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National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)

Appendix 9: Family Process and Adolescent Outcome Measures

Appendix 9 describes a number of variables created by Child Trends, Inc. and is available for download as a PDF. The variables discussed in the Appendix are:

Round

Question Name

Variable Title

1

FP_YMFRELAT Residential Mom Supportive of Residential Dad, Youth Report

1

FP_YFMRELAT Residential Dad Supportive of Residential Mom, Youth Report

1

FP_PPRELAT Residential Parent Supports Spouse/Partner, Parent Report

1

FP_YMSUPP Youth Relationship with Residential Mom, Youth Report

1

FP_YFSUPP Youth Relationship with Residential Dad, Youth Report

1

FP_YNRMSUPP Youth Relationship with Non-Residential Biological Mom, Youth Report

1

FP_YNRFSUPP Youth Relationship with Non-Residential Biological Dad, Youth Report

1

FP_YHROUTIN Index of Family Routines, Youth Report

1

FP_YMMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Residential Mother, Youth Report

1

FP_YFMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Residential Father, Youth Report

1

FP_YNRMMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Non-Residential Mother, Youth Report

1

FP_YNRFMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Non-Residential Father, Youth Report

1

FP_YHLIMITS Autonomy, Control and Limit Setting, Youth Report

1

FP_PHLIMITS Autonomy, Control, and Limit Setting, Parent Report

1

FP_YHBROKED Limit-Breaking, Youth Report

1

FP_PHBROKED Limit-Breaking, Parent Report

1

FP_YMPSTYL Residential Mother's Parenting Style, Youth Report

1

FP_YFPSTYL Residential Father's Parenting Style, Youth Report

1

FP_YNRMPSTYL Non-Residential Mother's Parenting Style, Youth Report

1

FP_YNRFPSTYL Non-Residential Father's Parenting Style, Youth Report

1

FP_PPRELIG Parent's Religiosity, Parent Report

1

FP_ADHRISKI Family/Home Risk Index

1

FP_ADPENVRI Physical Environment Risk Index

1

FP_ADENRCHI Enriching Environment Risk Index

1

FP_YYFBEHS Girls Behavioral/Emotional Problems Scale, Youth Report

1

FP_YYMBEHS Boys Behavioral/Emotional Problems Scale, Youth Report

1

FP_PYFBEHS Girls Behavioral/Emotional Problems Scale, Parent Report

1

FP_PYMBEHS Boys Behavioral/Emotional Scale, Parent Report

1

FP_YYCRIMI Delinquency Score Index

1

FP_YYSUBSI Substance Use Index

2

FP_YMFRELAT Residential Mom Supportive of Residential Dad, Youth Report

2

FP_YFMRELAT Residential Dad Supportive of Residential Mom, Youth Report

2

FP_YMSUPP Youth Relationship with Residential Mom, Youth Report

2

FP_YFSUPP Youth Relationship with Residential Dad, Youth Report

2

FP_YHROUTIN Index of Family Routines, Youth Report

2

FP_YMMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Residential Mother, Youth Report

2

FP_YFMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Residential Father, Youth Report

2

FP_YHLIMITS Autonomy, Control, and Limit Setting, Youth Report

2

FP_YHBROKED Limit-Breaking, Youth Report

2

FP_YMPSTYL Residential Mothers Parenting Style, Youth Report

2

FP_YFPSTYL Residential Fathers Parenting Style, Youth Report

2

FP_YNRMPSTYL Non-Residential Mothers Parenting Style, Youth Report

2

FP_YNRFPSTYL Non-Residential Fathers Parenting Style, Youth Report

2

FP_YYCRIMI Delinquency Score Index

2

FP_YYSUBSI Substance Use Index

2

FP_YYCRIMI_DLI Delinquency Score Index (DLI)

2

FP_YYSUBSI_DLI Substance Use Index (DLI)

3

FP_YMFRELAT Residential Mom Supportive of Residential Dad, Youth Report

3

FP_YFMRELAT Residential Dad Supportive of Residential Mom, Youth Report

3

FP_YMSUPP Youth Relationship with Residential Mom, Youth Report

3

FP_YFSUPP Youth Relationship with Residential Dad, Youth Report

3

FP_YHROUTIN Index of Family Routines, Youth Report

3

FP_YMMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Residential Mother, Youth Report

3

FP_YFMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring by Residential Father, Youth Report

3

FP_YHLIMITS Autonomy, Control, and Limit Setting, Youth Report

3

FP_YHBROKED Limit-Breaking, Youth Report

3

FP_YMPSTYL Residential Mothers Parenting Style, Youth Report

3

FP_YFPSTYL Residential Fathers Parenting Style, Youth Report

3

FP_YNRMPSTYL Non-Residential Mothers Parenting Style, Youth Report

3

FP_YNRFPSTYL Non-Residential Fathers Parenting Style, Youth Report

3

FP_YYCRIMI_DLI Delinquency Score Index (DLI)

3

FP_YYSUBSI_DLI Substance Use Index (DLI)

4

FP_YHROUTIN Index of Family Routines, Youth Report

4

FP_YMMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring By Residential Mother, Youth Report

4

FP_YFMONIT Degree of Parental Monitoring By Residential Father, Youth Report

4

FP_YMPSTYL Residential Mothers Parenting Style, Youth Report

4

FP_YFPSTYL Residential Fathers Parenting Style, Youth Report

4

FP_YNRMPSTYL Non-Residential Mothers Parenting Style, Youth Report

4

FP_YNRFPSTYL Non-Residential Fathers Parenting Style, Youth Report

4

FP_YYCRIMI_DLI Deliquency Score Index (DLI)

4

FP_YYSUBSI_DLI Substance Use Index (DLI)

4

FP_YMNTHLTH Youth Mental Health Scale

4

FP_SEXEVER R4: Youth Ever Had Sex

4

FP_SEXAGE Age at First Sex

4

FP_SEXYEAR Year of First Sex

Documentation on mental health scale

As the mental health scale was not included in round 1, a description of the variable FP_YMNTHLTH was not provided in Appendix 9. Documentation is provided below.

Items and Response Categories:

  1. How much of the time during the last month have you been a very nervous person? R48677. [YSAQ-282C]
  2. How much of the time during the last month have you felt calm and peaceful? (reverse-coded) R48678. [YSAQ-282D]
  3. How much of the time during the last month have you felt downhearted and blue? R48679. [YSAQ-282E]
  4. How much of the time during the last month have you been a happy person? (reverse-coded) R48680. [YSAQ-282F]
  5. How much of the time during the last month have you felt so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer you up? R48681. [YSAQ-282G]

The responses were measured on a 4-point scale:

All of the time Most of the time Some of the time None of the time
1 2 3 4

Scale Creation. The responses to the five items were summed: scores could range from 5 to 20 points. Higher scores indicate more positive mental health, and lower scores indicate more emotional problems.

Variable Name. YMNTHLTH.

Age of Youth. All age group (cohort age: 12 to 16; age at Round 4 survey date: 15 to 21).

Frequencies:

Score Frequency Percent Cumulative Frequency Cumulative Percent
5 7 0.09 7 0.09
6 12 0.15 19 0.24
7 25 0.31 44 0.55
8 58 0.72 102 1.27
9 85 1.06 187 2.33
10 193 2.41 380 4.74
11 266 3.32 646 8.05
12 437 5.45 1083 13.5
12.5 1 0.01 1084 13.51
13 693 8.64 1777 22.15
14 874 10.89 2651 33.04
15 1095 13.65 3746 46.69
16 1469 18.31 5215 65
16.3 1 0.01 5216 65.01
17 1290 16.08 6506 81.09
17.5 1 0.01 6507 81.1
18 876 10.92 7383 92.02
19 388 4.84 7771 96.86
20 252 3.14 8023 100

Considerable variation can be noted, though most youth report fairly positive mental health.

Data Quality. A score on the Mental Health Scale was obtained for respondents who answered at least four of the five items. Respondents who answered only four of the five questions were assigned a weighted score based on the 20-point scale (i.e., raw score*(5/5-missing)). Respondents who answered fewer than four items were coded as missing.

Measure

N N missing Min Max Mean SD

Mental Health Scale - 
Youth Report

8023 961 5 20 15.32 2.55

Internal Consistency/Reliability. Cronbach's alpha for these scales are considered good in terms of consistency/reliability. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha indicates that the items hang together well in a given administration. Cronbach's alpha is the preferred measure of internal consistency/reliability (Carmine & Zeller, 1985).

Measure

Alpha

Mental Health Scale-Youth Report

0.77

Reference

Carmine, E.G., & Zeller, R.A. (1985). Reliability and validity assessment. In J.L. Sullivan(Ed.), Quantitative applications in the social sciences. Sage: Beverly Hills, CA.