENCE

These items are assigned to the CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT area of interest.

Risk behavior

In 1994 the NLSY79 Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS) introduced a series of questions about the child's attitude toward risky behaviors and planning for the future. The six CSAS ratings of propensity for risk taking ("feelings toward yourself") items were taken from Section F. (Social-Psychology) of the American Teenage Study, which contains 25 items that were intended to create at least three distinct scales. Table 1 indicates the documentation for these items and the age range of the children who answered these questions.

Table 1. Child Risk-Taking Behaviors: How much do you agree or disagree?

  Question Name
Question Text 1994 1996 1998 2000-2014
I often get in a jam because I do things without thinking. CS942611  CS960911  CS98049A CSAS049A
I think that planning takes the fun out of things. CS942613 CS960913  CS98049B CSAS049B
I have to use a lot of self-control to keep out of trouble. CS942615  CS960915 CS98049C CSAS049C
I enjoy taking risks. CS942617 CS960917 CS98049D CSAS049D
I enjoy new and exciting experiences, even if they are a little frightening or unusual. CS942619 CS960919 CS98049E CSAS049E
Life with no danger in it would be too dull for me. CS942621  CS960921 CS98049F CSAS049F
 
NOTE: Items asked of Child respondents ages 10-14. From 1994-2000, the Child Self-Administered Supplement was a paper booklet. Starting in 2002, the CSAS was CAPI self-report. For 1994, child risk-taking items were asked in question 47. For 1996-2000, child risk-taking items were asked in question 49. After 2000, the question name and number were the same.

Expectations and aspirations

From 1988 to 2014, NLSY79 Children ages 10 and older (10-14 starting in 1994) were asked a repeat question series about when they expected to marry and when they expected to have children. Children were asked what they thought was the "best age, if any, for you get married" and "best age for you to have your first child." They were also asked about the youngest age they could imagine themselves getting married and the youngest age they could imagine themselves having their first child. This series of questions for children under age 15 are assigned to the CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT area of interest.

Mothers of children who were at least school age were asked to rate each child's prospects for the future and to estimate how far they thought their child will go in school. Through 1998 and again starting in 2002 these questions, posed in the Mother Supplement, were assigned to the MOTHER SUPPLEMENT areas of interest. In 2000, the future prospects questions were moved to the Child CAPI Supplement and then back to the Mother Supplement in 2002. Since 1988, children ages 10 and older were also asked how far they expected to go in school. Table 2 contains a summary of educational aspiration questions by survey year.

Table 2. Mother and Child Reports of Educational Aspirations

Survey Year Question Title Area of Interest Q Name
  Mother Report
   
1988 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: HOW FAR YOU THINK CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 1988 MS880861
1990 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: HOW FAR YOU THINK CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 1990 MS901461
1992 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: HOW FAR MOM THINKS CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 1992 MS921511
1994 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: HOW FAR MOM THINKS CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 1994 MS941643
1996 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: HOW FAR MOM THINKS CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 1996 MS961659
1998 SCHOOL & FAMILY BACKGROUND: HOW FAR MOM THINKS CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 1998 'MS985017
2000 CHILD BACKGROUND: HOW FAR MOM THINKS CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SUPPLEMENT 2000 BKGN-44
2002-2004 CHILD BACKGROUND: HOW FAR MOM THINKS CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT BKGN-44
2006-2018 CHILD BACKGROUND: HOW FAR MOM THINKS CHILD WILL GO IN SCHOOL MOTHER SUPPLEMENT MS-BKGN-44
  Child Self-Report
   
1988 CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED: HOW FAR DO YOU THINK YOU WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT CS884171
1990 CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED: HOW FAR DO YOU THINK YOU WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT CS906553
1992 CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED: HOW FAR CHILD THINKS SHE/HE WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT CS926713
1994 CHILD SELF-ADMIN: HOW FAR CHILD THINKS SHE/HE WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT CS942413
1996 CHILD SELF-ADMIN: HOW FAR CHILD THINKS SHE/HE WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT CS960713
1998 CHILD SELF-ADMIN: HOW FAR CHILD THINKS SHE/HE WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT CS98028
2000-2014 CHILD SELF-ADMIN: HOW FAR CHILD THINKS SHE/HE WILL GO IN SCHOOL CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT CSAS028

Starting in 2004, children age 14 were asked questions in the Child survey about plans for work at age 35 so that all children age 14 are administered a comparable set of such questions. Young Adults have also been asked about expectations at age 35 and prospects for separation and divorce. [NLSY79 mothers have answered questions about their own educational and employment expectations for the future. Interested users should consult the Attitudes & Expectations section of the NLSY79 User's Guide.]

Child self-perception/self-worth/self-competence

The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) was administered to NLSY79 children in the Child Supplement. The SPPC  is a self-report magnitude estimation scale that measures a child's sense of general self-worth and self-competence in the domain of academic skills (Harter 1982, 1985).  Harter's instrument taps five specific domains of self-concept as well as global self-worth. The twelve items selected from the original scale for use in the NLSY79 child survey translate into two subscores, a global self-worth score and a scholastic competence score. The protocol for this assessment is explained and illustrated in the user version of the Child Supplement (available on the Questionnaires page). The assessment, titled "What I Am Like" in the Child Supplement, was completed by children ages eight and over in the survey years 1986-1992 and ages 8-14 in 1994. Beginning with the 1996 survey, administration was limited to children 12-14. A full description of the SPPC items and subscales appears in the Self-Perception Profile for Children section of the topical portion of the users guide on the NLSY79 child assessments.

Child depression or "moods"

The depression or child 'moods' items in the NLSY79 Child (CSAS) questionnaire came from the National Commission on Children (NCC) 1990 Survey of Parents and Children.  The specific source for these questions can be found in the 1990 NCC Parent and Child Final Questionnaire and Codebook for Children, questions V432 to V440. (Several other parent-child interaction questions in the CSAS were also drawn from this instrument: V322, V323, V339, V307 for example on spending time with each parent, parent missing activities, peer pressure.) The moods items were self-administered in the Child Self-Administered Section of the Child Supplement instrument by children age 10-14.

Neighborhood safety

In 1992 a question was added to the Child Self-Administered Supplement for children 10 and older about how safe they felt walking and playing in their neighborhood. That same year mothers were first asked to rate their neighborhood as a place to raise children. They were also asked to assess the quality of the neighborhood on a number of dimensions, similar to those also addressed to young adults starting in 1994. The NLSY79 neighborhood quality series, which has continued through the current survey round, is taken from the National Commission on Children Parent & Child Study, 1990 Parent Questionnaire, p.7 (V32, V34-V41).

 

Survey Instruments Questions about children's attitudes are included in the Child Self-Administered Supplement. Mothers report on their children's attitudes in the Family & Schooling section of the Mother Supplement. SPPC (self-perception) is administered in the Child Supplement.
Area of Interest CHILD SUPPLEMENT, CHILD SELF-ADMINISTERED SUPPLEMENT
MOTHER SUPPLEMENT