Data from the

NATIONAL HEALTH SURVEY

Self-ReportedHealth

BehaviorandAttitudes

of Youths12-17Years

United States

A description ofself-reported health behavior andattitudes of American youths based on questionnaire responses of a national probability sample of noninstitutionalized youths 12 through 17 years of age.

Topics include behavior and attitudes relating to general health

status, cigarette smoking, physical appearance, personal independence, use of leisure time, values, perception of the need for medical

or dental care, and aspects of social behavior. Variations in health

behavior and attitudes associated with age and sex of the youths are

also discussed.

DHEW Publication No. (HRA) 75-1629

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE

Public Health Service

Series 11

Number 147

Health Resources Administration

National Center for Health Statistics

Rockville, Md. April 1975
Series 11 reports present findings from the National Health Examination Survey, which

obtains data through direct examination, tests, and measurements of samples of the U.S.

population. Reports 1 through 38 relate to the adult program, Cycle I of the Health

Examination Survey. The present report is one of a number of reports of findings from the

children and youth programs, Cycles II and III of the Health Examination Survey. These

latter reports from Cycles II and 111 are being published in Series 11 but are numbered

consecutively beginning with 101. It is hoped this will guide users to the data in which they

are interested.

*

.,

—

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

ScanIon, James V.

Self-reported health behavior and attitudes of youths.

(National Center for Health Statistics. Vital and health statistics. Series 11: Data from

the National Health Survey, no. 147) (DHEW publication no. (HRA) 75-1629)

Includes bibliographical references.

Supt. of Dots. no.: HE 20.6209:11/147

1. Youth–Health and hygiene–United States–Statistics. 2. Health attitudes. I. Title. II.

Series: United States. National Center for Health Statist its. Vital and health statistics. Series

11: Data from the National Health Survey. Data from the health examination survey, no.

147. III. Series: United States. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare. DHEW publication

no. (HRA) 75-1629. [DNLM: 1. Attitude—In adolescence. 2. Attitude to health—In adolescence. 3. Behavior–In adolescence. 4. Health survey -U.S. W2A N14Svk ser. 11 no. 147]

RA407.3.A347 no. ?.47 [RA564.5] 312’.0973s [312’.3’0973] ISBN 0-8406-0026-7

75-12433

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Qovernrnent Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402- Price $1.45

/
NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS

EDWARD B. PERRIN, Ph. D., Director

PHILIP S. LAWRENCE, SC.D., Deputy Director

GAIL F. FISHER, Associate Director for the Cooperative Health Statistics System

ELIJAH L. WHITE, Associate Director for Data Systems

IWAO M. MORIYAMA, Ph. D., Associate Director for International Statistics

EDWARD E. MINTY, Associate Director for Management

ROBERT A. ISRAEL, Assoczizte Director for Operations

QUENTIN R. REMEIN, Associate Director for Program Development

ALICE HAYWOOD, Information Officer

DIVISION OF HEALTH EXAMINATION STATISTICS

ARTHUR J. McDOWELL, Director

JEAN-PIERRE HABICHT, M.D., Ph. D., Special Assistant to Director

PETER V. V. HAMILL, M.D., Medical Advker

HENRY W. MILLER, Chkj Operations and Quality Control Branch

LINCOLN I. OLIVER, chief psycholo~ical Statistics Branch

HAROLD J. DUPUY, Ph. D., Psychological Adviser

ROBERT S. MURPHY, Chiej Survey PZanning and Development Branch

COOPERATION OF THE BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

In accordance with specifications established by the National

Health Survey, the Bureau of the Census, under a contractual

agreement, participated in the design and selection of the sample,

and carried out the first stage of the field interviewing and certain

parts of the statistical processing.

Vital and Health Statistics-Series 1 l-No. 147

DHEW Publication No. (HRA) 751629

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 7.5-12433
CONTENTS

Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------

The Self-Report Questionnaires ------- ------- --------------------- ---

Limitations of the Data -----”- ------- ------- ------- -------- -------- ---

Findings -------------------------------------------------------------

General Health Status -----------------------------------------------

Patierns of CigaretteSmoking ----------------------------------------

Attitudes Toward Physical Appearance --------------------------------

Sleep-Related Behavior ---------------------------------------------

Family Relationships and the Development of Personal Independence -----

Use of Leisure Time---------------, ---------------------------------

Schoolwork, and Educational Goals ----------------------------------

Values ------------------------------------------------------------

Perception of the Need for Medical Care ---------------------------- ---

Perception of the Need for Dental Care -------------------------------

Aspects of Social Behavior ------------------------------------------

Summary -------- ------- ------- -------------- ------- ------- “------ ----

References --------- --------------------------- --------- --------- -----

List of Detailed Tables -------------------------------------------------

Appendix 1. Technical Notes -----------------------------------------

The Survey Design --------------------------------------------------

Reliability ---------------------------------------------------------

Extent of Missing Questionnaire Data ---------------------------------

Sampling and Measurement Error --------------------------- ---------

Hypothesis Testing -------------------------------------------------

Small Categories ---------------------------------------------------

Appendix II. Self-Report Questionnaires -------------------------------

Health Habits and HistoryQuestionnaire -------------------------------

Health Behavior Questionnaire ----------------------------------------

rage

1

2

2

3

3

3

5

9

9

11

13

14

16

17

18

19

20

22

74

74

75

76

76

77

78

79

79

85

...

Ill
SYMBOLS

Data not available ----------------------------------------

Category not applicable -------------------------------

Quantity zero ----------------------------------------------

Quantity more than O but less than 0.05 -----

Figure does not meet standards of

reliability or precision ------------------------------

---

. . .

0.0

*

iv
SELF-REPORTED

HEALTH BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

OF YOUTHS 12-17 YEARS

Jam es Scanlon, Division of Health Examination Statistics

INTRODUCTION

This report presents information on selected

health characteristics, behavior, and attitudes of

American youths. Data were obtained from questionnaires completed by the youths themselves in

the national Health Examination Survey of 1966-

70,1 in which a national probability sample of

noninstitutionalized youths 12 through 17 years

of age was selected and examined.

Previous Health Examination Surveys have

focused on noninstitutionalized adults 18 through

79 years of age 2-4 and noninstitutionalized children 6 through 11 years of age.s’c The program

of Health Examination Surveys is one of several

administered by the National Center for Health

Statistics, whose mission includes the collection

and dissemination of a wide range of health information about the population of the United States.

Field operations for the survey of youths

began in March 1966 and were completed in March

1q71)oOf the 7,514 youths selected for the sample,

6,768 were examined, a response rate of 90 percent. Because of the sample design, adjustment

for nonresponse, and weighting procedures employed, national estimates based on survey results

may be considered representative of the approxi -

mately 23 million noninstitutionalized youths 12

through 17 years of age in the United States during

the 4-year period of the survey. ~ A distribution

of the sample, youths according to age and sex

and

are

estimates of the population they represent

shown in appendix I (table I).

Each youth in the sample was administered

a 3-hour single-visit examination in a mobile

examination center constructed specially for the

survey. The examination focused primarily on

growth and development and on adolescent health.

It included examinations by a physician and a

dentist, several tests administered by a psychologist, and a variety of additional tests and measurements performed by health technicians. Further description of the survey plan, sample design,

examination content, and operation of the survey

of youths is presented in appendix I and in a

previous report.1

Several questionnaires were employed to supplement the information obtained by direct examination. Among them were a household questionnaire administered by an interviewer from the

U.S. Bureau of the Census to obtain demographic

and socioeconomic information; two medical histories for each youth, one completed by a parent

and the other by the youth himself; and a health

behavior questionnaire completed by the youth at

the examination center. For those youths enrolled

in school, additional questionnaire information

was requested from school officials regarding

grade placement, absenteeism, disciplinary problems, grades skipped or repeated, and health,

academic, or adjustment problems that required

special resources or facilities. A teacher’s rating

of each youth’s behavior, ability, and academic

performance was also sought. In addition, a birth

certificate was obtained to verify each youth’s

age and to gain other information relating to the

youth at birth. All information in the survey was

collected under an assurance of confidentiality.

1
The Self-Report Questionnaires

The areas of health information and attitudes,

personal values, development of independence,

use of leisure time, and social behavior are but

a few of many topics pertinent to the study of

adolescent health, growth, and development. To

obtain this type of information, three questionnaires were developed by the survey staff in consultation with an advisory panel and other professionals in the field of adolescent health.1 The

resulting questionnaires were the Medical History

of Youth, completed by the parent; the Health

Habits and History Questionnaire, completed by

the youth at home; and the Health Behavior Questionnaire, completed by the youth at the examination center. The key factor leading to the decision

to use three questionnaires was the realization

that some questions can be answered best by

parents, while other information can be obtained

most accurately from the youth. In addition, it was

feIt that certain questions asked of the youth might

be answered more frankly in the examination

center than in the home. Information about the

youth from different sources also permits comparison of perceptions of his attitudes and behavior

among parents, the youth himself, and school

officials.

Two reports, one dealing with information

from the school questionnaire and the other with

information from the medical history of the youth

completed by the parent, have been published. 7’8

Another report, which relates physical examination findings and the youth’s health history as

reported by a parent, has also been published.9

The present report is limited to an analysis of

age and sex variations in responses to the two

questionnaires completed by the youths themselves. Medical history information is not included in this report.

The Health Habits and Histovy Questionnaire,

reproduced in appendix II, was left for the youth

to complete at home and bring to the mobile examination center at the time of examination. The

questionnaire tapped areas such as medical history, limitation of activity for health reasons,

attitudes toward physical appearance and development, eating habits, sleep disturbances, school,

work, allowance, utilization of health resources,

and use of leisure time. Other questions served

to alert the examining physician to conditions that

might require the administration of additional

examination procedures or preclude the administration of others.

The Health Behavior Questionnaire, as noted

earlier, was answered by the youth at the examination center, usually after the completion of the

psychological test battery. The form is reproduced

in appendix II. It contained questions on educational

goals, decisionmaking practices in the home,

cigarette smoking behavior, the importance of

several personality characteristics or values to

the youth, aspects of social behavior such as dating

and experiences with law enforcement agents, and

attitudes toward the need for treatment of selected

medical and dental conditions.

Limitations of the Data

In a large-scaIe, multidisciplinary endeavor

such as the Health Examination Survey, few single

health factors, whether physiological, dental,

physical, or psychological, can be evaluated as

thoroughly as desired. This was especially true

of the information collected by questionnaire,

much of which was collected primarily to study

interrelationships with examination findings. Thus

some attitudes and behavioral aspects of adoles -

cent health, growth, and development could be

studied only to a limited degree; in some instances,

such as teenage drinking and drug use, they could

not be studied at all. Nonetheless, the selfreported questionnaire responses of a national

probability sample of predominantly normal

adolescents provide a wealth of information and

have considerable value in themselves for providing insights into adolescent health and development. Although more complex analysis of the

questionnaire data could be and, to a limited

extent, has been undertaken,l” this report follows

the descriptive format of previous reports dealing

with questionnaire data from the national Health

Examination Survey of children 6-11 years of age,

completed in 1965. 11-13 Subsequent reports will

explore the relationship of questionnaire information presented in this report to the biomedical

and psychological information obtained in the

survey.

Since the estimates shown in this report are

based on a sampIe of the population of youths aged
12-17 years, and statistically weighted to represent that population, they are subject to sampling

variability. Standard errors of selected estimates

shown in this report are presented in the detailed

tables and discussed in appendix I. The standard

errors were computed by a half-sample pseudoreplication technique which takes into account

the complex design of the sample. 14’15Further,

the fact that the survey was restricted to the

noninstitutionalized population of youths must be

considered in interpreting the findings presented.

Median ages are shown in several of the

detailed tables. Median ages are based on each

respondent’s recollection of the age at which a

particular behavior or condition began, for example, the age at “which he or she first began

smoking, It was assumed that when answering

this type of question the youths generally reported their age in years at last birthday, so a

half year has been added to the median age

computed from reported ages. The medians

presented should therefore be considered as

approximations.

Finally, a brief explanation of the definition

of age used in this report is appropriate. Age was

defined as the age of the youth in years at last

birthday as of the date of the examination. The

age criterion for inclusion in the sample was

based on age at the time of the first household

interview. Since the examination usually took

place 2 to 4 weeks after the interview,. some

youths who were 17 years old at the time of

interview had become 18 years old by the time

of examination. There were 58 such instances.

In the sample adjustment and weighting procedures

those youths were included in the 17- year-old age

group.

FINDINGS

General Health Status

When asked to describe their current health,

American youths tend to perceive themselves as

quite healthy. An estimated 60 percent of the

noninstitutionali zed 12- 17-year-olds in the United

States rated their health as vevy good or excellent

(table 1 and ~gure 1). An additional 36 percent

described their health as good. About one of every

four youths reported excellent health, while only

Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor

SELF.APPRAISED HEALTH STATUS

Figure 1. Percent distribution of U.S. youths 12-17 years of age

by self-appraised health status.

about four youths per 1,000 appraised their health

as poor. Self-appraisals of poor or fair health

increased slightly with age. Boys were more

likely than girls to report excellent health, and

there were proportionately more girls than boys

among the 4 percent of the youths who considered

themselves in fair health. About one of every 10

youths reported having a health problem which

he or she might like to discuss with a doctor

(table 1).

When queried about frequency of anxiety, that

is, feeling tense or nervous, about 8 percent of

the youths stated they often had such feelings

(table 2). About 36 percent replied that they

sometimes felt nervous, while an additional 36

percent reported that they only vavely experienced

anxiety. About 20 percent of the youths reported

never feeling anxious. Girls reported greater

frequency of anxiety feelings than boys, and this

complaint tended to increase with age, a trend

more evident for boys than for girls.

Patterns of Cigarette Smoking

More than half the youths in the survey, 54

percent, reported that they had never tried

smoking, but this figure was closely associated

with sex and age (tables 3 and A). About 31 percent of the teenagers reported that they had tried

smoking but no longer smoked at all at the time

3
Table A. Percent distribution of youths in selected age groups by current smoker status, according to sex: United States, 1966-70

Current smoker status

Select;~da~xgroup

Total Smoke Don’t smoke Never

regularly at all now smoked

1

12-17 years

Both sexes ------------------ 100.O

Boys ------------------------------

I

100.0

Girls------- --------------- ------- - 100.0

12 years

Both sexes------------------

L----

100.O

Boys ------- ------- ------- ------- --

I

100.0

Girls -------- -------- -------- ----- 100.0

17 years

Both sexes------------------

L100.0

Boys -------- -------- -------- ------ 100.0

Girls ---------------- ------------- 100.O

Percent distribution

14.7 31.1 I 54.3

I I

18.3

10.9

32.6

29.5

31.4 I 35.4 ] 33.2

I 1

40.6 32.3 27.1

21.9 38.6 39.4

%ncludes a very small percentage of youths, 0.4 percent, who indicated that they

did not smoke cigarettes but did smoke pipes or cigars.

of the survey. The remainder of the youths,about

15 percent, were considered current regular

smokers on the basis of their questionnaire

responses. The percentage of youths who reported regular smoking increased, as expected,

from about 4 percent among12-year-olds toabout

31 percent among 17-year-olds. Of the 15percent who reported smoking regularly, about 61

percent smoked less than half a pack ofcigarettes per day, 25 percent smoked between half

and one pack a day, and about 14 percent smoked

oneor more packs aday.

The extent ofregular smoking among youths

was related to sex as well as to age (figure 2).

Boys were more likely than girls to report themselves as regular smokers—18 percent versus

11 percent.

Youths who indicated that they had tried

smoking at least once also reported the age at

which they first tried it. Table 4 presents that

information for ‘17-year-olds. The estimates for

17-year-olds indicate thatboys experimented with

smoking earlier thangirls did.lnaddition, regular

50

[

— Boys

--- Girls

40

AGE IN YEARS

Figure 2. Percent of U.S. youths reporting themselves as regular

smokers, by age and sex.

4
smokers first tried smoking earlier than those

youths who had tried smoking but were not current regular smokers (table 4). Information on

the ages when 17-year-old regular smokers began

smoking regularly is shown in table 5.

Additional information on patterns of cigarette smoking among youths in 1968, 1970, and

1972 is available in reports from the National

Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health.16$17 Those

reports present results of interviews, most of

them telephone interviews, of national samples

of youths 12 through 18 years of age. The Clearinghouse Survey findings for 1968 on current smokers

in the age range 12 through 17 are somewhat lower

than findings from the present study for the same

age group. About 14 percent of the boys in the

Clearinghouse Survey were reported as current

regular or current occasional smokers, while an

estimated 18 percent of boys in the United States

were judged regular smokers on the basis of

questionnaire responses in the Health Examination

Survey. For girls also the Health Examination

Survey estimate of about 11 percent exceeds the

National Clearinghouse Survey figure of about 8

percent. At each year of age the percentages of

boys and girls representing themselves as regular

smokers were higher in the Health Examination

Survey than in the National Clearinghouse Survey.

These small differences can probably be attributed

to the differing methodologies of the two surveys,

including sample design, setting and wording of

the questions, and differences in definitions. Information on patterns of cigarette smoking in the

United States among persons 17 years of age or

older is available in publications of the national

Health Interview Survey, lMg another continuing

program of the National Center for Health Statistics.

Attitudes Toward

Physical Appearance

One of the major areas of adjustment during

adolescence concerns physical growth and changes

and the development of an image of one’s physical

self, or body image. Characteristics of the body

such as weight, height, proportion, appearance,

facial complexion, and attractiveness play inti -

mate roles in personal and social adjustment and

in the development of one’s self-concept?” In this

section sex differences and age-related changes

in the attitudes of teenagers toward aspects of

their physical development and appearance are

analyzed.

Perception of curvent weight. —At first

glance, responses to the series of questions on

appearance are hardly surprising. Youths who

perceived themselves as overweight or underweight, for example, also perceived themselves

as being fatter or thinner than others and would

prefer to be thinner or heavier, respectively,

than they were. Boys and girls differed considerably in their attitudes, however, and older

youths often expressed different attitudes than

younger ones.

About two of every three youths felt that they

were about the right weight (table 6). The percentage of youths rating themselves this way decreased

with age, but even among the 17-year -olds, the

majority, 62 percent, thought their weight was

“about right.” About one youth in five considered

himself or herself overweight, and about one in

eight considered himself or herself underweight.

Both figures increased slightly as age increased.

Differences between boys and girls in selfperceptions of body weight were striking (figure 3).

Proportionately more boys than girls considered

themselves about the right weight. Of those who

did not, boys were twice as likely as girls to consider themselves underweight. Girls, on the other

hand, were more than twice as likely as boys to

consider themselves overweight.

Responses to the question asking the youth to

compare his or her appearance, or build, with that

of most persons of the same age are shown in

table 6 and roughly parallel responses to the

previous question on perceived weight. Physical

measurements of skinfold thickness at five anatomical locations taken in the survey indicate that

at every age girls actually have more body fat

(greater median skinfold thickness) than boys

have.zl

When asked about the body build or weight

they would prefer to have, slightly less than half

the youths reported that they would like to be

about the same weight as they were (table 6).

Again,age and sex were correlated with preferred

appearance. About 55 percent of the boys and 41

percent of the girls preferred to be about the same

weight as they were, a statistically significant

5
70 —

60 —

W —

40 —

30 —

20 —

10

0

Less tall About the same Taller

PREFERRED HEIGHT

so

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

I

28.0

Underweight Right weight Overweight

SELF. PERCEIVED WEIGHT

60 r 55.0

50

40

30

20

10

0

27.1

Thinner Abut thn same Heavier

PREFERRED BODY BUILD

Figure 3. Percent distributions of U.S. youths 12-17 years of age by preferred height, self-perceived weight, and preferrad body build,

according to sex.

difference’ (figure 3). Satisfaction with present

weight also decreased as youths grew older. At

age 17, about one-half of the boys but only onethird of the girls expressed satisfaction withtheir

present weight. Almost half of all the girls would

like to be thinrzerthan they”were, and this response

increased with age. The proportion of boys who

would rather be thinner, about 18 percent, was

smaller than the corresponding proportion of

girls. Conversely, the proportion of boys who

would like to be heaviw, 27 percent, was greater

than that for girls, about 11 percent, and rose

from 20 percent at age 12 to about 35 percent at

age 17.

a

In this report, the word “significant” refersto statistical

significance at the 95-percent confidence level.

As stated earlier, the majority of youths who

thought they were thinner than most of their peers

would choose to be heavier (66 percent), those who

thought they were about average in weight would

prefer to remain so (62 percent), and youths who

perceived themselves as heavier than most would

prefer to be thinner (93 percent). However, the

patterns of relations?lips between pevceived and

preferred body bujid or weight were distinctly

different among boys and girls (tables 7 and B).

Although the majority of youths who thought they

were thinner than most would rather be heavier,

the percentages reporting so were 74 for boys

and 56 for girls, a statistically significant difference. Apparently, many girls who consider

themselves thin prefer to remain thin or to be

even thinner, while most thin boys would Hke to

be heavier.

6
Table B. Percent distribution of youths 12-17 years of

age by preferred body build, according to sex and

self-perceived body build: United States, 1966-70

Sex and

s~lf-perceived

body build

Both sexes

Thinner than most -

Same as mOst ------

Hewier than mostBoys —

Thinner than most -

Same as mOst ------

Heavier than mostGirls

Thinner than most -

Same as mOst ------

Heavicr than mostPreferred body build

r,otal Thinner ti%O&ne ‘eavier

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0 100.0

100.0

Percent distribution

66.4

12.1

2.2

74.1

19.2

4.8

55.9

4.6

0.4

Even among those youths who felt that they

were about average in body build, more boys

(70 percent) than girls (54percent) preferred to

remain so. About four of every 10 girls, but only

one in 10 boys, who felt they were about average

in weight would rather be thinner. Of youths who

viewed their weight as average, one of every five

boys, but only one in 20 girls, would rather be

heavier.

Boys and girls who thought they were heavier

then most showed very similar differences in

attitudes. Almost all of these girls stated that

they would like to be thinner, while about onefourth of these boys preferred to remain as

heavy as they were, and about 5 percent would

choose to be even heavier,

Prefewed height. — About 58 percent of the

youths indicated they were satisfied with their

present height (table 6). Girls were more likely

than boys to express satisfaction with their present

height (figure 3). About half of all boys stated

they would like to be taller than they were, while

only 2 percent would rather be shorter. Among

girls, about 20 percent would prefer to be taller,

and about 13 percent, shorter.

Acne.— Self-reports from the present survey

corroborate the observation that acne, at least in

mild degrees, is a fairly common condition among

adolescents.zz About half of the youths reported

that they had acne, pimples, or blackheads

(table 8). Age trends and sex differences were

80—

70 —

60 .

>

; 50 —

)

i

j do

30

20

— Boys

--- Girts

ok I Ld ~u

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

AGE IN YEARS

Figure 4. Percent of US. youths reporting acne, pimples, or

blackheads, by age and sex.

evident in responses to the series of questions on

acne. While the overall prevalence of selfreported acne did not differ significantly by sex,

variations in prevalence were apparent at different

ages (figure 4). In the age range 12-17 years, the

prevalence of self-reported acne increased with

age among both boys and girls. Girls reported an

earlier onset of acne than boys did (table 9).

Of the youths who reported that they had acne,

58 percent indicated they were using some treatment for it (table 8). At every age girls were more

likely than boys to be using some treatment. Further, of the youths with acne, 11 percent stated

that they had seen a doctor about it, a percentage

which tended to increase with age (table 8). Apparently a good deal of self-medication for acne

exists among youths.

About 14 percent of the youths reporting acne

indicated that their acne worried them quite a lot

(table 8). Girls expressed more concern over

7
acne than boys did; however, among both sexes,

only 16 percent reported they were not at all

bothered by their acne. The majority of youths,

about seven of every 10, responded thattheir skin

condition bothered them veYy little or some but

not much.

Eating habits and perceived body weight.—

Eating patterns and the dietary attitudes and

practices of youths have long intrigued both

parents and professional students of human behavior.22 When youths in the present study were

asked about their eating habits, three of every four

thought they ate about the vight amount (table 10).

Proportionately more teenagers, about 19 percent,

felt they ate too much than too little, about 7

percent. Girls were more likely than boys to repo]

8[

7C

60

50

;

i

)

5 40

;

,

30

20

10

0

23.1

78.1

Too much About right Too little

AMOUNT OF FOOO EATEN

Figure 5. Percent distribution of US. youths 12-17 years of age

by self-assessmentof amount of foodeaten,accor~ngtosex.

8

that they ate too much, while proportionately more

boys than girls felt that they ate about the right

amount (figure 5). The percentages of boys and

girls who felt they ate too little were about equal.

Responses to the question did not vary with age.

Parents’ ratings of their children’s eating

habits were obtained in the previous Health Examination Survey of children 6-11 years of age. 11

In the earlier survey about three of every four

children were considered by their parents to

usually eat enough. Approximately the same proportion was found in the present study in which

teenagers rated themselves. The two surveys also

found, in agreement, that more boys than girls

were rated as usually eating enough and that more

girls than boys were thought to eat too little.

The relationship observed in the present study

between the eating habits of youths and their perceived weight is shown in tables 11 and C. As

expected, most (85 percent) of the youths who

considered themselves about the right weight

also felt they ate about the right amount. However,

among the teenagers who considered themselves

underweight, most (63 percent) thought they ate

about the right amount and only about 28 percent

thought they ate too little. About 54 percent of the

teenagers who rated themselves overweight felt

that they ate too much, while 44 percent felt they

ate about the right amount.

Table C. Percent distribution of youths 12-17

years of age by amount of food eaten, according to sex and self-perceivedweight: United

States, 1966-70

Sex and selfperceived

weight

Boys

Underweight-----

Right weight----

Overweight------

Girls

Underweight-----

Right weight----

Overweight------

Amount of food eaten

EEETEIE

Percent distribution

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

10.3

5;::

8.9

10.8

55.4

64.8

87.0

46.8

58.4

83.6

42.4

24.9

4.3

0.9

3;,;

2;2
Sleep-Related Behavior

Sleep patterns, disturbances, and related

behavior have been the subjects of extensive research. 23’24 Studies have attempted to determine

the relationship of sleep to mood, behavior,

memory, and general development as well as to

physical and mental health. Sleep disorders appear

to arise from many causes. The extent of several

types of sleep disorders among American youths

is discussed below. Other behavior related to

sleep is also discussed.

Insomnia.— About 7 percent of the youths reported that they v-y often had trouble getting to

sleep or staying asleep (table 12). About 44 percent experienced such difficulties only from time

to time, and about half of the youths reported that

they never had such difficulties. Girls were more

likely than boys to express this complaint, the

largest differences occurring among the 14-

through 17-year -olds. In addition, more older

youths reported trouble sleeping than younger

ones. The difference between boys and girls in

sleep difficulties is consistent with findings from

an earlier survey of adults. 25

Nightnuwes.— About 3 percent of the youths

reported that they 4uite fie4uently had bad dreams

or nightmares (table 12). The percentages of girls

and boys who had frequent nightmares were about

equal, and there was no clear trend with age.

About 39 percent of the boys and 47 percent of

the girls reported they had disturbing dreams only

jrom time to time. Proportionately more boys

than girls stated that they never had disturbing

dreams (58.7 percent versus 50.1 percent), with

the largest differences found in the age range

14-17 years. This sex difference in the occurrence of disturbing dreams is in agreement

with previous findings from the U.S. Health

ExamMation Survey of adults.25 In the previous

survey of children 6-11 years of age, about 2

percent of U.S. children were reported by a parent

to have frequent nightmares and an additional 42

percent to have them occasionally, but no statistically significant sex or age differences were

noted.11

Sleepwalking.— About 5 percent of the youths

indicated that, they had walked in their sleep during

the last year or so (table 12). Boys were more

likely than girls to report such an incident, 6.3

percent versus 4.0 percent. The difference in

sleepwalking between boys and girls was found in

each age group in the present study. Sleepwalking

among boys tended to decrease with age, but among

girls no clear age trend could be discerned. In the

previous survey of children mentioned earlier,

about 10 percent of 6-11- year-olds were reported

by their parents as having walked in their sleep,

about 1 percent frequently and 9 percent sometimes but not often}l’

Sleeping arrangements.— About half of the

youths reported that they slept alone in their own

room (table 13). Sleeping arrangements were

related to age, continuing a trend observed in the

previous survey of children. 11 The percentage of

boys who had rooms of their own increased consistently with age, rising from about 36 pert ent

of 12-year -olds to 62 percent of 17-year -olds.

Among girls, the proportion increased from 36

percent at age 12 to about 55 percent at age 15

and then leveled off. The only statistically significant difference between girls and boys in this

area was found among the 17-year -olds, where

more boys than girls had rooms of their own.

Most girls who shared a room did so with one or

more sisters, and most boys who shared a room

did so with one or more brothers (table 13). It is

believed that sleeping arrangements are associated with socioeconomic level and cultural

patterns.

Bedtime. —The youths wsre asked at what

hour they usua)ly went to bed when the next day

was a schoolday or workday. Responses are

shown in table 14 by age and sex and in figure 6

by age. The median, or typical, bedtime for all

12- through 17-year -olds was shortly after 10

p.m. and was about the same for boys as for girls.

As expected, older teenagers stayed up later than

younger ones. Continuing a trend found in the

previous survey of children, 11 median bedtime

increased with age from about 9:40 p.m. for 12-

year-olds to near 11 p.m. for 17-year-olds.

Family Relationships and the Development of

Personal Independence

A number of the survey questions focused on

the development of personal independence as reflected in autonomy in decisionmaking practices

9
‘or

I

I

20

10

I_

1.0 “J

o .. .. .

= 12.,,,,.0,,s

&&j 1,.,ear.o,ds

34,2

1

3.2

.:.:.:,:,:.:

::::::::::::

.,.,.,.,.,.,

7.7

J

$

0.7

.

Before %w. 9:00. 10:00. 11:00.

8 pm? 8:59 p.m.

Midnight

9:59 p.m. 1059 p.m. 11:59 p.m. or later

USUAL BEDTIME

Figure 6. Percent distributions of 12- and 17-year-old U.S.

youths by usual bedtime on weeknights.

in the home, as well as in receiving, performing

chores for, and deciding how to spend an allowance.

Responses to another question dealing with having

been away from home for a considerable time are

also discussed in this section as an indicator of

independence, namely, functioning outside the

emotional support of the immediate family.

Because decisionmaking practices are to

some extent dependent on the presence of parents

or guardians in the home, a brief discussion of the

composition of the households of youths represented by the present sample is appropriate. For

about 86 percent of the youths, two persons were

listed on the census interview form as parents

or guardians, the most frequent combination being

mother and father (78 percent of all youths). For

the remaining 14 percent of the youths, the household was apparently headed by one person, usually

the mother (in about 12 percent of the cases) and

much less often the father (in about 2 percent of

the cases). These figures are in fairly close

agreement with 1970 U.S. Census information.2G

Decisionmaking practices in the home.—The

youths were asked to indicate who in the family

made most of the decisions on “choosing your

clothes,” “how to spend your money,” “which

friends to go out with,” and “how late you can

stay out.” Detailed responses to the questions

are presented in tables 15 through 18 and summarized in table D. About 52 percent of the teenagers reported they alone decided how to spend

their money, 46 percent reported autonomy in

choosing their friends, 34 percent reported they

usually chose their own clothes, and only 5 percent reported they were allowed to fix their own

hours. Autonomy in most of those areas of

decisionmaking was highly associated with the

age and sex of the youths. In all areas boys reported more independence than girls, and older

boys and girls reported more autonomy than

younger ones.

Allowance. —About half of the youths in the

survey reported that they received an allowance

(table 19). Receiving an allowance was related

to the age and sex of the youth. Proportionately

more girls than boys reported receiving an allowance. Allowances became less common as the

Table D, Percent of youtha in selected age

groupa reporting autonomy in deciaionmaking,

by aex and type of decision: United Statea,

1966-70

Selected age group and

type of decision

12-17 years

Choosing clothes----------

HOW to spend money--------

Friends to go out with----

How late to stay out------

12 years

Choosing clothes-------7--

How to spend money--------

Friends to go out with----

How late to stay out------

17 years

Choosing clothes----------

How to spend money--------

Friends to go out with----

How late to stay out------

EEEa

percent of youths

33.8 35,8

52.1 53.4

4:,; 5;,;

. .

15.2 14.5

43.0 44.8

35.8 38.8

1.5 2.8

-L57.5 62.9

63,3 65.1

58.7 67.8

13.4 19.5

31.8

50,8

39,1

2.5

16.0

41.3

32.8

0.2

52.0

61.5

49.6

7.1

10
youths grew older and began part-time work. At

every age, a higher percentage of girls than boys

reported receiving an allowance.

For about half of the youths who received

allowances, the amount was decided by both parents (table 19). For the others, the mother alone

decided the amount for about 27 percent of the

youths and the father alone for about 19 percent.

That pattern differed, however, for girls and for

boys. Fathers tended to determine the amount

for sons, while mothers tended to determine the

amount for daughters.

Most youths who received an allowance, 56

percent, felt that both parents should decide the

amount of their allowance (table 19). Ofthose who

thought otherwise, a greater percentage of boys

than girls felt that the father should decide— 23

percent compared to 12.5 percent. Correspondingly, more girls than boys believed that the

mother should decide. The option of choosing one’s

own amount of allowance was not offered.

About seven of every 10 youths ‘who received

an allowance reported that they had to perform

chores or duties for the money they received

(table 19). Responses were similar for boys and

for girls. Further, about one of every four youths

receiving an allowance reported that the allowance

was sometimes withheld as a punishment (table

19). Boys were more likely than girls to report

punishment of this nature. The practice occurred

less often among older youths than among younger

ones.

Separation jrom family. --About 16 percent of

noninstitutionalized youths aged 12-17 indicated

that at some time they had been away from their

immediate family for at least 2 months (table 20).

Information regarding lengthy separation serves

in this report as an indicator of independence in

the sense of being able to function outside the

emotional support of the immediate family. The

percentage of youths who had spent at least this

long a period away from home increased with age,

as expected, but even among the 17-year-olds only

about one youth in four had ever been away for this

long a period. In the age range encompassed in the

survey, proportionately more girls reported such

separations than boys. The difference was small

but statistically significant.

Youths who reported they had been away from

home for at least 2 months were also asked where

they stayed (table 20). Most of them indicated

they had stayed with relatives (57 percent). About

11 percent had been at camp, 4 percent at boarding school, about 4 percent at a hospital, and about

12 percent elsewhere. About 12 percent of the

youths indicated they had stayed at two or more

of the places listed. Girls reported separations

from their families at earlier ages than boys did.

Use of Leisure Time

Several questions in the present study asked

the youths about the use of their leisure time. The

youths were asked to estimate about how much

time they spent during the usual day watching

television; listening to the radio; reading newspapers, comics, or magazines; and, finally, reading books. Results are summarized in figure 7 and

table E.

Watching television. —Almost all of the

youths, 95 percent, watched some television during

a usual day, with 89 percent viewing for an hour

or more per day (table 21). About one out of every

four youths usually watched 4 or more hours of

television a day. Television viewing tended to

decrease s] ightly with age from 12-17 years, and

this trend was clearer for girls than for boys.

Even at age 17, however, nine of every 10 youths

watched some television on a usual day. The

median, or typical, amount of timle spent watching television on a usual day was approximately

3 hours. Median viewing time decreased slightly

with age, declining from about 3 hours per day

for 12- and 13-year-olds to about 2 hours, 20

minutes for 17-year- olds.

Present findings and those from the previous

survey of children are generally consistent with

findings fro m other large-scale studies of television viewing among children and youths. 27-30

Those studies indicate that after reaching a peak

of about 3 hours per day at ages 12 or .13, the

average amount of televiewing tends to decrease

with age.

Listening to the radio.—About 85 percent of

American youths spend some time during a usual

day listening to the radio (table 22). While television viewing tended to decrease slightly as

youths grew older, listening to the radio increased

with age. The percentage of youths who spent some

time listening to the radio increased from 74 per11
1 hr. -

Le~~~ tessthan

2 hr. - 3 hr. - 4 hr..

None lessthan lessthan lessthan 5 hr.

2 hr. 3 hr. 4 hr. 5 hr. ‘r ‘ore

TIME SPENT WATCHING TELEVISION

5s.9

3.7 4“9

m

::::~~

.::::*.

........

Lessthan 1 hr. - 2 hr. - 3 hr.. 4 hr..

None

1 hr. lessthan lessthan lessthan lessthan ~~&e

2 hr. 3 hr. 4 hr. 5 hr.

1.7 1.6

TIME SPENT REAOING NEWSPAPERS, COMICS, OR MAGAZINES

1 hr. -

‘e~~~ lessthan

2 hr.. 3 hr.. 4 hr..

None Ies than lessthan lessthan ~~~;,e

2 hr. 3 hr. 4 hr. 5 hr.

TIME SPENT LISTENING TO RAOIO

= 1,.year.ohk

~ 17.,,,,.0,,s

24.6

14.4

4

11.4

..::,

“z. $:::

?j:”

,*

:... J&&_&ii

Lessthan ,e~~h;” 2 hr.. 3 hr.. 4 hr..

None

1 hr. lessthan [.?ssthan leM than ~f~$e

2 hr. 3 hr. 4 hr. 5 hr.

TIME SPENT REAOING 600KS

Figure 7. Percent distributions of 12- and 17-year-old U.S. youths by time spent in various leisure-time activities on a usual day.

12
Table E. Median length of time spent by youths in selected activities on a usual day,

by sex and selected ,age groups: United States, 1966-7CI

I I

I

12-17 years I I

Activity 12 17

Both years

Boys Girls

years

sexes

Watching television ----------------------

Listening to the radio -------------------

Reading newspapers, comics, or magazines--

Reading books ----------------------------

cent among 12-year-olds to 92 percent among

17-year-olds. About 61 percent of the youths reported an houror more ofradiolistening per clay.

About 35 percent listened to the radio for20r

more hours a day. The median, ortypical,listening time was approximately an hour and a half

per day. Girls spent more time listening to the

radio than boys. For both sexes, median listening time increased with age.

Reading newspapers, comics, ov magazines .—An estimated 86 percent of American

youths spend some time readitig newspapers,

comics, or magazines during a usual day (table

23), About 31percent of the youthsreported reading such material for an hour or more per day,

Median reading time, equal for boys and girls,

was about 45 minutes per day. Nfedian reading

time increased with age from nearly 40 minutes

for 12-year-olds to about 50minutesfor 17-yearolds. Slightly more girls than boys did some of

this type of reading,

Reading books.--Four out of five youths reported that they spent sometime during theusual

day reading books (table 24). Not only disproportionately more girls than boys read booksat

each year of age, but girls spentmoretime reading than boys did, The median time for girls was

about 1 hour and 20 minutes, whileforboys it was

slightly less than 1 hour. Older youths,especially

boys, were more likely than younger ones toreport spending no time reading. About 53 percent

of the youths spent 1 hour or more reading books

during a usual day.

Median time (in hr. and min.)

2h-46m 2h-47m 2h-43m 2h-53m 2h-22m

lh-24m lh-06m lh-43m Oh-51m lh-59m

Oh-43m Oh-42m Oh-44m Oh-37m Oh-48m

lh-06m Oh-55m lh-19m lh-06m lh-15m

School, Work, and Educational Goals

School occupies a central position inthelives

of most youths in the age range encompassed in

this study. About 96 percent of the youths in the

survey reported that they were enrolledinschool

(table 25). Asexpected, nonenrollmentwas highest.

among the 16- and 17-year-olds.

Of the youths in school, about 40 percent

reported they also worked during theschool year,

thus attaining some measure of economic independence (table 25). The percentage of students

who worked during the school year increased as

youths grew older. At every age proportionately

more boys than girls reported working. At age

12, 38 percent of the boys and 27percent of the

girls reported that they worked during the school

year. By age 17, 60 percent of the boys and45

percent of the girls reported working during the

school year. Older youths worked more hours

per week than younger ones (table 25). A%out84

percent of the youths who worked during the

school year were paid for their work (table 25);

by age 17, 93 percent of the youths who worked

were paid for their work.

Almost half of the youths in school, 48percent, reported that they engaged in some work

during summer vacation, 12 percent working full

time and about 36 percent part time (table 26).

Summer work varied with the ageandsex of the

youth.Olderyouths were more likely thanyounger

ones to engage in summer work. Boys were more

likely to engage in summer work, full time or

13
part time, than girls were. Among 17- year-olds

an estimated 84 percent of boys and 56 percent

of girls worked during summer vacation.

Among youths not enroHed in school, boys

and girls indicated somewhat different situations

regarding employment. Since nonenrollees were

mostly 16- and 17-year- olds, analysis of differences in work status in those age groups is emphasized (table 27). The following estimates concerning work status obtained in the Survey apply

to the period 1966-70 and are not intended as

official employment statistics. TQey are presented

for the trends and differences in demographic

groups they reveal, patterns which are related to

adolescent development. About 27 percent of the

16-year-old youths not in school reported that

they had a job, 46 percent reported that they did

not have a job but were seeking one, and 27 percent responded that they did not have a job and

were not looking for one. Among 17- year -olds

not in school, 50 percent reported having a job,

29 percent were looking for one, and 21 percent

were not employed and not seeking employment.

Work and job-seeking activities differed for girls

and for boys. Among 17-year-olds who were not

in school, 62 percent of the boys reported that

they had a job, an additional 27 percent responded

that they did not have a job but were looking for

one, and only about 10 percent were neither working nor looking for work. Among 17- year- old girls

not in school, the corresponding percentages were

37 percent employed, 31 percent not employed but

seeking a job, and 32 percent neither having a job

nor seeking one.

Youths in the present survey were also questioned about their aspirations and expectancies

regarding school. The responses of youths in

elementary or secondary school, an estimated

96 percent of the youths, are shown in table 28.

Almost all (99 percent) reported they would like

to at least finish high school, and most expressed

the hope of continuing some form of education

beyond high school. A very small group, about 2

percent of the 15-year-olds and 1 percent of the

16- and 17-year-olds, reported the desire to quit

school as soon as possible, About 22 percent of

the youths hoped to finish high school and take no

further training, a percentage which was similar

for girls and boys. Girls were more likely than

boys to express the hope of obtainingso?ne college

or other training after high school, such as

nursing, business, or trade school; the percentages were 37 percent versus 29 percent. Boys,

on the other hand, were more likely than girls

to aspire to getting a college degree or finishing

college and tuking furthav training.

The educational desires of youths who had

graduated from high school and who were not enrolled in further schooling at the time of the survey

and of those who were enrolled in some post-high

school education are presented in table 29. Also

shown are the educational desires of the relatively

small number of youths who had left school before

graduating. Interestingly, only about 37 percent

of the dropouts wished to remain out of school.

Almost half, 48 percent, wanted to finish high

school, and the remainder, about 15 percent, reported higher educational aspirations.

In addition to being asked what they would like

to do about school, the youths were asked what

they thought would actually happen with respect to

school. Responses are shown for the same categories of current school enrollment as in the question on aspirations (tables 28 and 29). Responses

to the two questions are compared in table 30.

Among youths enrolled in elementary or

secondary school, aspirations and expectancies

coincided for the most part, but there were some

interesting exceptions. Ofthe 1.2 percent of youths

in school who wished to quit school as soon as

possibIe, about 62 percent thought this would actually happen, while about 30 percent thought they

would probably finish high school. The rest expected to remain in the educational system beyond

high school. Of the 22 percent of youths in school

who wished to finish high school and pursue no

further formal education, about 2 percent expected

to drop out, and about 12 percent expected to

continue some formal education beyond high

school. Of the students who aspired to a college

degree, about 20 percent did not expect to realize

their desires.

Values

Among the major developmental tasks of the

adolescent is the structuring of a value system

which will satisfy his own self-image and provide

a pattern of adaptation to the demands of the external world. 3I

14
Eleven questions included in the survey attempted to assess the importance to youths of a

variety of personal traits or values. The traits

cover the areas of socialization, orientation toward others, significant internal aspects of personality development, and general orientation to

life. The inquiry was phrased: “How important

do you think it is for a young person to have each

of the qualities or characteristics listed below?”

The response options for each trait were extvemely important, important, slightly important,

and unimpo?%nt. The 11 traits were:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

To be neat and clean.

To be able to defend oneself.

To have self-control.

To be happy.

To obey one’s parents.

To be dependable.

To be considerate of others.

To face life’s problems calmly.

To obey the law.

To be ambitious.

To know how to keep in good health.

Percent distributions of the responses to each of

the traits according to the sex and age of the

youths are presented in tables 32 through 37. Results are summarized in table F.

The average number of those personal traits

ranked as extremely important was about six.

Girls were more likely than boys to characterize

the traits as extremely important (table 31). About

8 percent of the youths regarded all 11 traits as

being extremely important, while about 4 percent

did not rate any of the 11 traits that way.

The relative importance of the traits varied

with the sex and age of the youths and reflect

attitudes of youths during the period 1966-1970.

The trait most frequently rated by boys as extremely important was obedience to the law, with

70 percent responding that way. The second most

important trait for boys was obedience to one’s

parents, considered extremely important by 64

percent. Among girls, obedience to the law tied

with neatness and cleanliness as the traits most

frequently chosen as extremely important; 75

percent of the girls replied in that way. The rank

order of the traits according to importance to

all youths is shown in table F.

Table F. Percent distribution of youths aged 12-17 years by attitudes toward selected traits:

United States, 1966-70

Trait

To

To

To

To

To

To

To

To

To

To

To

—

obey the law---------------------

be neat and clean ----------------

obey one’s parents---------------

know how to keep in good health--

have self-control----------------

be dependable--------------------

be considerate of others---------

be happy-------------------------

face life’s problems calmly------

be ambitious---------------------

be able to defend oneself--------

Degree of importance

Total Extremely Important Slightly

important important Unimportant

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0”

100.O

100,0

100.0

100.0

Percent distribution

72.3

68.4

66.1

64.4

62.9

59.2

51.1

50.2

46.1

34.1

30.7

25.1

29.5

30.8

33.0

33.8

36.9

44.2

42.8

47.5

53.0

55.3

2.2

1.8

2.5

2.2

2.6

3.2

3.8

5.8

5.5

10.4

12.6

0.4

0.3

0.6

0.4

0.7

0.8

1.0

1.2

0.9

2.5

1.5

15
Girls were more likely than boys to rate the

following traits as extremely important: obedience

to the law, neatness and cleanliness, obedience

to one’s parents, happiness, and consideration of

others. Boys were more likely than girls to think

that the ability to defend oneself was extremely

important.

The importance attributed to several of the

traits was associated with the age as well as the

sex of the youths. Amc}lg boys, obedience to the

law was most frequently rated as extremely important during ages 12 through 15. For 16-yearolds the trait most. frequently rated as extremely

important was self - control, while for the 17- yearolds it was dependability. Among girls, obedience

to the law was the trait most often rated as extremely important at ages 12 and 13, but it was

replaced by neatness and cleanliness at ages 14

through 17. Thus, among both boys and girls, there

is a trend for obedience to the law to be less often

regarded as extremely important as the youths

grew older. Even at age 17, however, this trait

was considered extremely important by 63 percent

of the youths and considered important by an additional 33 percent. Very few 17-year-olds, about

3 percent, regarded obedience to the law as

slightly important or unimportant (table 32).

The importance of being neat and clean as

measured by the percentage of ratings of ‘‘extremely important” increased as girls grew older,

but this trend was not apparent among boys (table

32). Obedience to parents was less frequently rated

as extremely important and more often as important as youths grew older, a trend discernible

among both boys and girls (table 33). A similar

trend of somewhat decreasing importance with

age characterized the trait of knowing how to keep

in good health (table 33). The importance of having

self- control increased in importance among girls

as they grew older, but this was not true for boys

(table 34). Other qualities that were more likely

to be rated as extremely important as youths

grew older were dependability, consideration for

others, happiness, and ambition (tables 34- 36).

Perception of the Need for Medical Care

A number of the self-report questionnaire

items required the youth to rate selected medical

conditions or symptoms according to the youth’s

self-perceived need for consulting a doctor. The

youth was asked, “If you had any of the following

conditions, would you want a doctor to know about

it? (Includes your seeing him or a telephone call

about it.)” Twelve conditions were listed (table G).

For each condition the three response options

were: definitely want to see a doctor, pvoba bly

want to see a doctoy, and not want to see a doctoz

Responses to the questions are shown according

to age and sex in tables 39-42 and summarized in

table G. The question did not probe into the frequency, intensity, or duration of the condition or

symp~om.

Not unexpectedly, some of the conditions were

much more likely to be perceived as serious

problems than others. The relative seriousness

with which youths viewed the symptoms is shown

in table G, where the symptoms are ranked in

severity as reflected by the percentage of responses of “definitely want to see a doctor.”

Blood in urine or bowel movement was considered the most serious symptom, with three

in four youths responding that they would definitely

want to see a doctor if they had that condition

(table G).

A lump in the stomach or abdomen was considered next most serious by boys, 68 percent.

Girls viewed this symptom with as much concern

as they did blood in urine or bowel movement;

about three out of four girls would definitely want

to see a doctor for either condition. The next most

serious symptom for all youths was pain in chest,

a symptom for which about half of the youths would

definitely want to consult a doctor. The remaining

conditions were ranked in the following order of

seriousness: hurt all over (45 percent), stiff neck

or back (24 percent), loss of appetite (19 percent),

overtiredness (15 percent), nervousness (14 percent), vomiting (12 percent), sore throat (8 percent), stomach ache (4 percent), and headache

(3 percent).

The seriousness of the conditions was perceived differently by boys and girls. Proportionately more girls than boys would definitely want

to see a doctor if they had any of the following

conditions or symptoms: lump in stomach (76

percent versus 68 percent), pain in chest (56 percent versus 45 percent), hurt all over (47 percent

16
Table G. Percent distribution

tor for selected

of youths aged 12-17 years by perceived need for a docmedical symptoms: United States, 1966-70

Condition or symptom

Blood in urine or bowel movement ------

Lump in stomach or abdomen ------------

Pain in chest -------------------------

Hurt all over -------------------------

Stiff neck or back --------------------

Loss of appetite ----------------------

Overtiredness -------------------------

Nervousness -------- -------- --..----- ---

Vomiting -------- -------- -------- ------

Sore throat ---------------------------

Stomach ache -------e -------- -------- --

Headache --------- --------- ------------

Total

Definitely

want to

see doctor

Probably

want to

see doctor

Not want to

see doctor

versus 42 percent), orstiff neckor back(26 percent versus 21 percent).

The average number of conditions orsymptoms rated as indicating adefinite need for consulting a doctor was 3.4 (table 38). Less than 1

percent of the youths rated all 12 conditionsas

definitely warranting a physician’s attention, while

about 14 percent thought that none of them definitely warranted calling a doctor. The distribution

of responses was skewed, with four of thesymptoms accounting for about 71 percent of theresponses of definite need to consult a doctor.

In addition to the differences in responses

between boys and girls, perceived seriousness

of some of the conditions changedas youths grew

older. Older youths of both sexes looked on the

conditions blood in urine or bowel movement and

lump in stomach with somewhat more concern

than younger ones did (table 39). Inaddition,older

girls regarded the symptom pain inthe chestas

more serious than younger ones did (table 39).

Conditions which were perceived as less

serious by older than younger youths were hurt

all over, stiff neck or back, and stomach ache.

100,0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

Percent distribution

74.5

71.7

50.1

44.6

23.8

19.4

14.8

13.7

11.9

8,1

4,3

2,8

19.6

22.9

39.3

39.4

37,8

39.9

35.8

43.3

34.3

36.5

19.6

14,0

5,9

5.4

10.6

15.9

38.4

40.7

49.4

42.9

53.8

55.4

76.1

83.2

Older boys viewed the symDtoms . .sore throat and

vomiting-as less serious than younger boys did,

and older girls regarded loss of appetiteas less

serious than younger girls did.

Perception of the Need for Dental Care

In another section of the questionnaire seven

dental conditions or symptoms were listed, and

the youths were asked whether they would want to

seea dentistif theyhadanyofthem (table H).Tbe

format of the question was similarto that for the

medical conditions and symptoms. Detailed responsesto each of the questions on dental conditions are shown accordingtothe ageandsex of the

youths in tables 44-46. Responses indicate that,

as with the medical symptoms discussed in the

preceding section, youths considered it more

important to consult a dentist about some conditions than about others. Arankingoftherelative seriousness of the conditions as measured

by the percentage of responsesof “definitelywant

tosee a dentist” is shown in table He

17
Table H. Percent distribution of youths aged 12-17 years by perceived need for a dentist for selected dental cond~tions: .United States, 1966-70

Condition or symptom

Hole or cavity in a tooth—even

though it did not hurt -------------

Crooked teeth -----------------------

A toothache -------------------------

Sores in the mouth ------------------

Sore gums---------------------------

S~ta; ~;fteeth that would not

- - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - -

Bad breath -------- -------- -------- --

Definitely Probably

Total want to want to Not want to

see dentist see dentist see dentist

Percent distribution

100,0

100,0

100,0

100.0

100;0

100.0

100,0

The condition regarded bythelargestnumber

of boys,and girls asdefinitely requiringadentist’s

attention was hole or cavity in a tooth—even

though it did not hurt. About 65 percent of the

youths indicated they would definitely want to see

a dentist ifthey had that condition. Crooked teeth

and toothache were next most serious, according

to the youths, with about 53 percent definitely

wantingto see adentistfor either condition. About

48 percent of the youths would definitely want to

see a dentist if they had sores in their mouths.

The remaining conditions were rankedasfollows:

sore gums (39 percent), stains onthe teeth that

would not brush off (34 percent), and bad breath

(8 percent). Although girls were more likely than

boys to definitely want to see adentist for each

of the seven conditions, the only sex differences

in perceived seriousness large enoughto be statistically significant were for the symptom sore

gums and the condition sores in the mouth.

The average number of dental conditions for

which youths would definitely want to see a dentist

was about three (table 43). About 3 percent of the

youths would definitely want to seea dentist for

all seven dental conditions, while 12 percent did

not feel they would definitely want to see a dentist

for anyone ofthem.

64,7

52.8

52.7

47.6

39*O

33.6

8.2

29,2

38.0

37,8

33.8

44.2

50.6

18,3

6,1

9.2

9.6

18,5

16.9

15,8

73,6

Aspects of Social Behavior

Running away porn home.--About one of

every 10 youths 12-17 years of age in the noninstitutionalized population of the United States

reported having run away from home (table 47).

About 7 percent reported th.ey had run awayonce,

and an additional 3 percent indicated they hadrun

away morethan once. Running away fromhomewas

defined as “leaving or staying away on purpose,

knowing you would be missed, intending to stay

away from home, at least for sometime.’’ Differences in responses between boys and girls were

small enough to be explained by sampling variability. Proportionately more older than younger

youths reported theyhadever runaway fromhome.

Youths who indicated they had run away at least

once also reported their age when they first ran

away (table 48),

Contacts with police. —Almost one youth in

five (18.8 percent) reported having had, at least

once, some contact with “police, sheriff, or juvenile officers for something you did or they

thought you did” (table 49). About 13 percent had

had one such contact, 3 percent two contacts, and

3 percent more than two contacts. Boys reported

this type of experience with much greater fre18
quency than girls, 29.3 percent versus 8.1 perct?nt. The likelihood of such contacts increased

with age, particularly among boys. The percentage

of boys who had had at least one contact with the

police or other authorities increased from 16 percent of 12-year-olds to about 44 percent of 17-

year- olds. In interpreting this information it must

be recalled that the present survey was limited

to the noninstitutionalized population of youths;

thus no youths in jails or reform schools during

the time of the survey would be included in the

results.

The reasons for the police-youth contacts

were of the types that one would expect to occur

during adolescence. They included questioning

about thefts (mostly shoplifting), moving traffic

violations, physical aggression toward others

(mostly fighting), vandalism, trespassing, schoolrelated problems (truancy, vandalism, misbehavior, and trespassing), contacts concerning

drinking alcoholic beverages or possessing illegal drugs, public safety contacts (playing in

streets, using fireworks, disorderly behavior),

corltacts concerning curfew, loitering, or vagrancy

laws, running away from home, and a host of other

minor acts, questionings, or warnings which defy

classification. It should be emphasized that these

were the reasons given by the youths for the

police contacts and that the contacts inmost cases

did not result in formal charges or arrests. Official statistics on arrests are “published annually

by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in

Uniform Crime Reports fov the United Stutes.32

The youths who indicated some police contact

were asked whether they had been arrested. About

15 percent of them said they had (table 49), a

figure representing about 3 percent of all noninstitutionalized youths aged 12-17. About 4 percent did not know whether or not they had been

arrested, and the vast majority, over 80 percent,

reported they had not been arrested. It is emphasized that these figures cannot be interpreted

as true arrest rates. Many youths may have confused questioning by police or going to a police

station with being arrested and did not know

whether they had in fact been c~arged or ar,rested.

The results simply illustrate how the youths themselves perceived and recalled the police contacts.

Boys indicating contacts with police were more

likely to report arrests than girls who reported

police contacts (17.0 percent versus 6.4 perce-nt),

and older boys who reported police contacts were

more likely than younger ones to report arrests.

Dating behavior. —An estimated 48 percent

of the youths had had at least one date (table 50),

which was defined as “a boy and girl going out

together, whether or not anyone else was along.”

Dating patterns differed for boys and for girls,

and, as expected, more older youths dated than

younger ones. For boys, having had a date increased from 10 percent among the 12- year-olds

to 85 percent among the 17- year- olds; for girls,’

the percentage rose from 7 percent of the 12-

year-olds to 93 percent of the 17-year-olds. Between ages 12 and 14, the percentages of boys

and girls who dated were similar, but from age

15 through 17, girls were more likely than boys’

to have dated. The typical 17-year-old reported

having had the first date when he or she was

about 16 years old.

SUMMARY

This report has presented information on

selected health characteristics, attitudes, and

behavior of youths in the age range 12-17 years.

The estimates are based on answers to questionnaires completed by the youths themselves in the

national Health Examination Survey of 1966-70.

In the survey, a national probability sample of

noninstitutionalized youths 12-17 years of age was

selected and examined. The response rate was

90 percent. Because of the sample design, adjustment for nonresponse, and statistical weighting procedures employedt survey results may be

considered representative of the approximately

23 million noninstitutionalized youths in this age

range at the time of the survey with respect to age,

sex, race, region, and other demographic and

socioeconomic characteristics.

The report is descriptive in nature and discusses the association of sex and age with responses to a wide range of questions concerning

adolescent health and development. The areas represented include general health status; patterns

of cigarette smoking; attitudes toward physical

development and appearance; behavior related to

sleep; family relationships and the development

19
of personal independence; use of leisure time; of present survey findings is made, where posschool, work, and educational goals; and values. sible, with findings from previous studies. Age

Also included are some aspects of social behavior, trends and sex differences for many of the selfperception of the need for medical or dental care, reported health characteristics, attitudes, and

and other health characteristics. A comparison behavioral patterns were evident.

000

REFERENCES

1

Natiomd Center for Health Statistics: Plan and operation

of a health examination survey of U.S. youths 12-17 years of

age. Vital and Health Statistics, PHS Pub. No. 1000-Series

l-No. 8. Public Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government

Printing Office, Sept. 1969.

2

Nationid Center for Health Statistics: Origin, program,

and operation of the U.S. Natiomd Health Survey. Vital and

Health Stuhktics, PHS pub. No. 1000-Series l-No, 1. Public

Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office,

Apr. 1965.

3

National Center for Health Statistics: Plan and initial

program of the Health Examination Survey, Vital and Health

Statistics. Series l-No. 4. DHEW Pub. No. (HRA) 74-1038.

Health Resources Administration. Washington. U.S.

Government Printing Office, Nov. 1973.

4

Natiomd Center for Health Statistics: Cycle I of the

Health Examination Survey: Sample and response, United

States, 1960-1962. Vital and HeaZth Statistics. PHS pub. No.

1000-Series 11-No, 1. public Health Service. Washington. U,S.

Government Printing Office, Apr. 1964,

5

National Center for Health Statistics: Plan, operation,

and response results of a program of children’s examinations.

Vitaf and Hea~tk Statistics. PHS pub. No. 1000-Series l-No. 5.

public Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing

Office, Oct. 1967.

6

National Center for Health Statistics: Sample design and

estimation procedures for a national health examination survey

of children. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 2-No. 43. DHEW

Pub. No. (HSM) 72-1005. Health Services and Mental Health

Administration.Washington.U.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice,

Aug. 1971.

7

National Center for Health Statistics: Behavior patterns in

school of youths 12-17 years, United States. Vital and Health

Statistics. Series 11-No. 139. DHEW Pub. No. (HRA) 74-1621.

Health Resources Administration. Washington. U.S.

Government Printing Office, May 1974.

8

National Center for Health Statistics: Parent ratings of

behavioral patterns of youths 12-17 years, United States. Vital

qnd Health Statistics. Series 1l-No. 137. DHEW Pub. No.

(HRA) 74-1619. Health Resources Administration.

Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1974.

9

Natiomd Center for Health Statistics: Examination and

health history fhdings among children and youths, 6-17 years,

United States. Vital and Health Statistics.” Series 1l-No. 129.

DHEW Pub. No. (HRA) 74-1611. Health Resources

Administration. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office,

Nov. 1973.

10

Natiomd Center for Health Statistics: Language and

adjustment scales for the Thematic Apperceptiorr Test for

youths 12-17 years. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 2-No. 62.

Health Resources Adtninistration, DHEW, Rockville, Md. In

preparation.

11

Natiotud Center for Health Statistics: P~ent ratings of

behavioral patterns of children, United States. Vital and Health

Statistics, Series 1l-No. 108. DHEW pub. No, (HSM) 72-1010.

Health Servjces and Mental Health Administration. Washington.

U.S. Government Printing Office, Nov. 1971.

12

National Center for Heakh Statistics: Behavior patterns of

children in school, United States. Vital and Health Statistics.

Series 11-No. 113. DHEW Pub, No. (HSM) 72-1042. Health

Services and Mentzd Health Administration. Washington, U.S.

Government Printing Office, Feb. 1972.

13

Natiomd Center for Health Statistics: Relationships

among parent ratings of behavioral characteristics of chilrlren,

United States. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 11-No. 121.

DHEW Pub. No. (HSM) 73-1603. Health Services and Mental

Health Administration. Washington. U.S. Government Printing

Office, Oct. 1972.

20
14

Natiomd Center for Health Statistics: Replication: An

approach to the ~~YSiS Of data from complex SUIXWYS.Vital

wld Htdth Statistics. PHS Pub. No. 1000-Series 2-No. 14.

Public Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing

Office, Apr. 1966.

15

Nariomd Center for Health Statistics: Pseudoreplication:

Further evaluation and application of the balanced half-sample

technique. Vital and Health Statistics. PHS pub. No.

1000-Series 2-No. 31. Public Health Service. Washington. U.S.

Government Printing Office, Jan. 1969.

16

National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health: Teenage

Smakin~ National Patterns of Cigarette Srn~king, Ages 12

Throt@ 18, in 1968 and i 970. DHEW Pub. No. (HSM)

72-7508. Public Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government

Printing Office, 1971,

17

National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health: Patterns

and Prevalence of Teenage Cigarette Smoking: 1968, 1970, and

1972. DHEW Pub. No. (HSM) 73-8701, Public Health Service.

Washington. U.S. Gtsvernment Printing Office, Aug. 1972,

18

National Cen,ter for Health Statistics: Changes in cigarette

smoking habits between 19s5 and 1966. Vital and Health

St~tistics. PHS pub. No. 1000-Series 1O-NO. 59. Public Health

Service, Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, Apr.

19700

19

National Center for Health Statistics: Cigarette smoking:

United States, 1970. Monthly Vital Statistics Report. Vol. 21,

No, 3, Supplement. (HSM) 72-1132. Rockville, Md, Health

SCrviccs and Mental Health Administration, June 2, 1972.

20

McCandless, B. R.: Adolescents: Behavior and

Development. Hinsdale, Ill. The Dryden Press, Inc., 1970.

21

National Center for Health Statistics: Skinfold thickness

of youths 12-17 years, United States. Vital and Health

Statistics, Series 1l-No. 132. DHEW pub. No. (HRA) 74-1614.

Health Resources Administration. Washington. U.S.

Government Printing Office, Jan. 1974.

22

Daniel, W. A., Jr.: The Adolescent Patient. St. Louis, The

c V. Mosby Company, 1970.

23

National Clearinghouse for Mental Health Information:

Biological Rhythms in Psychiatry and Medicine. PHS Pub. No.

2088. National Institute of Mental Health. Washington. U.S.

Government Printing Office, 1970.

24

National Institute of Mental Health: Current Research on

Skep and Dreams. PHS pub. No. 1389. Washington. U.S.

Government Printing Office, 1965.

25

Nationicd Center for Health Statistics: Selected symptoms

of psychological distress, United States. Vital and Health

Statistics. PHS Pub. No. 1000-Series 1l-No. 37. Public Health

Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, Aug.

1970.

26

White House Conference on Children and Youth, 1971:

Profiles of Yot.sth. GPO Stock Number 5247-0028. Washington.

U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971.

27

Witty, P. A. : Some research on TV, in Children and TV:

Television’s Impact on the Child. Washington, D.C. Association

for Childhood Education International, Bull. 21-A, 1967. pp.

15-22.

28

Schrarnm, W., Lyle, J., and Parker, E. B.: Television in the

Lives of Our Children. .stanford, Calif. Stanford University

Press, 1961.

29

National Clearinghouse for Mental Health Information:

Television and Social Behavior: An Annotated Bibliography of

Research Focusing on Television’s Impact on Children. PHS

Pub. No. 2O99. National Institute of Mental Health.

Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971.

30

Executive Office of the President: Social Indicators, 1973.

Office o f Management and Budget. Washington. U.S.

Government Printing Office, 1973.

31Josselyn, I. M.: Adolescence. New York. Harper and Row,

1971.

32

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation: Uniform Crime

Reports for the United States. Washington. U.S. Government

Printing Office. (Annual publication)

21
LIST OF DETAILED TABLES

Table 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

Percent distribution of youths by self-appraised health status, and percent of

youths reporting a health problem they would like to discuss with a doctor, according to sex and age,with standard errors for totals: United States,1966-70---

Percent distribution of youths by frequency of anxiety feelings, according to

sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70------------

Percent distributions of youths by current smoker status and amount of smoking

among regular smokers,according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

United States, 1966-70 ----------------------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of 17-year-oLd youths who had ever tried smoking by age at

which they first tried smoking,and median age at which they first tried shoking,

according to current smoker status and sex; United States, 1966-70--------------

Percent distribution and standard errors of 17-year-old regular smokers by age

at which they began smoking regularly, and median age at which they began smoking regularly, according to sex: United States, 1966-70-------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by their

build, and height,

attitudes toward their weight, body

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

United States, 1966-70----------------------------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by preferred body build, according to perceived

body build, sex, and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-

7o------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percent of youths reporting acne, and percent distributions of youths with acne

by whether they use any treatment for it, whether they have seen a doctor about

it, and how much it bothers them , according to sex and age, with standard errors

for totals: United States, 1966-70 ----------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths reporting acne by age at which acne began, and

median age at which acne began, according to sex and age, with standard errors

for totals: United States, 1966-70----------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by amount of food eaten,according to sex and age,

with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70-------------------------

Percent distributions of youths in selected age groups by amount of food eaten,

according to sex and .self-perceived weight: United States, 1966-70--------------

Percent distributions of youths by frequency of insomnia and nightmares and

whether they sleepwalked, according to sex and age, with standard errors for

totals : United States, 1966-70--------------------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by sleeping arrangements, according to sex and

age, with standard errors for totals: United states, 1966-70--------------------

Percent distribution of youths by usual bedtime on weeknights, and median bedtime on weeknights, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

United States, 1966-70----------------------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by who makes most of the decisions on choosing

the youth’s clothes, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

United States, 1966-70----------------------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by who makes most of the decisions on”how the

youth should spend his money, according to sex and age, with standard errors for

totals: United States, 1966-70--------------A -----------------------------------

Percent distribution of youthsby who makes mostof the decisions on which friends

the youth may go out with, according to sex and age, with standard errors for

totals: United States, 1966-70--------------------------------------------------

Page

25

.26

27

28

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

22
List of Detailed Tables-Con.

Table 18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

Percent distribution of youths by who makes most of the decisions on how late

the youth may stay out, according to sex and age, with standard errors for

totals: United States, 1966-70 --------------------------------------------------

Percent of youths receiving an allowance and selected characteristics and attitudes of youths receiving an allowance, by sex and age, with standard errors for

totals: United States, 1966-70 --------------------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by whether they had been away from home for at

least 2 months and where they stayed, according to sex and age, with standard

errors for totals: United States, 1966-70---------------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by time spent watching television on a usual day,

and median time spent watching television per day,according to sex and age, with

standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by time spent listening to the radio on a usual

day, and median time spent listening to the radio per day, according to sex and

age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70--------------------

Percent distribution of youths by time spent reading newspapers? comics or

magazines on a usual day, and median time spent reading-these mater~als per day,

according to sex and age, with standard

70

errors for totals: United States, 1966-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by time spent reading books on a usual day, and

median time spent reading books per day, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70-----------------------------------

Percent of youths enrolled in school, percent distribution of those youths by

hours worked per week, and percent of those youths getting paid for their work,

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-

70------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----

Percent distribution of youths enrolled in school by summer work activity, according to sex and age,with standard errors for totals: United States,1966-70---

Percent of youths not enrolled in school and percent distribution of those

youths by work status, according to sex and selected age groups, with standard

errors for totals: United States, 1966-70---------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths enrolled in elementary or secondary school by

educational desires and expectancies, according to sex and age, with standard

errors for totals: United States, 1966-70---------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths not enrolled in elementary or secondary school

by educational desires and expectancies, according to enrollment status, selected age groups, and sex: United States, 1966-70------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by educational expectancies, according to enrollment in school and educational desires: United States, 1966-70------------------

Mean number of personal traits youths rated “extremely important” and percent

distribution of youths by number ‘ofpersonal traits rated this way, by sex and

age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70--------------------

Percent distributions of youths by attitudes toward obeying the law and being

neat and clean,according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United

States, 1966-70 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by attitudes toward obeying one’s parents and

knowing how to keep in good health, according to sex and age, with standard

errors for totals: United States, 1966-70---------------------------------------

Percent dist~ibutions of youths by attitudes toward self-control and dependability, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United

States, 1966-70-----------------------------------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by attitudes toward being considerate of others

and being happy, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

United States, 1966-70----------------------------------------------------------

Page

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

23
List of Detailed Tables—Con.

Table 36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

Percent distributions of youthsby attitudes toward facing life’s problems calmly

and being ambitious, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

United States, 1966-70 ----------------------------------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths ,by attitude toward being able to defend oneself,

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-

70 - - - -. - -- - ---------- - -- - -- -------- ----------- ---- - --- -- - ---- -- - -- ----- -- -- - --- -

Mean number of medical symptoms for which youths said they would definitely want

to see a doctor and percent distribution of youths by number of symptoms for

which they would definitely want to see a doctor, according to sex and age, with

standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the symptoms

blood in urine or bowel movement, lump in stomach or abdomen, and pain in chest,

according to sex and age,.with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-

70 ---------- ------=.. -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- ----

Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the symptoms

hurt all over, stiff neck or back, and loss of appetite, according to sex and

age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70--------------------

Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the symptoms

overtiredness, nervousness, and vomiting, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70-----------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the symptoms

sore throat, stomach ache, and headache, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70-----------------------------------

Mean numberof dental conditions for which youths said they would definitely want

to see a dentist and percent distribution of youths by number of conditions fox

which they would definitely want to see a dentist, according to sex and age,

with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70-------------------------

Yercent distributions of youths by perceived need for a dentist for the conditions hole or cavity in tooth and crooked teeth, according to sex and age, with

standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a dentist for the conditions toothache and sores in the mouth, according to sex and age, with standard

errors for totals: United States, 1966-70---------------------------------------

Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a dentist for the conditions sore gums, stains on teeth, and bad breath, ,according to sex and age, with

standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70------------------------------

Percent distribution of youths by number of times they had run away from home,

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-

70 -------- ---------------- ------.- -------- .------- -------- -------- -------- ------

Percent distribution of youths who had ever run away from home by age at which

they first ran away, and median age at which youths first ran away from home,

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-

70 --------- -------- -------- -.----------------------- ---------------- -------- ----

Percent distribution of youths by number of contacts with law enforcement officers, percent of youths reporting such contacts, and percent distribution of

those youths by whether or not they were arrested, according to sex and age,

with standard errors for totals; United States, 1966-70-------------------------

Percent of youths who had ever dated, percent distribution of youths who had

dated by age had first date, and median age at first date, according to sex and

age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70--------------------

Page

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

24
Table 1. Percent distribution of youths by self-appraisedhealth statu% and percent of youths reporting

a health problem they would like to discuss with a doctor,according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Self-appraised health status

Total Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor

Percent

of youths

reporting

a health

problem

..

Sex and age

Both sexes Percent distribution

12-17 years------------ 100.0 26.6 33.2 35.7 402 0.4 10.3

12

::

::

17

12

13

14

15

H

12

13

14

15

16

17

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

28.6

27.3

24.4

27.0

25.6

26.2

28.6

32.3

33.1

33.6

31.6

36.1

32.9

35.8

35.4

37.4

36.2

33.9

35.3

34.1

36.0

34.5

::.:

31:6

33.4

37.3

0.3

::;

0.3

0.1

0.7

0.4

7.1

1?::

12.1

10.6

12.9

10.1

8.5

1:::

11.3

10.1

12.2

10.5

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

yeura---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

Boys

12-17 years------------ 33.5

28.8

29.6

26.9

29.4

28.8

28.0

24.5

32.1

32.7

34.9

32.1

36.8

32.6

0.4

0.2

0.6

%;

0.6

0.4

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

Girls

1.2-17years------------ 33.0

ioo.o

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

32.5

33.5

32.3

31.0

35.3

33.2

6.0

1;::

12.9

11.0

13.7

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

years---------------------

28.5

25.0

21.8

24.6

22.4

24.4

35.7

36.5

41.8

36.8

36.3

37.1

0.3

0.2

0.5

0.2

0.0

0.9

Standard error

Both sexes 12-17 yearsBoys 12-17 years-------------

Girls 12-17 years------------

. . .

I

0.96 0.76 1.01 0.21 0.06 0.45

1.01 0.85 1.24 0.26 0.09 0.76

1.02 0.89 1.14 0.29 0.10 0.53

. . .

..0

25
Table 2. Percent distributionof youths by frequencyof anxiety feelings, accordingto sex

and age, with standarderrors for totals: United States, 1966-70

——.. . .

Sex and age

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

Both sexes

12-17 years-------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

Boys

12-17 years-------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

Girls

12-17 years-------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years--------

Boys 12-17 years--------------------

Girls 12-17 years-------------------

Frequencyof anxiety feelings

Total Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Percent distribution

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

10000

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

7.6

4.7

6.0

7.0

7.0

1;::

6.3

4.5

5.9

5.6

5.8

12::’

8.9

36.1

30.6

36.1

33.8

36.2

38.6

42.0

32.9

28.8

32.6

32.1

31.4

35.3

37.9

39.3

32.5

39.7

35.5

41.0

42.0

46.2

36.0

33.8

33.2

38.5

37.4

38.3

35.0

37.1

35.5

34.0

37.4

38.5

40.0

37.2

34.9

32.0

32.4

39.6

36.2

36.5

32.8

20.3

30.9

24.7

20.7

19.4

13.9

10.5

23.7

31.2

27.5

24.9

24.3

18.7

14.1

16,8

30.6

21.7

16.4

14.4

Standarderror

. . . 0.30 0.65 0.53 0.61

... 0.34 0.78 0.71 0.64

.,. 0.60 0.93 0.77 0.84

26
Table 3. Percentdistributionsof youthsby curreut smoker status and amount of smoking among regular smokers,

accordil; to sex and age, with standarderrors for totals:United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

Current smoker status Amount of daily smoking

Smoke

only

pipe

or

cigars

0.4

0.1

0:2

:::

1.5

0.7

0.3

0:4

0.4

0.7

2.9

‘1 pack

b::a~~s 2 packs

or more

packs

Total

Never

smoked

Don’t

smoke

at all

1/2 pack

but less

than 1

pack

24.9

H

17.9

18.1

30.5

34.1

25.7

ii::

20.4

31.2

35.5

23.5

now

Both sexes

12-17 years---

years------------

years------------

years------------

yeaxs------------

years------------

years------------

Boys

12-17 years---

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

ye:3rs------------

years------------

~

12-17 yerms---

years------------

years------------

ytiars------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

Percentdistributions

1.0

1:3

;::

1.5

0.8

1:0

1;8

1.2

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

54.3

77.5

69.1

54.9

45.5

41.5

33.2

49.0

31.1 100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

61.4

93.7

‘9;.;

64:9

56.2

47.2

59.0

93.7

93.0

77.0

59.1

53.6

44.3

65.3

14.3

—.

3.4

1::;

17.7

21.4

29.9

17.6

5.0

1::;

22.8

24.7

34.8

10.9

12.8

4.8

.5:5

15.6

12.9

17.2

14.4

6.3

1$:$

15.2

18.4

10.0

19.0

25.9

34.1

36.6

36.7

35.4

32.6

23.1

30.7

35.2

34.9

:;.:

29.5

71.6

62.8

51.9

41.9

34.5

27.1

59.7

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

14.8

20.9

32.9

38.2

33.2

38.6

83.5

75.4

58.0

49.2

48.7

39.4

1.6

;::

12.6

18.1

21.9

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

88.:

76.0

75.5

59.8

52.3

*

1%;

13.8

29.6

31.6

*

7:0

M

15.1

3.;

2:2

1.0

1.0

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years-- . . . 1.21 1.04 0.10 0.48 ... 2.00 1.44 1.64 0.40

... 1.16 0.93 0.19 0.78 ... ‘ 2.23 1.84 2.24 0.35

... 1.72 1.36 - 0.63 ... 3.32 2.44 1.73 0.63

BoyS 12-17

-----------.--

G% S12-17

years --------------

27
Table 4. Percent distribution of 17-year-old yoiithswho had ever tried smoking by age at which they first tried smokin;i ~d median age at which they first tried smoking, according to current smoker status and sex: United States,

Age at which 17-year-old youths first tried smoking

All 7yeF# ~ 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Median age

ages under years years years years years years years years years years in years

Current smoker

status and sex

5.9

Percent distribution

t

4.6 14.5

4.1 13.8

5.3 15.2

4.8 14.3

Both sexes --- 100.0 3.4 5.4 7.1 3.6 I 12.8 12.0 I 13.9 16.0

8.6

5.3

15.2

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

:::

6.3

6.8

5.9

6.4

8.2

3.2

4.7

1.9

3.4

6.0

1.1

4.5

4.9

3.6

7.5

2.8

4.5 14.4

2.6 10.7

4.2 Y2.8

6.0 15.6

2.7 10.4

4.3 14.5

4.7 15.8

3.5 12.1

11.6 13.5

12.5 14.5

11.1 11.2

14.6

17.8

15.9

11.8

19.3

14.6

14.3

15.0

2;::

16.7

10.3

22.1

11.5

J::

Boys------.------

Girls --------------

Tried smokinz but

not regular smoker

Both sexes--- 6.0 7.7

10.7

5.8

10.1 11.7

11.9 10.7

11.2 17.7

3.7 13.3

5.8 15.2

3.2 13.2

2.9 12.6

3.7 13.9

8.0

4.3

Boys ---------------

Girls --------------

Regular smoker

4.3 8.0

8.7

6.8

Both sexes ---

11.5 14.8

10.6 23.0

Boys ---------------

Girls --------------

6.6

I

Table 5. Percent dis tribution and standard errors of 17-year-old regular smokers by age at which they began smoking

regularly, and median age at which they began smoking regularly, according to sex: United States, 1966-70

Age at which 17-year-old smokers began smoking regularly

Total ;~dy%~r 11 years

12 years 13 years 14 years 15 years 16 years 17 years

Sex

{edian age

in years

Percent distribution

100,0 2.0 3.0

100.0 3.0 4.1

100.0 1.0

15.7

15.5

15.8

Both sexes -

Boys -------------

Girls ------------

2.5 7.6 14.0 16.3 31.8 22.8

3.3 7.7 13.8 17.2 29.9 21.0

1.1 7.5 14.5 14.6 35.3 2.5.9

Standard error

Both sexesBoys-------------

Girls------------

. . . 1,06 1.15 0.88 1.83 2.67 2.66 3.49 3.08

1-

---

... 2.25 1.70 1.29 2.05 3.57 2.81 4.12 3.51 ---

... 1.26 0.97 1.10 3.11 3.74 3.87 5.32 5.02 ---

28
Table 6. Percent distributions of Youths bv their attitudes toward their weight. body build. and height, according to

sex and ag~, with ~tandard errors for totals: United-States,-1966-70

Self-perceived

body build $elf-perceivedweight Preferred weight Preferred height

I

lnder- Right

*eight weight EEEElzi

Percent distributions

T

About

Shorter the

same

Sex and age

Thinner

than

most

Over -

weight Heavier Taller

Both sexes

12-17 years--- 13.5 66.4 20.1 16.3 64.9

70.8

65.1

63.7

63.3

63.6

62.3

65.9

18.8

14.5

19.1

20.8

19.9

19.4

19.3

15.5

32.9

27.8

32.2

31.8

34.6

34.8

37.3

17.9

48.0 19.1 7.3 57.8

55.4

56.3

57.7

56.5

59.8

61.9

48.2

43.9

47.6

48.6

47.2

49.4

53.4

67.7

67.4

65.2

67.0

66.2

70.4

70.4

34.9

12

13

ii

16

11

12

13

14

15

i;

12

13

14

15

16

17

12.1

11.8

13.9

13.1

14.2

16.3

17.9

71.1

68.8

65.8

65.2

64.8

61.8

69.7

16.7

19.4

20.3

21.7

20.9

21.8

14.8

15.8

15.5

16.8

16.9

18.5

56.9

50.6

49.8

46.1

42.5

40.6

55.0

6.4

8.3

6.8

7.8

7.1

7.4

1.9

;:;

1.9

i:?

2.0

12.8

38.2

35.4

35.5

35.7

33.1

30.7

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

w

12-17 years--- 12.4 18.6 27.1 49.8

15.7

13,4

18.0

17.9

20.1

23.0

9.0

72.4

72.0

70.6

69.6

68.6

64.2

63.0

11.9

14.6

11.4

12.5

11.2

12.8

16.0

15.9

18.4

19.9

20,6

21.5

71.7

66.4

64.2

63.9

65.9

62.7

63.9

12.3

17.7

17.4

16.2

13.5

15.7

22.2

20.6

20.6

16.2

16.5

15.5

17.5

48.4

59.0

57.8

59.0

54.3

50.6

48.0

40.8

54.6

43.1

40.4

37.5

34.3

33.1

20.4

21.6

24.8

29.2

33.9

34.6

54.5

49.8

49.5

50.9

49.1

44.6

yeats ------------

years ------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

_

12-17 years--- 28.0 14.0 10.8 19.5

8.4

10.2

9.6

8.2

;::

69.8

65.6

60,8

60.6

61,0

59.4

21.7

24.3

29.6

31.2

30.8

30.9

13.4

15.6

12.5

13.6

13.2

15.4

16.7

20.6

24.2

23.7

25.5

22.8

35.2

44.1

47.8

53.2

54.7

57.3

10.1

12.8

11.8

1?:?

9.6

11.3

14.3

11.8

13.8

12.9

12.9

21.3

20.6

21.2

20.0

16.7

16.7

yt3ms ------------

years ------------

years ------------

y@ars ------------

years------------

years------------

standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years--

BOYS 12-17 yeara----

Girls 12-17 years---

0.63 0.83 0.45 0.53 0.82 0.50 0.43 0.66 0.51 0.38 0.74 0.68

0.78 1.03 0.67 0.68 1.23 0.75

0.67

0.77

0.98

0.78

0.85

0.55

0.67

0.56 2.03

0.88

2.01

0.75 1.01 1.09 0.67 1.48 2.14 1.85

29
Table 7. Percent distributions of youths by preferred body build? according to perceived body build, sex, and age, with

standard errors for totals: Urmted States, 1966-70

Self-perceived body build

Thinner than most

EIEEElz

same as most Heavier than most

Sex and age +4!!!!@ would Would Would

Total 1ike like to like

to be be about to be

thinner the same heavier

Both sexes Percent distributions

12-17 years-- 100.0 14.7

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

29.5

38.3

29.6

26.1

30.5

26.1

26.7

24.5

66.4

59.5

65.9

71.3

63.0

69.2

69.2

74.1

72.9

68.4

74.8

70.6

75.4

81.4

55.9

43.0

63.3

66.2

51.6

59.4

52.1

100.0 12.1 2.2

0.4

$~

0:8

!:;

4.8

1.0

8.7

9.0

2.0

5.1

1.0

0.4

0.;

0.;

1.0

25.7 I 62.3

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

21.3

24.6

22.9

26.7

27.7

32.5

9.2

1::;

13.7

16.4

14.7

19.2

100.0 84.9

100.0 81.2

100.0 80.9

100.0 83.1

100.0 84.7

100.0 84.6

L4.7

14.3

15.3

16.0

13.1

14.4

12 years----------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

Bovs

12-17 years-- 10.7 I 70.2 26.9

14.4 73.5

11.5 74.5

8.2 77.0

68.3

1::: 63.0

10.4 62.7

12.0

13.9

14.8

23.2

26.8

26.9

4.6

100.0 79.9

100.0 69.2

100.0 63.2

100.0 67.2

100.0 64.1

100.0 68.1

19.1

22.1

27.9

30.8

30.8

30.9

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

::2

0,;

0.7

1.0

7.9

25.6

27.0

25.2

28.6

23.9

17.6

36.2

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

...

...

...

Girls

--=--L= Ir

100.0 93.7

3.00.0 88.7

100.0 91.8

100.0 94.0

100.0 94.3

100.0 95.8

100.0 96.1

6.0 12-17 years--

28.6 65.1

38.5 57.3

38.4 56.1

45.9 50.5

46.9 48.0

55.2 42.7

:::

5.5

3.6

5.1

2.1

1;.;

6:0

5.7

3.6

3.0

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 yeara---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

...

...

.,.

.2:

1:::

10.8

8.3

53.9

32.3

27.4

33.3

29.8

39.6

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years- 0.57 1.31 1.44 ILL&EL BOYS 12-17

years-----------

Girls 12-17

years-----------
Table 8. Percent of youths reporting acn~ and percent distributions of youths with acne by whether they

use any treahnent for it, whether they have seen a doctor about it, and how much it bothers them, ac- cording to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966.70

Youths with acne

I I

Concern over acne

for acne? about acne? *

I I

Percent

reporting

acne

.%x and age

None

Both sexes ,

12-17 years-----------

Percent distributions

11.4

5.2

8.0

1!::

12.7

17.1

10.6

88.6 13.7

10.1

11.7

14.9

17.7

11.8

13.9

10.0

49.2

29,4

41.2

51.0

55.3

60.6

60.3

58.3

57.0

57.7

55.6

62.7

59.7

56.3

54.8

44.8

55.1

53.0

59.3

57.5

52.4

62.0

63.9

59.8

58.3

66.2

62.6

61.4

1.38

1.80

1.81

41.7 35.0 35.5 15.8

12

13

::

16

17

12

13

14

15

;;

H

1/+

15

16

17

years--------------------

years--------------------

years--------------------

years--------------------

years--------------------

ywrs--------------------

43.0

42.3

44.4

37.3

40.3

43.7

45.2

55.2

44.9

47.0

40.5

42.5

47.6

38.0

36.1

40.2

41.7

33.8

37.4

38.6

1.38

1.80

1.81

94.8

92.0

91.5

86.7

87.3

82.9

89.4

30.4

32.3

34.7

35.8

39.9

36.7

32.8

31.9

36.8

36.8

38.6

19.6

19.3

17.5

14.6

13.4

13.3

18.5

38:0

36.0

Boys

12-17 years----------- 49.8 32.9

20.9

35,6

51.7

;;.;

67;7

6.5

7.7

1:::

10.8

16.5

12.3

4.4

::?

16.4

15.4

17.7

93.5

92.3

92.9

89.6

89.2

83.5

87.7

95.6

91.7

90.1

83.6

84.6

82.3

;:;

10.2

13.0

;::

17.5

12.4

14.5

19.9

22.9

14.9

19.1

21.9

30.3

37.4

32.8

35.3

32.0

42.0

39.2

30.3

37.3

40.6

43.0

32.3

38.7

34.8

35.5

25.9

31.4

28.8

29.9

22.2

22.0

16.9

14.4

15.1

13.0

13.8

17.0

12.8

11.9

11.9

11.0

years--------------------

years--------------------

years--------------------

years --------------------

years--------------------

years--------------------

Girls ‘

12-17 years----------- 48.6 37.2

38.2

46.9

50.3

53.1

51.0

52.9

35.2

33.8

31.8

39.2

41.8

41.0

years--------------------

yews --.-----------------

yc,ars --------------------

years--------------------

years--------------------

years--------------------

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years---------- 0.86

1.02

1.07

0,61 0.61 0.66

0.78

1.09

0.97 0.97

1.12

1.44

0.61

Boys 12-17 years------------

Girls 12-17 yt?ars-----------

0.78

1.09

0.62

1.23

1.35

1.38

0.94

0.81

31
Table 9. Percent distribution of youths reporting acne by age at which acne began, and median age

at which acne began, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States,

1966-70

Age at which acne began

T ~

9

years 10

and years

under

Sex and age Median

age in

years

Total

100,0

Both sexes Percent distribution

12-17 years--- 3.8

15.5

5.3

::;

1,2

1.7

2.3

1.8 28,4 2.6

;.;

1:9

1.3

1.7

1,3

1.4

10.9

46.8

17,9

H

2.5

4.5

5.9

23.8

33.5

;:.;

17;8

15.3

11.6

19.8

19.6 8.6 0.5

...

...

...

...

...

2.7

0.7

13,8

12.2

13.0

13.8

$;.:

14:8

14,2

12.4

13.2

13.9

14.5

14,9

15,2

13.4

12 years ----------

13 years ----------

14 years----------

15 years ----------

16 years----------

17 years----------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

1.00,0

——

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

1::?

3.3

. . .

25.2

50.1

33.0

27.1

23,5

29.3

. . .

,..

13.2

34.4

31.1

25.4

25.2

. . .

. . .

. . .

J::

18.7

12,0

Boys

12-17 years---

12 years----------

13 years----------

14 years ----------

15 years ----------

16 years ----------

17 years----------

6.8

0.3

M

1.3

1.2

2,2

2.7

;:2

2.0

2.3

1.4

12,2

3,1

2.0

::;

0.9

5.4

17.4

7.0

2.9

3.1

1.6

2.7

33.9

11.9

4.3

;:;

3.4

16.1

47.1

49.7

21.3

12.7

10.5

6.9

28.1

. . .

35,0

53.6

34.2

21.3

19.8

27,5

,..

. . .

17.5

39.8

39.4

27,3

13.7

. . .

. . .

. . .

10.2

22.7

23.7

5.0

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

1:::

1.8

.,.

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

3.7

0.2

Girls

12-17 years---

12 years ----------

13 years7---------

14 years ----------

15 years ----------

16 years----------

17 years ----------

54.0

22.6

10.3

6.3

5.1

5.8

25.9

50.4

28.9

23,5

22.2

17.4

12,1

12.8

13.6

14.0

14,0

14.3

. . .

17.7

;$:

35:5

28.1

. . .

. . .

2:::

19.0

23.0

. . .

. . .

. . .

1;::

12.3

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

2.7

7.8

. . .

. . .

. . .

,..

. . .

1.5

Standard error

0.83 0.85

1.03 1.13

1.29 0.87

Both sexes

12-17 years-- L

...0.36

... 0.36

... 0.55L

0.42 0.61

0.41 0.60

0.63 0.90

0.61

0.88

1.17

Boys 12-17 years--

Girls 12-17 years32
Table 10. Percent distribution of youths by amount of food eaten, according to sex and age, with

standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 years ------------------------------------

years ---------------------------------------------

years ---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years ---------------------------------------------

years ---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

Boys

12-17 yeara------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years ---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

Girls

12-17 years------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years-------------------------

Boys 12-17 years-------------------------------------

Girls 12-17 years------------------------------------

Amount of food eaten

Total II Too

much

About

right

Too

little

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Iljo . (_)

100.0

Percent distribution

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

18.7

18.1

19.0

19.4

19.6

17.6

18.5

14.4

15.4

15.6

14.9

15.3

10.6

14.4

23.1

20.8

;:.:

24:0

24.6

22.7

74.0

74.1

74.6

74.7

71.6

76.0

72.9

78.1

76.2

77.4

78.3

76.1

82.9

77.8

69.8

71.9

71.6

70.9

67.0

69.0

67,9

7.3

R

6.o

8.8

6.4

8.6

7.5

:::

6.8

8.6

6.5

7.9

7.2

Standard error

J_&l-ii

33
Table 11. Percent distributions of youths in selected age groups by amount of food eaten, according to sex and

self-perceived weight: United States, 1966-70

Selected age group

and selfperceived weight

12-17 years

All weight s--

Underweight --------

Right weig?lt-------

Overweight ---------

12 years

All weights --

Underweight --------

Right weight -------

Overweight ---------

17 years

All weights --

Underweight --------

Right weight -------

Overweight ---------

I

Both sexes IBoys

Eat Eat Eat Eat Eat

Total

Eat

too right too Total t03 right too

much amount little much amount little

Percent distributions

100.0 18.7

100.0 9.8

100.0

100.0 5:::

100.0 18.1

100.0

100.0 1:::

100,0 54.8

100.0 18.5

100.0

100.0 1::2

100.0 51.5

74.0

62.7

85,4

43.8

74.0

58.3

84,2

42.4

72.9

69.8

82..7

47.3

7.3

27.5

4.9

1.8

7.9

33.5

4.7

2.9

8.6

I

25.7 ~

6.8

1.2~

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

14.4

10.3

5!::

15.4

7.6

10.2

56.6

14.4

4,9

11.1

47.7

78.1

64.8

87.0

46,8

76.2

62.7

85.2

39.4

77.8

74.3

84.1

52.3

7.5

24.9

4.3

0,9

8.4

29.7

4.6

4.0

7.9

20.8

4.8

Girls

Eat

Total too

much

II

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

23.1

1:::

55,4

20.8

1?::

53.7

22.7

3.7

5%?

Eat

right

amount

69.8

58.4

~33.6

42.4

71.9

49.9

83.1

44.1

67.9

58.9

81.2

45.2

Eat

too

little

7.1

32.7

:;;

7.3

40.8

4.9

2.2

9.4

37,4

8.9

1.7

34
Table 12. Percent distributions of youths by frequency of insomnia and nightmares and

they sleepwalked, according

whether

to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States,

1966-70

Sex and age

Both sexes

~2.17 years-------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

Boys

12-17 years -------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years----------------------------

Gir1’s

12-17 years -------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years----------------------------

years ----------------------------

years ----------------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years --------

Boys L2-17 years--------------------

Girls 12-17 years -------------------

I

Trouble getting to

sleep or staying Nightmares

asleep

Only Only

Very from Quite from

time Never often to time Never frequently to

time time

Percent distributions

6.(

6.t

S.t

5.!

6.4

7.7

7.6

6.3

6.9

6.0

4.9

6.3

H

7.0

6.7

::;

6.5

M

0.34

0.37

0.56

43.6

38.3

41.7

43.0

41.3

48.8

49.9

40.2

38.2

40.6

37.7

37.9

43.2

44.2

47.2

38.4

42.7

48.4

44.9

54.5

55.6

0.60

1.00

0.76

49.7

54.9 52.5

51.5

52.3

43.5

42.5

53,5

54.9

53.4

57.4

55.8

49.5

49.6

45.8

54.9

51.6

45.5

48.6

37.3

35.4

3,3

;::

3.2

2,0

2.8

2.6

3.5

2.4

;:;

;:;

3.0

3.1

3.3

2.4

3.8

2.3

2.9

42.7

46.1

45.2

40.7

39.1

43.5

41.5

38.7

44.4

45.3

35,8

33.1

37.2

35.5

46.9

.

47.9

45.1

45.8

45.2

50.0

47.5

Standard error

0.66

I I

0.20 0.89

0.99 0.29

0,71 0,25

0.98

1.39

54.5

~

50.6

52.0

56.8

57,7

54.5

55.7

58,7

52.1

52.3

61.6

64.2

61.1

61.8

50.1

49.0

51,6

51.9

51.0

47.7

49.5

0.85

0.83

1.37

Sleepwalking

in last year

or so

J-- Yes No “

5.2

6.1

6.1

:::

4.2

3.8

6.3

7.3

::;

5.7

u

4.0

4.8

5.2

5.6

3.4

n

94.8

93.9

93.9

94.0

95.4

95.8

96.2

93.7

92.7

93.0

93.6

94.3

94.3

94.7

96.0

95.2

94.8

94.4

96.6

97.2

97.8

J- 0.36 0.36

0.46 0.46

0,45 0.45

35
Table 13. Percent distributions of youths by sleeping arrangements,according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

United States, 1966-70

Sleeping

arrangements

m

Sex and age

Share room with:

Total

sharing

room Brother Mother All

BrOther(s) Sister(s) Father Mother Other

person(s) a@r f%.r :;):,

Both sexes Percent distributions

12-17 years-- ql=- 52.2

64.3

58.2

53.5

46.8

46.9

41.7

51.5

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

46.3

47,4

45.9

46.2

50.0

47.0

40.2

90.1

===+==

3.0 4.1 2.1 0.4 1.7

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

100.0 35.7

100.0 41.8

100.0 46.5

100.0 53.2

100.0 53.1

100.0 58.3

100.0 48.5

41.3 0.8

42.9 :.;

42.5

40.6 0:4

42.3 1.0

40.4 0.5

2.7

3.6

H

2.5

3.6

0.7

2.3

2.8

2.9

2.8

Ii::

0,6

0.3

0,7

1.9

2.1

1.8

;:;

1.9

1.0

0.;

IQr&

12-17 years--

*

2.5 1.4 0.3

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

100.0 35.6

100.0 41.9

100.0 47.6

100.0 51.7

100.0 54.1

100.0 62.4

64.4

58.1

52.4

48.3

45.9

37.6

53.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

90.3

87.9

89.8

93.8

90.7

S7.9

2.8

1.3

‘M

2.9 :::

1.9 0.8

2.7

?::

1.0

:::

0.;

0.8

5.3

1.6

3.0

2.6

1.3

::?

0.2

0.5

0.6

O.i

%:

0.5

;:2

3,5

100.0 47.0 2.5

*

12-17 years-- 80.5 0.1 5.6 2.7 0.5

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 yeara---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

100.0 35.7

100.0 41.6

100.0 45.4

100.0 54.7

100.0 52.0

100.0 54.1

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

3.1

3.1

3.1

::;

1.0

80.6 0.3

82.0 -

81.5 -

83.2 -

81.1 -

73.5 -

4.5

6.1

5.5

5.5

4.4

5.8

3.0

2.6

::3

1:::

1.1

M

0,;

-

i:;

3.4

1,9

ii:;

0.39

0.38

0.56

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years- 1.07

1

0.34 0.44

0.56 0.38 0.38

1.22 0.38 0.69

0.49 0.39

0.38

0.56

. . . 0.30

. ..

. ..

1.15

&

BOYS 12-17

-----------

G%%SIZ-17

years-----------

1.30

1.46

0.48

0.75

0.38

0.38

36
Table 14. Percent distribution of youths by usual bedtime on weeknights, and median bedtime on weeknights, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Usual bedtime

.—

Median

bedtime

Sex and age

Both sexes Percent distribution

34.5

60.5

49.5

35.7

24.9

20.0

12.5

35.2

58.7

47.6

:;.$

21:4

12.3

33.8

62.3

51.5

30.9

22.9

18.6

12.7

41.1

23.9

35.3

47.3

49.5

49.7

42.2

40.1

12-17years ----------- 2.8 0.2

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

0.7

1.0

1.0

0.5

0.6

0.4

0.5

0.7

0.8

:::

0.9

0.2

0.4

0.6

5.2

10.5

;:;

3.4

2.7

2.4

5.9

11.4

:::

4.3

2.8

2.8

4.5

9.6

6.4

3.4

2.5

;::

15.5 10:14

9:38

9:50

7.0:13

10:26

10:32

10:49

10:12

0.1

O.i

0.3

0.1

0.0

12 years --------------------

13 years --------------------

14 years --------------------

15 ywsrs-------------- r-----

16 years --------------------

17 years ---------------------

;:+

11.4

17.8

23.2

34.2

14.9

0.7

0.6

1.1

3.3

3.9

7.7

3.1

BOYS

12-17 years -----------

12 years --------------------

13 years --------------------

14 years --------------------

15 years --------------------

16 years --------------------

17 years --------------------

25.1

37.0

42.4

47,0

48.4

41.8

42,1

22.7

33.6

52,2

52.1

51.0

42.6

3.8

1:::

17.1

23.2

32.1

16.1

2.6

1::;

18.5

23.1

36.4

0.3

0.8

0.8

M

10.1

2.5

1.2

0.5

;:;

3.9

5.2

9:39

9:50

10:06

10:23

10:32

10:50

10:16

0.;

0.;

0.2

o.;

0.1

0.1

Girls

12-17 years -----------

12 years --------------------

13 years --------------------

14 years --------------------

15 years --------------------

16 years --------------------

17 years --------------------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

1.2

0.9

0.2

u

0.7

0.4

0.3

0.3

O.i

9:38

9:50

10:18

10:28

10:33

10:49

---

---

---

0.;

0.3

0.31

0.30

0.31

Standard error

Both sexes 12-17

years ---------------- --L

... 0.31

... 0,34

... 0.34

Boys 12-17 years ------------

Girla 12-17 years -----------

37
the youth’s clothes, ac.

1966-70

Table 15. Percent distribution of youths by who makes most of the

cording to sex and age, with standard errors for

decisions on choosing

totals: United States,

Who usual.1.ymakes decisions on choosing yoath’s clothes

Youth Both Father Nether Youth

‘Otal Father Mother and and Other

alone ;:e:::h person(s) Nubody

parents youth youth

Sex and age

—

12

13

14

15

1,6

17

12

13

14

15

::

12

13

14

15

16

17

.

Both sexes

12-17 years--------

Percent distribution

T

100.0 33.8

100.0 15.2

100.0 17.7

10,0.0 31.8

100.0 37.4

100.0 47.4

100.0 57.5

0.6

;::

0.9

0.6

0.2

0.1

13.8 3.9

7.1

5.8

3,7

3.1

1.6

1.3

5.6

10.1

8.3

::;

i:?

2.1

1.3 33.5 11,7 0.9 0,5

24.9

2.(],4

12.3

10.8

7.5

5.0

:::

0.4

0.5

0.5

0.6

0,5

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

yeara-----------------

years-----------------

yeaz-a-----------------

Boys

12-17 years --------

years -----------------

years-----------------

years -----------------

years -----------------

years -----------------

years-----------------

Girls

12-17 years --------

1.1

0.8 15.8 2.0 22.8

27.7

24.3

22.8

23.5

22.4

14.9

16.0 0.8

100.0 14.5

100.0 17.0

100.0 32.8

100.0 41.1

100.0 51.2

1O(I.0 62.9

100.0 31.8

1.4

1.4

:;!

0.1

27.2

24.4

14.3

12.3

8.5

5.8

16.7

21.2

18.6

15,4

12.8

10.7

1.1

;:;

0.8

0.3

1.4

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.5

0.8

0.8

0.6

0.7

H

0.4

0.2

0.3

0.11

0.08

0.19

i::

1.5

0.4 11.7 0.7 44.4 7.2 1,0

0.8

0.1

0.8

0.4

0.3

0.2

22,5

16.2

10.2

9.3

‘t::

4.0

3.2

1.8

2.0

:::

years -----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

1.0

:::

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years -------

Boys 12-17 years ---------

Girls 12-17 years --------

0.18 I 0.16 0.76 0.41 0.12

I

0.31 0.20

0.L8 0.25

1

38
Table 16, Percent distribution of youths by who makes most of the decisions on how the youth should spend his

money, according to sex and age , with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Who usually decides how the youth should spend his money

I

rotal Youth

alone

Sex and age

Other

person(s) Father Nobody

I

Both sexes Percent distribution

6.9

9.9

~::

5:6

2.9

6,0

9.0

6.5

6.4

z:;

3.4

7.8

10.8

10,0

8.7

7.8

6.6

2.4

8.6

14.6

12.1

M

5.6

3.6

8.5

1.7

l.s

1.8

1.7

M

1.0

2.7

7.3

7.4

6,9

%?

7.1

8.1

4.0

12-17 years-------- 100.0

100.0

100. O

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

2.3

4.0

3,0

2.2

U

1.1

3.2

2.9

4.2

3.1

2.4

::;

1.7

3.4

52.1

43.0

44,5

52.5

55.2

56.1

63.3

53.4

17.4

14.2

19.1

17.1

18.7

18.4

16.9

18.0

0.7

0.8

:::

0.2

0.4

1.3

0.8

years -----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Boys

12-17 years--------

44.8

47.6

52.6

56.0

56.2

65.1

50.8

41.3

41.2

52.5

54.3

56.0

61.5

;::

2:0

2.6

2.0

1.4

2.7

+::

1.5

0.8

0.2

15.1

11.3

8.9

6.1

5.1

3.5

8.6

14.0

13.0

7.3

6.7

6.1

3.7

2.7

2.8

2.9

2.5

3.4

1.7

0.7

1.0

0.7

0.4

1.0

1.0

0.4

5.3

M

3.3

;::

10.7

9.6

10.7

12.0

1::3

12.2

13.1

19.6

18.6

21.4

18.3

17.3

16.8

0.7

:::

0.2

0.7

1.2

0.7

3.9

3.4

3.2

2.8

5,2

1.9

2.3

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Girls

12-17 years--------

4,4

2.9

1.4

::;

1.5

0.19

0.36

0.19

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years-------

Boys 12-17 years---------

Girls 12-L7 years --------

. . .

II 0.99 0.23 0.39 0.52 0.13 0.46 0.75 0.10

. . . 1.011 0.30 0.50

... 0.99 0.23 0.39

0.63

0.52

0.28 0.35 1.06 0.15

0.13 0.46 0.75 0.10

39
Table 17. Percent distribution of youths by who makes moat of the decisions on which friends the youth may go out

with, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966.7(I

Sex and age

12

:2

15

16

17

12

13

14

+2

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

Both sexes

12-17 yeara --------

years -----------------

years -----------------

years -----------------

years --------------- years-----------------

years -----------------

years -----------------

Boys

12-17 years --------

years -----------------

years -----------------

years -----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

yeara -----------------

Girls

12-17 years --”------

years-----------------

years -----------------

years -----------------

yesrs -----------------

years -----------------

years -----------------

Both sexes

12-17 years-------

Boys 12-17 years ---------

Girls 12-17 years -------~

Who usually decides which friends youth may go out with

Total

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

7-00.0

100.0

100.0

. . .

. . .

. . .

Youth Both Father Mother Youth

alone Father Nether Other

parents y~:h and

youth :Q& person (s) Nobody

35.8 3.1

40.9 2.6

45.5 1.5

47.3 1.7

52.5 2.3

58.7 1.3

-=-l--=

38.8 4.1

45.9 3.4

53.0 1.7

57.7 1.5

61.9 3.6

67.8 1.6

I

=4--=

32.8 2.0

35.9 1.7

37.9 1.3

36.7 1.9

42.8 0.9

49.6 1.0

6,5

——

9.2

;::

;:;

3.9

6.1

9.6

6.2

8.7

4.7

3.6

3.5

7.6

8.9

9.5

7.5

7.3

::$

0.961 0.191 0.46

1.05 0.24 0.48

1.02 0.31 0.61

Percent distribution

12.5

18.2

15.3

14.1

11.6

8.0

6.5

11.0

17.1

13.4

12.3

1.0.6

5.1

6.2

14.0

19.3

17.3

15.8

12.7

11.0

6.7

1.(

0.7

::i

::;

1.2

1.1

1.C

1.4

::5

0.6

1.4

0.9

——

0.3

0.8

1.3

1.5

0.7

1.1

Standard error

0.70

0.58

0.94

0.13

0.19

0.18

6.8 14.7

6.7 16.2

5.8 17.3

5.7 19.2

6.3 18.2

6.5 17.5

3.2 13.3

4.1 12.7

15.8

?:; 12.4

2.3 14.9

3.8 12.5

3.9 11.2

T

9.5 21.1

—

16,8

1::; 16.7

9.8 22.2

23.5

::: 24.2

9.2 23.8

4.7

3.8 k:

2.5

::!

;:: 3.9

2.7 1.8

3.9 5.0

___4_x

4.1

3.9 M

1.7

):

::.?

2.3] 2:0

40
Table 18. Percent distribution of youths by who makes most of the decisions on how late the youth may stay out,

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

IJIIOusually decides how late youth may stay out

I

Cotal Youth

alone

Both Father Mother Youth

Father Mother and and Other

parent s youth youth ;:e~:h person(s) ‘obody

J30th sexes Percent distribution

37.8

46.5

43.9

40.5

35.7

32.6

26.0

35.7

1.9 5.3

:::

5.8

6.2

5.9

7.4

3.8

1.0 1.5

2.2

2.0

0.9

1.7

1.2

0.7

1.9

12-17 years-------- 100.0

100.0

100.0

100.O

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

4.6

w

1.6

4,5

1:::

6.7

10.3 19.8

10.4

11.4

11.0

9.8

9.8

9.2

13.1

17.8

23.0

17.2

19.2

17.3

16.8

12.4

17.6

11.6

16.4

18.9

22.0

24.8

26.4

18.0

1.1

1.1

0.7

0.7

::;

0.9

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

E

16

17

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Boys

12-17 years--------

12.7

15.6

13.4

12.0

12.8

11.8

7.4

23.0

17.6

21.2

15.7

15.8

11.4

17.9

44.8

40.9

39.1

34.4

29.4

23.7

40.0

10.2

14.3

16.8

20.8

23.5

23.5

21.6

13.0

18.6

21.0

23.1

26.1

29.4

:::

1.1

2.6

1.8

0.8

1.0

1.1

2.1

0.8

:::

0.6

ywirs -----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Girls

12-17 years--------

0.6

1.7

1.4

1.5

1.0

1.8

4.3

4.6

7.4

8.2

1:::

;::

0.7

0.4

1.1

2.3

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

8.0

H

7.6

6.7

6.6

23.0

16.8

17.1

19.0

17.9

13.4

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years-------

Boya 12-17 years---------

Girls 12-17 years--------m

0.67 0.20 0.38 0.83 0.15 0.20

Y@! 0.28 0.93 0.19 0.21

0.56 0.91 0.26 0.25

41
Table 19. Percent of youths receivinz an allcn ce and selected characteristics and attitudes of youths receiving an allowance, by

— standard errors for totals: United States, 1966.70

Percent

ceceivLng an

2110wance

sex aid axe. -. wi

Percent

whose

sllowance

is ever

~ithheld

as punishment

25.4

Youths receiving an allowance

Wno decides amount Who youth thinks should decide amount

Cotal Father Mother Both S:gy Total Father Mother Both Someone

parents parents else

Percent

f%ing

chores

for allowance

S2X and age

Both sexes Percent distributions

12-17 years-- 50.5 70.s 100. c 19.:

1s.2

16.$

20.E

20.1

19.6

21.7

24.C

26.6

27.3

26.7

25.3

26.4

28.3

25.6

22.0

51.5

53.9

53.9

52.1

50.0

49.7

47.3

51.6

2.6

0.6

2.9

1.s

3.5

;:;

2.4

100. c

_

100. c

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

17.;

17.6

14.:

16.E

19.4

1s.7

20.2

23.3

21.i

21.4

21,[

21.:

22.:

22.;

20.E

1s.1

55.8

59.1

59.3

55.1

53.3

54.3

51.1

54.2

4.8

::;

6.9

;:;

.

4.5

12 years---------

13 years---------

1.!years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

5s.s

55.0

51.8

49.9

46.2

39.4

47,6

57.2

53.7

49.s

45.2

42.5

35.3

53.4

73.6

75.8

76.9

66.9

66.3

60.4

72.2

29.2

30.3

29.S

22.7

21.s

13.0

2s.7

100. c

100. C

100. c

100. c

100.0

100.0

100.0

Boys

12-17 years--

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

74.9

76.0

76.8

69.0

69.4

61.4

69.5

30.3

35.5

34.1

2s.1

22.5

13.0

22.4

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

21.1

19.3

2s.o

25.2

25.5

27.5

15.0

15.5

13.s

13.9

15.7

14.5

16.9

23.S

21.2

22.1

20.6

21.0

22.s

30.9

30.6

32.1

2S.4

31.3

34.7

27.S

54.6

58.0

47.8

49.9

51.6

43.6

51.4

53.1

49.9

56.2

50.2

;:.;

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

21.9

19.4

22.5

24.9

26.o

2s.1

12.5

13.5

1;:!

14.s

12.4

13.7

19.2

17.2

17.9

16.4

18.C

19.7

25.0

23.4

26.3

24.3

;:.;

21:s

57.9

59.7

52.9

52.7

51.s

45.1

57.3

60.3

59.0

57.2

53.9

56.4

56.0

0.9

::;

6.0

4.1

7.2

5.2

n

t!

4.5

s.5

Girls

12-17years--

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

60.5

56.4

53.9

54.8

50.0

43.5

72.3

75.7

76.9

65.0

63.5

59.3

2s.1

25.3

25.B

17.4

21.1

12.9

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years- 1.10 1,52 1.23 ... 1.07 1.08 0.9s 0.30 ...

1.43 1.84 1.31 ... 1.73 1.37 1.29 0.41 ...

1.02 1.91 2.17 ... 0.96 1.39 1.12 0.37 ...

0.92 0.92 0.s5 0.33

BOYS 12-17

years-----------

Girls 12-17

years-----------

1.11 1.24

1.29 1,00

1.50

0.80

0.51

0.47

42
Table 20. Percent distributions of youths by whether they had been away from home for at least 2

months and where they stayed,according to sex and age,with standard errors for totals:United States,

1966-70

Sex and age

Been Where youths who had been away from home stayed

Been

away

once

away Never

more been

than away

Board- ~os- With

once

Total Camp

S2%11 pital R:- ~~=

Three

or more

places

Two

places

Both sexes Percent distributions

12:17 years--

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

Boys

12-17 years--

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

Girls

12-17 years--

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

yeara--------

100.0 8.3 100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

11.0 57.0

62.4

65.4

56.6

60.3

56.6

48.2

54.7

61.5

54.3

54.3

61.9

54.9

47.3

59.0

63.0

72.6

58.7

58.9

58.2

49.1

11.6 9.6

8.2

10.5

13.3

4.8

11.0

9.6

9.5

2.6

11.2

14.0

1;:!

11.2

9.7

2.9

2.9

1.1

;:;

3.3

5.2

2.6

::;

2.7

1.1

;:;

3.2

3.7 4.2

12

13

14

H

17

12

13

ii

16

17

12

13

H

16

17

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

6.3

6.9

6.9

:::

12.6

7.7

4.7 89.0

4.2 88.9

6.9 86.2

6.6 84.3

10.9 80.5

11.7 75.7

12.7

10.0

1%:

9.6

12.0

12.1

u

8.5

2.9

;:!

4.8

R

10.0

2.9

2.1

2.9

3.6

4.7

1!::

12.1

11.2

18.0

11.9

H

8.3

15.1

12.7

18.1

11.3

5.7

1:::

R

17.9

--1-- 6.6 85.7

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

...

...

...

H

6.6

8.1

9.4

14.0

8.9

H

1;:;

1:::

0.36

0.36

0.62

4.3 90.8

4.4 91.3

6.3 87.1

5.8 86.1

81.0

1::: 76.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

14.8

16.5

9.7

1::;

11.2

10.1

H

1.0

6.9

3.5

6.4

3.1 -L8.1 83.0

5.1

3.9

7.6

1;::

13.4

87.2

86.5

85.2

82.5

80.0

75.4

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

11.2

5.8

6.6

16.5

6.1

12.9

1.4

;:;

9.3

2.7,

error

12.1

9.9

12.5

1::8

7.9

1.3

$:

7.5

0.65

0.97

0.82

Stsndard

Both sexes

12-17 yearsBOYS 12-17

----------

G~s12-17

years----------

0.31 0.53

J1.20 1.10

1.88 1.72 J--l 1.49 1.43

. 1.15

... 1.88

... 2.01

0.74 0.74 1.80

-J- 0.43 0.64

0.44 0.71

1.12

0.82 -1- 1.24 2.87

0.94 2.34

43
Table 21. Percent distribution of youths by time spent watching television on a usual day, and

median time spent watching television per day,

for totals: United States, 1966-70

according to sex and age, with standard errors

Sex and age

Time spent watching television

I

3 hr.- 4 hr.-

less less

than than

4 hr. 5 hr. III Less

Total None than

1/2 hr.m

Percent distribution

tedian

time

(i;n~r.

min. )

5 hr.

or

more

Both sexes

12-17 years-- 100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

5.3 1.1 12.2

12.7

14.8

12,3

13,5

9.8

9.9

12.0

4.6

2,9

2.5

;:!

6.2

9,1

4.7

3.1

3,0

;:!

9:6

4.6

;::

N

6,1

8.7

18.9 26.7

29.1

27.4

27.0

24.6

26.7

25.1

27.5

19.1

21.6

21.6

20,4

19.5

15.7

15,2

19.3

11.9

12.3

13.3

12.6

12,9

11.1

9.0

12.6

2h-46m

2h-53m

3h-OOm

2h-49m

2h-50m

2h-30m

2h-22m

2h-47m

12

:;

::

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

3;

:::

8.5

9.3

4.8

1.4

0.7

1.3

:::

0.9

1.3

17.2

15.7

19,1

20.1

20.4

21.5

17,8

18.9

15.4

17,7

18,5

17.3

19,2

20.0

15.4

16.0

20.5

21.8

23.7

23.9

2!ZE

12-17 years--

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

N

3,7

3.1

7.3

8.1

5,9

27.4

25.3

29,3

26.5

28.4

28.1

25.9

21.8

21.0

21,0

20,4

15.3

15.4

18.9

11.9

14.8

12,4

14.3

12.4

9.7

11.2

11.9

15,8

11.5

12,2

11.2

9.1

12.5

2h-50m

3h-05m

2h-49m

2h-53m

2h-37m

2h-26m

2h-43m

Girls

12-17 years--

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

years--------

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

M

1.5

:::

l.l

0.19

0.28

0,16

30.8

29.7

24.7

22.7

24.8

22.0

21.3

22.4

;:,;

16:1

14.9

0.65

0.91

0,78

12,6

11.7

12.8

11.6

R

13,5

13.8

13.2

14.8

1::;

2h-55m

2h-55m

2h-49m

2h-47m

2h-22m

2h-16m

---

---

---

Standard error

0.34 0,56 0.75

0.44 0.70 1.10

0.51 0,91 0,69

Both sexes

12-17 yearsBOYS 12-17

years ----------

Girls 12-17

years----------L

... 0.49

... 0.56

... 0,61

0,35 0.56

0.52

0.46

0.91

0.70

4A
Table 22. Percent distribution of youths by time spent listening to the radio on a usual day,

and median time spent listening to the radio per day, according to sex and age, with standard

errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Time spent listening to radio

EEIEIE

fedian

time

~in hr.

and

min. )

lh-24m

Oh-51m

lh-06m

lh-23m

lh-40m

lh-40m

lh-59m

lh-06m

Oh-43m

Oh-51m

Oh-59m

lh-13m

lh-21m

lh-50m

lh-43m

Oh-59m

lh-26m

lh-46m

2h-15m

2h-05m

2h-13m

---

---

---

4 hr.-

less

than

5 hr,

-

4.7

Sex and age 5 hr.

or

more --l__ Less

None than

1/2 hr

Both sexes Percent distribution

12-17 years-- 16.6

18,9

18.4

16.7

14,8

17.5

13.0

19.6

7.6

2.2

3,2

M

8.4

15.3

5,1

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100,0

7.5

11,2

9.7

;:;

::!

9.5

26.0 14.5

10.7

13.2

13,7

17.1

16.2

16.3

12,6

9,8

1:::

14.4

16.4

15.1

16.4

11.7

16.8

16.6

20.0

16,1

17.5

7.8

4,0

::;

8.8

9.0

11.5

5.6

2.8

3,4

::;

6.4

11.1

10.1

:::

10.7

13.7

11.6

12.0

0.51

0.56

0,62

15,3

25.6

19.0

15.5

11.6

10.3

8.1

18.1

25,2

27,0

27.4

26,2

24,9

25.3

26,2

2.3

3.6

3.0

5,3

8.2

6,4

3,4

12 years--------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 yeacs--------

16 years--------

17 years--------

BOYS

12-17 years--

2.3

1.9

;:?

6.4

5.9

6.1

1.8

2.6

3.7

:::

13.3

10.2

::;

12.0

14.7

12.0

17,3

0.62

0.53

0.78

12 years--------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years--------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

...

...

...

29.1

23,0

21.1

14.3

11.9

7,0

12.4

13.5

10.7

10.0

9.1

7.7

5.3

5.4

17.7

22.8

19.4

20.5

21.1

15.5

13.6

22.9

25,7

26.6

28.4

26.9

26,7

25.8

Girls

12-17 years--

22.0

14.9

9.7

8,8

8.7

9.1

8.8

%:

3,3

3.5

2,8

20.1

13.9

13.8

9,0

13.7

10,5

27.5

28,4

28.2

24.0

22.7

23.8

2.2

;:?

6.6

11.7

6.9

0,44

0.46

0,63

12 years--------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years --------

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years- 0.55 0.49 0.54 0.64

0.78

0.85

0.33

BOYS12-17

years----------

Girls 12-17

years----------

0.79

0.68

0.65

0,54

0,94

0,63

0,54

0.74

45
Table 23. Percent distribution of youths by time spent reading newspapers, comics,

on a usual day, and median time spent reading these materials per day,according to

with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

or magazines

sex and age,

Time spent reading newspapers, comics, or magazines

Less 1/2 hr.- 1 hr.- 2 hr.- 3 hr.- 4 hr.- ~ hr

None than less less less less less “

1/2 hr. than than than than than ‘r

1 hr. 2 hr. 3 hr. 4 hr. 5 hr. more

Sex and age Median

time

(ign~.

min.)

Total

100.0

100.O

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.O

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Both sexes Percent distribution

12-17 years-- Oh-43m

Oh-37m

Oh-41m

Oh-42m

Oh-45m

Oh-46m

Oh-48m

Oh-42m

13.8 0.4

16.3

14.1

14.6

12.9

11.1

13.4

15.0

17.5

14.8

15.8

13.6

12.1

16.0

12.5

15.0

13.3

13.3

12.1

10.1

10.8

21.1 34.2

30.8

34.8

34.4

35.9

36.2

33.0

33.3

24.4

20.7

22.0

23.0

25.3

26.6

29.5

24.2

4.61 1.1[ 0.5

0.3

::; ;:; 0.7

4.6 0.9 0.1

0.9 0.6

M 0.6 0.6

4.9 1.6 0.7

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

26.1

22.7

22.1

19.1

19.6

16.6

21.1

:;;

0.4

0.3

0.5

0.2

0.5 I

4.8 0.9 0.3

4.2 1.1 0.1

0.6 0.4

::; 0.9 -

4.8

6.2 %; ;::

5.6 1.6 0.7

Boys

12-17 years--

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years--------

17 years --------

28.6

20.9

20.5

20.5

18.4

16.9

21.1

27.5

35.7

34.7

35.2

35.4

31.2

35.1

20.6

23.2

23.3

24.9

26,0

27.7

24.6

0.4

0.6

0.3

::;

0.3

0.4

Oh-34m

Oh-42m

Oh-42m

Oh-44m

Oh-47m

Oh-46m

Oh-44m

Girls

12-17 years-- 4.41 1.3] 0.7

12 years--------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years --------

23.5

24.6

23.7

17.5

20.8

16.2

34.3

33.8

34.1

36.6

37.0

34.8

20.7

20.8

22.7

25.7

27.1

31.3

2.2 0.5

;:? 0.9 0.9

4.7 0.8

5.6 $;

::2 0.9

2:: 1.7 0.8

0.5

0.4

:::

0.3

0.1

Oh-40m

Oh-41m

Oh-41m

Oh-47m

Oh-45m

Oh-50m

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years-

_l-

. 0.80

... 0.97

... 0.76

0.79 0.88 0.45 0.36 0.11 0.10 0.09 ] ---

0.09

0.16

0.12 ---

0.10 ---

BOyS 12-17

years----------

Girls 12-17

years----------

0.80

0.79 --1- 0.52 0.15

0.38 0.16

46
Table 24. Percent distribution of youths by time spent reading books cm a usual day, and median

time spent reading books per day, according to sex and age,

United States, 1966-70

with standard errors for totals:

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 years--

12 years --------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years --------

Boys

12-17 years--

12 years--------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

L7 years --------

Girls

12-17 years--

12 years--------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years--------

Both sexes

12-17 yearsBOYS12-17

years----------

Girls 12-17

years----------

Time spent reading books

1/2 hr.- 1 hr.- 2 hr.- 3 hr.- 4 hr.- ~ hr Median

rotal None Less less less less less less or “

time

than

1/2 hr. than than than than than (ign~.

1 hr. 2 hr. 3 hr. 4 hr. 5 hr. more

min. )

100.0

100.0

100.O

100.0

100.0

100:0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

19.7

13.6

16.5

19.0

23,4

22.0

24.6

24.7

18.7

21.8

21.5

28.2

27.9

31.6

14.5

. . .

. . .

. . .

12.0

8.2

9.7

7.2

:::

5.8

6.7

7.2

R

4.6

5.3

Percent distribution

19.9 31.4 13.2 4.61 1.9

1 1 I I

23.5 34.5 11.4

23.0 30.8 13.9

22.6 30.8 11.4

18.5 29.6 13.5

17.8 30.5 15.1

12.7 32.2 14.4

3.91 1.8

4.6 1.7

2.1

::: 1.6

4.3 2.2

6.7 2.0

20.5 29.0 10.3 3.8 1.6

, 1 I 1

23.5

24.7

22.8

19.9

17.0

13.9

30.0

27.8

29.8

27.0

29.8

29.9

1;::

8.0

10.4

11.4

11.9

3.9

3.5

3.6

3.7

H

1.2

1.4

2.7

1.0

1.8

1.6

19.2 33.9 16.2 5.5 2.2

1 1 1 1

23.5 39.2 13.3

21.2 33.8 16.9

22.4 31.9 15.0

17.1 32.4 16.8

18.7 31.2 18.8

11.6 34.6 16.9

Standard error

w

2.5

2:: 1.9

1.5

::; 2.2

5.0 2.7

8.8 2.3

J_0.28 0.21

0.32 0.22

0.44 0.28

2.2 lh-06m

2.0 lh-06m

1.8 lh-05m

1:9 lh-Olm

3.0 lh-04m

1.8 lh-08m

2.5 lh-15m

t

1.6 Oh-55m

1.2 Oh-55m

1.5 Oh-54m

2.0 Oh-55m

2.6 Oh-52m

0.6 Oh-55m

1.9 Oh-60m

2.71 lh-19m

2.8 lh-18m

2.2 lh-19m

1.9 lh-10m

3.4 lh-18m

3.0 lh-20m

3.2 lh-27m

0.23 ---

-L

0.27 ---

0.35 ---

47
Table 25. Percent of youths enrolled in school, percent distribution of those youths by hours

worked per week, and percent of those youths getting paid for their work, according to sex and

age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

Youths in school

Hours worked per week ?ercent

jetting

paid

for

work

Percent

of youths

in school

rotal None 1-4 5-9 10-20 q=jr ‘XknEFt

know hours

Both sexes

12-17 years -----

Percent distribution

96.0 100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

59.6

67.8

64.4

59.8

60.2

54.6

47.8

53.7

62.5

57.1

54.0

55.1

49.7

40.2

65.7

10.5

12.3

13.0

12.3

10.2

;:;

11.8

14.4

16.3

13.4

11.6

;::

9.2

7.6

3.0

:::

1:::

18.0

9.3

;:;

1::;

13.9

20.1

5.8

9.7 9.2 83.9

7.3

1::;

12.1

10.5

9.4

10.5

8.7

1:::

12.0

10.2

9.7

8.9

3.3

0.5

1.4

::2

1:::

4.9

$;

;:;

7.2

14.8

1.7

12

::

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

;?

::

14

15

16

17

98.1

98.7

98.5

98.2

93.9

87.5

years--------------

years --------------

years--------------

years--------------

years--------------

years--------------

9.2

10.2

9.2

11:2

8.1

78.0

79.4

83.2

81.4

86.5

92.8

86.8

Boys

12-17 years-----

years --------------

years --------------

years--------------

years --------------

years--------------

years--------------

96.0 9.8

97.8

98.3

97.8

98.9

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

10.0

11.0

:::

11.6

9.2

84.9

79.6

90.5

83.9

86.5

94.3

80.0

94.7

87.7

Girls

12-17 years-----

years --------------

years--------------

years--------------

years --------------

years--------------

years --------------

95.9 8.6

8.4

;:;

1:::

7.0

98.4

99.1

99.2

97.5

93.1

87.2

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

73.2

71.8

65.6

65.5

59.8

55.4

10.1

1;:;

8.7

8.3

6.5

5.9

6.9

1::;

10.9

9.2

2.4

1.7

M

7.6

16.0

68.3

79.3

73.0

78.1

86.6

90.9

0.;

0.5

R

6.0

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years----

Boys 12-17 years------

Girls 12-17 years -----

0.42 ... 1.16 0.60 0.39 0.45 0.40 0.42 1.44

0.46 ... 1.08 0.73 0.68 0.65 0.53 0.68 1.22

0.49 ... 1.03 0.65 0.65 0.56 0.39 0.68 2.10
Table 26. Percent distribution of youths enrolled in school by summer work activity, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

12

13

14

;:

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

Both sexes

12-17 years --------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years---------------r -------------------

years -----------------------------------

Bovs

12-17 years --------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years --------- ------.-- --------- --------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

Girls

12-17 years-------------------.------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

years -----------------------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years ---------------

Boys 12-17 years---------------------------

Girls 12-17 years--------------------------

Work during summer

Total Full time Part time None

Percent distribution

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

...

...

..*

11.6

4.8

4.2

6.3

11.0

19.5

28.1

16.9

;::

1;::

30.0

39.7

6.1

2.1

2.8

3.2

u

16.3

0.63

1.00

0.48

36.3

25.6

31.4

38.8

41.6

40.2

42.2

44.2

34.2

42.9

47.8

52.9

43.8

44.2

28.1

Standard error

16.8

19.7

29.6

29.8

36.4

40.2

52.2

40.3

29.7

38.9

58.3

51.5

42.9

31.7

26.1

16.1

65.8

81.1

77.5

67.2

63.9

55.1

43.6

1.00 0.83

1.53 1.11

0.74 0.77

49
Table 27. Percent of youths not enrolled in school and percent distribution of those youths by work

status, according to sex and selected age groupe,

1966-70

with standard errors for totale: United States,

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 years--------------------------------

16 years-----------------------------------

17 years----------------------------------

BOYS

12-17 years--------------------------------

16 years-----------------------------------

17 years-----------------------------------

Girls

12-17 years--------------------------------

16 years-----------------------------------

17 years-----------------------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years---------------

Boys 12-17 years---------------------------

Girls 12-17 years--------------------------

Youths not in school

?ercent of

?ouths not

Ln school

4.0

6.1

12.5

4.0

5.3

12.3

4.1

6.9

12.8

0.42

0.46

0.49

Work status

‘focal Not working No;nod#g

Have

a job but looking lookingf@r

for a job

a job

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

. . .

. . .

..(

Percent distribution

33.1

26.7

49.5

41.8

35.6

62.3

24.2

19.6

36.8

Standard error

4.41

5.29

4.66

34.5

46.1

29.3

36.2

53.7

27.4

32.7

40.0

31.2

32.5

27.2

21.3

22.1

10.7

10.3

43.1

40.3

32.1

3.55 3.33

5.39 4.41

3.94 4.41

50
Table 28. Percent distributions of youths enrolled in elementary or secondary school by educational desires and expectancies,

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Highest level of education desired Highest level of education expected

Scx and age

I

*

Finish Quit

Get a college school Fini~b Get some

college and take Tots1 as soon high college

degree further as pOs- school or other

training sible training

Finish

Get a college

college and take

degree further

training

I

1 , 1,

Both sexes Percent distributions

——

12-17 years--

+

100.0 =4==== 1,2 100.0 33.1

I

19.2 26.0

22.2 29.2

21.0 ;~.$

24.2

22.7 36:2

22.1 38.9

31.6 22.1

26.0 21.2

27.4 16.5

23.0 14.9

24.1 15.7

25.1 13.4

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

1.0

1.5

1.0

2.0

1.8

1.0

26.6

30.1

35.3

35.9

35.5

36.7

30.2

30.7 19.0

24.1 18.0

24.2 14.1

21.9 13.1

22.5 11.2

24.6 10.1

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 yeara---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100,0

1.2

1.4

0.8

1.6

1.4

0,5

1.4

—.

1.3

2.0

0.9

+::

0.8

1.0

26.9 16.6

Boys

—

12-17 years--

* 4-= 33.3 20.1

28.0 18.9

27.1 16.4

24.1 16.5

23.8 14.2

23.9 11.8

0.6 20.3

22.3

::: 24.3

2.1 26.4

2.5 28.8

1.1 28.2

25.8

29.0

31.2

30.9

30.7

35.0

36.1

—

27.4

31.3

39.6

41.2

40.4

38.5

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 yeara---------

15 years---------

16 yeara---------

17 years---------

17.7 21.6

18.3 26.4

20.1 29.8

24.2 30.0

21.8 33.2

23.3 36.0

35.0 24.4

30.3 23.0

30.0 19.1

26.0 18.7

23.5 19.5

24.8 15.2

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Girls

12-17 years--

*

1.31 27.7 ‘--1 22.5

28.0

20.0

21.3

19.6

21.2

25.4

12.4

+

__+....--

28.1 19.7

21.6 19.3

24.6 13.7

19.9 11.0

24.7 11.8

25.3 11.5

1.4 25.2

1.1 30.6

26.3

;:: 27.7

29.2

::: 27.0

18,0

17.0

11.6

9.5

8.1

8.3

12 yeara---------

13 years---------

14 yeara---------

15 yeara---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

20.7 30.5

26.2 32.1

21.8 39.2

24.2 42.6

23.5 39.3

20.8 42.1

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years- mi 1

0.22 1.20

0.26 1.54

0.24 1.25 1

0.92

1.02

1.11

0.75 0.56

1

. 0.16

... 0,24

... 0.15

BOYS 12-17

years-----------

Girls 12-17

years-----------

51
Table 29. Percent distributions of ymths not enrolled in elementary or secondary schoOl by educational desires and expectancies, according to enrollment status, selected age groups, and sex: United States, 1966-78

Enrollment

status, age,

and sex

12-17 years------

17 years---------

%%%%,

further training

12-17 years------

17 years---------

High school

dropout

Both sexes,

12-17 years-----

Both sexes,

16 years--------

Both sexes,

17 years--------

BOYS, 12-17

years-----------

Boys, 16 years---

Boys, 17 years---

Girls, 12-17

years-----------

Girls, 16 years--

Girls, 17 years--

Highest level of education desired Highest level of education expected

Quit Finish Quit

schcml ~ini~h Get some

college Get a college

aa so.” %& $;:g $;.$e :NJje

school

rotal as soon high college and take Total

as pos; school or other degree

training further as posi

sible training egree

training sible training

Percent distributions

100.0

11>().0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

1,)0.o

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

——

.. .

. ..

. ..

.. .

36.9

37.7

34.7

38.8

45.9

33.6

35.1

30.5

35.9

8.2

8.6

...

,..

48.3

48.8

53.0

50.9

45.5

54.6

45.8

51.8

51.1

59.5

59.0

15.6

16.3

9.8

8.0

10.0

8.2

8.7

8.7

11.2

7.5

11.6

26.7

26.5

43.6

42.5

3.8

2.3

1.7

2.0

3.1

5.4

4,3

5.6

5.9

40.8

41.2

1.3

3.2

0.6

2.5

6.0

1.4

——

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

11)0.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

..!

. . .

. . .

. . .

51.8

47.5

52.7

54.0

54.4

54.2

49.7

41.2

51.1

13.7

14.3

...

...

37.5

46.4

32.7

33.8

39.9

29.6

40.9

52.5

36.3

57.4

56.8

20.5

21.4

6.5

4.2

9.0

9.8

5.7

12.5

3.4

2.8

5.0

24.7

24.5

47.2

46.4

2.0

1.8

1.5

3.8

3.4

3.3

4.2

4.5

32.2

32.2

2,3

4.0

2.4

3.7

2.2

4.3

lFor ycnzthswho had already dropped out of school, the response “quit scha.alas smm as possible” obviously reflects an

actuality and was interpreted as a desire or expectancy to remain out of school.

52
Table 30. Percent distribution of youths by educational expectancies, according to enrollment in school and

educational desires: Unjted States, 1966-70

Enrollment status

and educational desires

High school dropout

Quit school as soon as possible -----------

Finish high school ------------------------

Get some college or other training --------

Get a college degree ----------------------

Finish college and take further training--

Youths enrolled in elementary

or secondary school

Quit school as soon as possible -----------

Finish high school ------------------------

Get some college or other training --------

Get a college degree ----------------------

Finish college and take further training--

II

-u--- Qu; t

school

Total as soon

as possiblel

Educational expectancies

100.0

100,0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100,0

100,0

100.0

100,0

100.0

88.8

34.1

9<

9<

$r

61,7

2.4

0.1

0.3

0.1

Finish Get some

college Get a

high

or other college

school training degree

Percent distribution

9.1

58.6

*

$C

9<

30.5

86.0

17.2

3.3

3.1

2.9

*

.-.

*

4.2

7.7

77.2

16.8

7.8

1.9

>:

*

*

1.8

2.2

3.4

77.7

15.1

Finish

college

and take

further

training

2.2

2.5

*

*

.~.

1.8

1.7

2.1

1.9

73.8

lFor youths who had already dropped out of school, the response “quit school as soon as possible” obviously reflects an actuality and was interpreted as a desire or expectancy to remain out of school.

53
Table 31. Mean number of personal traits youths rated “extremely important” and percent distribution of

youths by number of personal traits rated this way, by sex and age

States. 1966-70

, with standard errors for totals: United

Mean

number

of

traits

Number of traits rated as extremely important

~otal 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Sex and age

Both sexes Percent distribution

12-17 years--- 6.1

::?

6.0

6.2

6.0

6.1

5.9

100.0

100,0

100,0

100,0

100.0

10040

100,0

100,0

7.9

6.7

9.0

::!

7.9

7.6

7.5

10.2

J:;

12.0

1::;

8.3

9,9

12.5

13.4

14.0

12.1

11.4

12.2

11.8

11,9

12.2

12.2

12.8

12.0

11.8

11.9

12.5

12.6

11.3

12.5

12.5

11.5

12.9

15.1

11.8

13,1

13.2

11.5

12.1

10.9

10,0

j

12.1

14.0

10.7

11.9

10.3

10.9

14,6

12,6

14,5!

11,4

1?::

12.2

16.1

11.6

10.6

11.3

1::?

12,1

1:::

10.9

13,1

10,3

10.4

13.0

1%;

10.3

9,4

9,5

10.7

11.3

10.3

10.8

3.5

=

4,2

:::

3.2

3,8

2.5

3,7

3.3

::;

3.9

3.9

3,3

3.3

7.7

6.8

7.7

7.4

9.1

::?

6.5

6.7

6.0

5,9

6.2

7.2

7,4

7.8

6,2

8,0

7,1

7.5

;::

9.1

8,1

8,8

n

8.6

9,3

9.8

8,8

7.2

3.4

2.9

M

2.8

3,7

3,4

3,8

:.;

4;2

N

3.5

2,9

12 years ------------

13 years ------------

14 years ------------

15 years ------------

16 years ------------

17 years ------------

Boys

12-17 years---

12 years ------------

13 years ------------

14 years-, ----------

15 years ------------

16 years ------------

17 years ------------

2;

5.9

5.8

5,8

5,8

6,3

100.0

100,0

100,0

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.O

100.O

100,0

100.0

100,0

100,0

2:;

u

6.1

5.3

9.0

8,5

8,6

.::;

.:::

6.3

5,2

6.1

5.9

7,1

7.0

7,3

2:;

6.3

8.6

7.6

8.7

;:;

7.2

:::

6.8

8.3

6,1

8,3

8,8

9.2

9.3

8.3

1::;

11.2

“9.4

11.5

7,5

10.5

10,2

10.1

12.8

10.5

10.3

9.1

13.6

13.7

11.9

10.6

10.4

10.7

13.2

13.2

14,4

12,3

12,3

14.0

13.0

Girls

12-17 years---

12 years ------------

13 years ------------

14 years ------------

15 years ------------

16 years ------------

17 years ------------

13,5

10,1

14,0

8.9

9,6

13.2

6,7

6,2

2:;

8.4

7.3

6.2

::?

:::

3.8

::;

2:2

2,7

3,3

:::

3.8

2.5

3.7

1.6

0,22

0,26

0,33

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years-- 0,36 0.53 0.41 0.37

Boys

Girls

12-17

12-17

years----

years--- EWE

54
Table 32. Percent distributions of youths by attitudes toward obeying the law and being neat and clean, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Importance of obeying the law Importance of being neat and clean

Extremely ~mportant Slightly Extremely ImpOr-ant Unimportant important Slightly

important important Unimportant important

Sex and age

Both sexes Percent distributions

0.4

0,6

0.4

$;

0,3

0.5

12-17 years -- 25.1

16,6

19.8

23,6

26.4

32,5

33,3

72,3 2.2 68,4 29.5 1.8 0.3

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

81.0

78.0

73.9

70.9

65,3

63,3

69.8

1.8 34,8

30.6

27.1

27.3

29.1

27.7

2,4

1.3

1,9

1.4

1,6

2.2

2.4

0.7

0.4

0,1

0.1

0.3

1.8

2,2

2,5

1.9

2.9

12-17 years-- 26.9 2.9 0.5 62.0 35.3 0.4

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

80,4

75.9

73,3

67.1

61.8

57.8

75.0

17,5

21.3

23,5

29.1

35.4

36,3

1,4

2.7

3,0

3,3

:::

::;

0.3

0.4

0.4

1.0

41.5

33.7

33.0

32.2

2,7

2.2

2.4

1.8

1.7

3.3

1.2

0,8

0,5

0,3

35:7 :::

35.5

Girls

12-17 years-- 23,3 1,4 0,3 75.0 23.6 0,2

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

--------

:; ;R:___

17 years --------

0.6

0.4

0,;

81,5

80,2

74.5

74.8

68,9

68,9

0.76

0,98

0.89

2.3

0.8

1,5

1.6

1,3

0,9

0,6

0.7

0.4

0.;

69,5

71.9

77.7

76.7

75.8

79.2

28,0

27.4

21.0

22.2

22,4

19.8

2.0

0.4

1.3

1.0

1.5

1.1

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years- 0.75

-L

0.19 0,06

0.31 0,09

0,16 0,08

0.62 0.22 0.07

0.87 0,36 0.10

0.80

BOYS 12-17

years ----------

Girls 12-17

years ----------

1.07

1.11

1.01

0,81 0,19 0.10 1.04

55
Table 33, Percent distributiona of youths by attitudes toward obeying one’s parents and knowing how to keep

in good health, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 years --

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 yeara --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

L7 years --------

Boys

12-17 years --

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

Girls

12-17 years --

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 yeara --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

Both sexes

12-17 yearsBOYS 12-17

years ----------

Girls 12-17

yeara ----------

Importance of obeying one’s parents I

Importance of knowing how to keep

I

in good health

E

78.7

72.5

67.9

63.5

59.0

52.7

18.3

25.0

29.6

33.4

37.5

43.1

64.4 32.1

I

77.8 18.8

72.0 25.2

66.9 30.4

60.5 36.1

56.9 40.0

49.4 44.6

67.9 29.4

I

79.5

73.0

69.0

66.6

61.2

56.0

1.04

1.1$

1.21

17.9

24.7

28.9

30.6

35.0

41.6

Slightly Unimportant Extremely Important Slightly

important important important Unimportant

Percent distributions

2.5 I 0.6 64.4

I I

2.2 0.8

2.0

H

$: 0.5

3.2 0.3

3.5 0.7

70.7

67.4

63.8

63.7

59.5

60.4

2.7 0.8 63.5

2.4 1.0 69.8

2.2 0.6 67.1

1.1 62.7

$:; 0.8 61.1

61.3

N 1.; 57.8

0.97 0.16

1.05 0.32

Standard error

0.09 0.82

0.13 0.97

1.14 0.27 0.11 1.27

33.0

26.5

30.3

33.4

33.8

37.8

37:1

33.3

27.4

30.8

33.1

35.7

35.2

38.5

32.7

25.6

29.8

33.7

31.9

40.4

35.8

0.78

0.93

1.07

==4=== 2.2 0.7

1.6 0,7

0.2

::: 0.3

2.5 0.2

2.2 0,2

&

-L

1.9

M

;:: 0.5

2.6 0.5

3.5

3,2 0,;

1.7 0.2

2.5 0.4

1.8 0.6

H

1.5 0.;

1.1

0.17 0.08

0.28 0.14

0.27 0.07

56
Table 34. Percent distributions of youths by attitudes toward self-control and dependability, according to

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 years --

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

Boys

12-17 years --

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

Girls

12-17 years --

12 years --------

13 years --------

14 years --------

15 years --------

16 years --------

17 years --------

Both sexes

12-17 yearsBOYS 12-17

----------

G1%S12 -17

years ----------

sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70 -

Importance of having self-control Importance of being dependable

~trem’=ly Important important Slightly Sxtremely ~mportant Slightly

important Unimportant important Unimportant important

==+====

58.9 35.6

62.0 33.5

61.0 36.3

64.0 32.7

67.3 30.5

65.1 33.5

61.0 32.3

62.0 33.5

61.1 36.2

61.1 35.0

68.4 29.7

61.7 36.6

=-l---=

56.9 38.9

62.0 33.5

60.9 36.4

67.0 30.4

66.1 31.5

68.4 30.4

Percent distributions

2.61 0.7

I

4.4

3.7 ;:;

2.1 0.5

2.8 0.4

1.3 0.8

1.1 0.3

2.81 0.8

2.4\ 0.5

3.6

::;

N 0.4

2.4 0.2

1.2

1.0 ::?

Standard

m

59.21 36.91 3.2] 0.8

I I I

52.1 41.5 :.; 0.9

58.9 36.3 1.0

59.2 37.4 2:6 0.9

58.6 38.3 2.3 0.9

63.3 34.0 2.4 0.4

63.8 33.2 2.4 0.6

59.2 36.5 3.3 1.0

51.6 41.5 5.7 1.2

60.0 35.7 3.0

59.3 36.9 2.8 :::

56.6 39.7 2.7

64.7 32.3 2.6 ;::

63.9 32.3 2.8 0.9

59.1 37.2 3.1 0.6

1 , ,

52.6 41.5 0.6

57.7 37.0 ;::

59.1 37.8 2.4 $;

60.6 36.8 0.8

61.9 35.6 ;:!? 0.4

63.7 34.1 2.0 0.3

:rror

0,88 0.76 0.29 0.14

0.92 0.92 0.37 0.16

1.37 1.21 0.35 0.16

57
Table 35. Percent distributions of youths by attitudes toward being considerate of others and being happy,

according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 years --

years --------

years --------

yaars --------

years --------

years --------

years --------

KY2

12-17 years --

years --------

years --------

years --------

years --------

years --------

years --------

Girls

12-17 years --

years --------

yeara --------

years --------

years --------

years --------

years --------

Both sexes

12-17 yearsBOYS 12-17

years ----------

Girls 12-17

years ----------

Importance of being considerate of others Importance of being happy

{xtremely Important Slightly Unimportant Extremely Important Slightly Unimportant important important important important

Percent distributions

51.1

:$;

51:1

51.7

53.2

57.9

46.3

43.2

46.8

45.8

46.6

47.8

47.8

55.9

44.9

51.7

56.6

56.8

59.C

68.2

44.2

48.7

45.1

44.6

43.5

43.2

39.2

47.9

48.8

45.6

49.9

47.5

48.0

47.4

40.4

48.6

44,5

39.3

39.3

38.3

30.$

3.8

5.4

4.2

::?

2,8

2.4

4.8

5.0

2.1

3,8

3.3

1.8

0.4

&

1.0

1,9

1.4

0.3

0.8

0.7

0.5

1.0

2,3

1.3

0.4

A::

0.4

0.9

1.5

1.6

0.3

0.5

0.9

0.6

50.2

38.6

45.8

46.4

54.4

56.3

61.8

45.5

35.0

43.1

42.2

46.5

51.5

56.3

55.1

42.2

48.7

50.8

62.5

61.1

67.3

Standard error

L

0.17 1.16

0.19 1.31

0.24 1.28

42.8

49.9

43.4

46.2

40.7

39.4

35.7

45.7

51.6

43.8

48.8

46.9

43.3

39.1

39.7

48.2

43.0

43.6

34.4

35.4

32.2

1.10

1.35

1.16

5.8

9.0

8.8

::i

H

7.5

10,2

11.3

7.8

::;

4.3

4.1

7.7

:::

2.6

2.5

0.3

1.2

2.5

1.9

:::

0.5

0.3

1.3

3,2

1,8

1.2

::i

0.3

1.1

M

$::

0.9

0.2

-L0.38 0.15

0.62 0.18

0.33 0.20

58
Table 36. Percentdistributionsof youths by attitudestoward facing life’s problemscalmly and being ambitious, accordingto sex and age, with standarderrors for totals:United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

[mportanceof facing life’s problemscalmly IImportanceof being ambitious

Zxtremely ~mportant Slightly Extreme1y

Lmportant Unimportant important Important Slightlyimportant important Unimportant

Both sexes Percent distributions

12-17 years-- 47,5 2.5

48,3

47,0

47.7

47.6

47.5

46,7

46,6

46,1 34.1 53.0 10.4

43,9

46,1

45.7

46,3

46.7

48,5

45,6

5,5

6.2

6,1

5.9

:;;

4,4

6.7

0.9

4.4

3.3

1.9

1.8

12 yea~---------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years--------

1.6

0.9

:::

1,0

0.4

28.2

30,9

32,5

39.7

36,2

38.1

35.1

52.5

53.9

54.8

51,0

52.9

53.0

51,3

50.4

50.7

51.9

50.0

53.5

51,3

54.8

14.9

11.8

10.8

i:;

7.7

10.9

2,0

1.3

Boys

12-17 years-- 1,1 2.7

43.5

45,5

47.6

45,6

45,0

46,6

46.7

44,2

46,7

43.8

46.9

48,4

50.4

48.4

46,5

43.5

46.6

48.0

46,6

48.3

48.2

47,5

51.9

48,6

46.9

46.8

5,9

7.4

::+

R

4.3

2,3

0,6

0.7

1.0

1,0

0,8

29,4

33.2

34.6

39,4

34.0

40,9

33,1

15.6

12.5

10.9

8,6

10.7

6.3

9,8

4,6

3.6

2.6

2,0

1.8

1.5

12 years--------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years--------

Girls

12-17 years-- 0.7 2.3

27,0

28.5

30.4

39.9

38.4

35,2

54.7

57,2

57.7

52,1

52.2

54.7

14.2

11.2

10.7

6.4

;::

4.2

3.1

1.2

;:;

1,1

12 years--------

13 years--------

14 years--------

15 years--------

16 years--------

17 years--------

::;

3.7

3.9

3,7

2.8

::?

0.6

0.6

1,0

Standarderror

Both sexes

12-17 years- 0,12 0.70 0.25

0.14 0,86

0.67 0.55

BOyS 12-17

years----------

Girls 12-17

years----------

1.01

0,91

0,62

0,74

0,36

0.17 0.37 I

0.77

59
Table 37. Percent distribution of youths by attitude toward being able to defend oneself, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 years-------------------------

years----------------------------------

years ----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

Boys

12-17 years-------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

Girls

12-17 years-------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

years----------------------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years--------------

Boys 12-17 years--------------------------

Girls 12-17 years-------------------------

Importance of being able to defend oneself

I I I

Extremely I

Important I

Slightly

important important I

Unimportant

30,7

32.0

32.2

29.7

32.4

27,8

29.5

33.3

35.3

35.5

31.9

34,6

28.8

33.0

28.0

28,6

28.8

27.5

30.1

26.8

25.9

0.67

Percent distribution

55.3

53.2

52,7

56.2

54.3

59.3

56.1

52.0

48.8

;:.;

50:6

56,5

53.8

58.5

57,8

56,4

58.6

58,1

62,2

58.4

12.6

12,6

13.5

12,2

12,1

11.7

13,4

13,2

13.5

13.7

12.5

13.2

13,6

12.5

11.9

11,6

13,2

11.9

10.9

12;

1.5

2,2

1,6

::!

1.1

1.1

1.5

2,3

1.6

1.7

1.5

1,0

O*7

1.5

2.0

1;6

w

1.3

1.4

Standard error

0.75 0.49 0.15

0.83. 0.98 0.64

0.92

0.24

0.89 0.64 0,18

60
Table 38. Mean number of medical symptoms for which youths said they would definitely want to see a doctor and

percent distribution of youths by number of symptoms for which they would definitely want to see a doctor, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Mean

number

of

symptoms

Number of symptoms rated as definitely requiring a doctor

Sex and age

Total 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Both sexes Percent distribution

12-17 years-- 1.4 2.8

:::

$:;

2.3

3.3

2.7

3.5

2.2

2.8

1.8

2.1

3.6

2.9

:::

2.2

2.4

:::

7.1 11.4

12.5

12.5

10.6

11.9

1?:?

10.6

12.6

11.8

12::

::;

12.3

12.5

13.1

12.0

11.3

12.0

13.0

3.4

3.5

3.5

3.3

3.3

3.3

3.3

3.2

13,9

~

16.0

14.6

15.1

14.1

11.2

12.0

14.7

15.8

14.8

17.0

14.7

12.2

13.3

13.1

16.2

14.3

13.2

13.6

10.1.

10.7

0.46

0.56

0.60

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

0,6

::;

0.3

0.7

0.3

0.4

0.6

0,6 0,8 15,2 17.2

15.4

15.7

;;.;

19:0

20.0

16.8

15.5

14.3

18.1

15.1

19.3

19.1

17.6

15.3

17.2

16.4

18.0

18.7

20.8

0.52

0.57

0.90

15.5 9,0

8.0

1:::

8.6

10.2

9.3

10.2

;::

8.3

1::;

13.4

7.8

8.7

1:::

7.3

7.0

5.1

0.9

0.6

h::

0.8

0.5

0.9

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

0.7

0.7

0.3

:::

0.5

0.6

0.4

1.1

0.5

0.9

0,6

0.1

0.7

0.9

0.3

0.1

;:;

0.8

0.14

0.16

0.19

2:

1.3

1.4

0.8

1.2

1.5

8.8

8.2

6.8

6.6

6.4

5.7

6.4

15.7

14.4

13.3

15.7

17.7

14.9

13.7

15.0

15.8

11.9

13.9

14.0

11.6

16.8

11.8

14.7

15.9

17.2

16.8

17.3

17.7

13.0

15.3

18.3

21.2

19.3

19.4

13.4

10.5

14.0

13.3

13.0

14.3

15.2

Boys

12-17 years--

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 yeara---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

3.5

3.4

3.2

3.1

3.1

3.0

3.5

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

0.8

0.9

0.4

0.8

0.5

0.2

0.5

0.8

0.6

0.2

0,6

0.1

0.7

0.09

0,12

0.14

0.7

0.7

1.6

0.9

0.9

0.5

0,7

1.5

;::

1,2

1.0

1.3

1.2

0.8

2.3

1.1

1.6

0.6

1.0

4.0

:::

1.6

4.4

3.8

5.2

9.8

::;

::;

4.4

7.9

Girls

12-17 years--

12 years---------

13 years---------

14 years---------

15 years---------

16 years---------

17 years---------

3.5

3.6

3.4

3.6

;::

0.05

0.06

0.06

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

...

...

,..

;::

0.9

0.4

0.7

0.4

6.0

5.1

6.3

5.5

3.9

4.0

;::

7.8

;::

7.0

16.4

13.0

14.7

17.5

21.4

18.2

\

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years- 1

0.44 0.35

0.72 0.52

0.61 0.58

0.16 0.12 0.24 0.26 0.361 0.361 0.52

-LL 0.52 0.54 0.50

0.48 0.59 0.84

k!yS 12-17

-----------

G&s12-17

years-----------

61
Table 39. Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the symptoms blood in urine or bowel

movement, lump in stomach or abdomen,

tals : United States, 1966-70

and pain in chest, according to sex and age, with standard errors for toSex and age

12

13

14

15

:;

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

H’

Both sexes

12-17 years ---

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

Boys

12-17 years ---

years ------------

years ------------

years------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

Girls

12-17 years ---

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

Both sexes

12-17 years --

Boys 12-17 years ----

Girls 12-17 years ---

Blood in urine

or bowel movement I

IJWP in stomach or abdomen I

Pain in chest

Definitely Probably Not Definitely Probably Not Definitely Probably Not

want want want wanc want want want want

to see

want

to see to see to see to see to see to see

doctor doctor doctor

to see to see

doctor doctor doctor doctor doctor doctor

Percent distributions

74.5 19.6] 5.91 71.71 22.9

I I I I

66.0 24.2 9.7

71.2 21.3 7.5

73.0 19.7 7.3

76.5 19.8

79.4 16.2 :::

81.9 15.8 2,3

75.3 19.0 5.7

68.0 24.6

69.2 24.4

69.4 25.5

72.5 23.3

76.3 18.8

75,4 20.5

67.5 25.9

69.9 21.6 8.6 66.5 24.5

72.0 20.2 65.4 26.0

73.7 20.4 z:: 66.3 28.2

77.4 18.9 68.0 27.0

79.2 16.4 ‘i:; 70.2 23.9

80.8 16.1 3.1 68.8 25.4

73.6 20.3 6.2 75.9 19.9

62.2 26.9 10.9 69.6 24.7

70.4 22.3 73.1 22.7

72.3 19.1 i:;

75.7

72.5 22.7

;$: 77.0 19.4

79.5 ::2 82.5 13.5

83.0 15:6 1.4 82.1 15.5

0.63 0.52

0.89 0.81

1.03 0.77

5.41 50.1

7.4 48.8

50.3

H 48.7

4.3 48.9

52.3

::: 51.7

6.6 44.6

9.0 46.3

47.0

::: 42.6

4.9 42.2

5.9 45.9

5.7 43.1

4.1 55.7

51.3

2:: 53.6

4.8 54.8

55.7

i:: 58.9

2.3 60.5

39.3

38.1

38.9

40.2

40.2

38.4

40.3

41.8

37.0

38.9

43.1

43.7

42.3

46.6

36.8

10.6

13,2

10.8

11.1

10.9

9.3

8.0

13.7

16.7

14.2

14.3

14.1

11,8

10.4

7.5

Standard error

0.34 0.75 0.57 0.31 0.82 0.73 0.55

0.47 1.01 0.96 0.31 1.04

0.48

1.12

0.79 0.54

0.79

0.49 1.01 0.89 0.63

62
Table 40. Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the symptoms hurt all over, stiff

neck or back, and loss of appetite, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

1966-70

United States,

Sex and age

Stiff neck or back

ZEEzE

Percent distributions

Hurt all over Loss of appetite

I

Probably Not

wan t wan t

to see to see

doctor doctor

)efinitely

want

to see

doctor

Probably Not

want want

to see to see

doctor doctor

Definitely

want

to see

doctor

Both sexes

12-17 years--- 44,6 39,4

35.8

38,0

40.5

40.4

41,1

41,3

39,0

15.9 23.8 37.8 38.4

32.8

35.8

36.5

39.4

43,7

43.2

43,0

39.9

39.2

41.0

39.5

42,5

37.9

39.0

37,2

19.4 40,7

12

13

14

15

16

17

t;

;;

16

17

12

13

14

15

+:

51!3

50.1

43.4

42,4

39,7

39.8

12.9

11.9

16,2

17.2

19.2

18.9

18.8

30.6

25.4

24.4

22.3

21,2

18,1

21,4

36.7

38.8

39,1

38,3

35,1

38,7

35.6

34.5

36.0

37.2

34.3

36,3

35.0

40.1

22.7

22,5

21.2

16.8

15.1

17.7

38.1

36.4

39,4

40.7

47.0

43.2

43.0

years------------

years------------

years------------

yeare-------------

years------------

years------------

B~s

12-17 years--- 42,2 19,7

51,6

48.7

41,2

38.8

36,6

34.5

32.3

38.0

39,4

40.3

40.2

44,6

39.9

39.3

38,0

41,5

40,5

41.9

37,9

16.1

13.3

19,4

20.9

23,2

20,9

13,0

9,7

10,4

12.9

13,5

15,2

16.8

29.5

22,6

23.0

20.2

15,9

16,0

26.3

35.9

41.5

39.8

45,4

47.7

48.9

33.6

22.5

24.4

22.4

15.8

14.8

17.6

37.2

36,3

36.8

40.7

34.8

37.7

42.6

40.4

39.3

40.8

43.6

50.4

44.7

38.3

35.9

33.5

37.9

37.9

43.5

41.7

years ------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

Girls

12-17 years--- 47,2 19.1

22,9

20.6

41.3

45.9

42.3

44.4

41.1

40.4

51,0

51.6

45.6

46,0

42,9

45,2

38.9

41,8

41.1

42.4

33,9

42,5

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

19.8

17,8

15.4

17,9

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years--

Boys 12-17 years----

Girls 12-17 years ---

1,08

1,31

1,27

63
Table 41. Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the symptoms overtiredness, nervousness, and vomiting, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

12

::

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

i;

Both sexes

12-17 years ---

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

Boys —

12-17 years ---

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

yeara ------------

years ------------

years ------------

Girls

12-17 years ---

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

Both sexes

12-17 years--

Boys 12-17 years ----

Girls 12-17 years ---

Overtiredness

-

14.8

16,2

16.1

14.4

14.4

14.0

13.2

13.8

15.1

15.1

13.9

12.5

13.6

12.4

15.7

17.4

17.1

14.9

16.3

14.4

14.1

35.8

35.0

33.7

37.7

36.2

37.3

35.2

32.5

33.7

30.0

34,9

32.0

31.8

32.3

39.3

36.4

37.5

40.6

40.4

42.9

38.2

Not

want

to see

doctor

49.4

48,7

50.3

47.9

49.4

48.7

51.5

53.7

51.2

54.9

51.2

55.5

54.6

55.3

45.0

46.3

45.4

44.4

43.3

42.7

47.7

Nervousness

I

Vomiting

Definitely Probably Not Definitely Probably Not

want want want want wan t want

to see to see to see to see to see to see

doctor doctor doctor doctor doctor doctor

Percent distributions

13.7

16.1

15,1

12.2

14.5

12.5

11.8

14.6

18.3

14,5

13.6

13.6

14.2

13.0

12.9

13.8

15.7

10.7

15.4

10.8

10.6

43.31 42.91 11.9 I 34.3 I 53.8

44.2 39.7 13.7 37.1 49.2

42.3 42.6 15.7 34.8

44.2

49.4

43.6 10.0 33.2

42.9 42.6

56.9

10.8 33.8

43.1 44.4

55.4

10.7 32.3

43.1 45.1

57.0

10.3 34.4 55.3

39.6 45.8 11.3 32.8 55.8

42.0 39.7 13.9 36.7

40.6

49.4

44.9 14,3 36.2 49.5

37.1 49.3 11.1 29.9

38.8 47.6

59.0

9.9 30.4

38.7 47.1

59.8

9.8 32.2

40.4 46.6

57.9

8.4 31.1 60.4

47.1 40.0 12.6 35.8 51.6

13.5 37.4 49.1

17.2 33.4 49.4

36.5 54.7

1::: 37.3 50.9

11.6 32.4 56.0

12.2 37.8 50.0

Standard error

0.92 0.55 0.71 0.96 0.36 0.62 0.69

1.24 0.66 1.15 1.41 0.57

1.11 0.58

0.69

0.80

0.76

0.91 0,49 0.90 0.85

64
Table 42. Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a doctor for the aymptoma sore throat, stomach

ache, and headache, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totala : United Statea, 1966.70

Sex and age

Both aexea

12-17 yeara ---

12 years------------

13 years ------------

14 yeara ------------

15 yeara ------------

16 years ------------

17 years ------------

Bo_v&

12-17 years ---

12 yeara ------------

13 years ------------

14 years ------------

15 years ------------

16 vears------------

17 jears ------------

Girls

12-17 yeara ---

yeara ------------

years ------------

years ------------

years ------------

yeara ------------

years------------

Both sexes

12-17 years --

Boys 12-17 years----

Girls 12-17 years ---

Sore throat Stomach ache Headache

Definitely Probably Not Definitely Probably Not Definitely Probably Not

want want want want want want want

to see

want

to aee

wan t

to aee to aee to see to aee

doctor doctor

to aee

doctor

to aee

doctor

to see

doctor doctor doctor doctor doctor

Percent distributions

8.1

11.0

10.2

6.5

:;:

7.0

7.6

10.9

9.7

::i

5.9

5.2

8.6

11.2

10.6

6.0

8.6

6.0

8.9

36.5 55.4 4.:

39.7 49.3 5.1

37.2 52.6 5.2

37.9 55.5

34. Q 58.5 :::

33.7 60.3 3.5

35.8 57.2 3.4

32.71 59.71 4.7

36.8 52.4 5.4

33.3 57.0

33.0 59.9 :::

30.7 62.9 5.5

29.3 64.8

32.8 62.0 ::;

40.3 51.1 3.9

42.7 46.1 4.9

41.4 48.0 4.5

42.9 51.1 3.2

37.4 54.0

38.3 55.8 ::;

38.8 52.3 3.9

23.1 71.;

21.9 73.(

19.0 77.1

18.9 76.(

16.3 80.1

18.0 78.;

17.21 78.1

I

20.2 74.L

18.4 75.f

16.3 79.(

15.8 78.;

14.2 82. (

18.1 79.1

26.1 69.1

25.5 70.1

21.6 75.1

22.1 74.5

18.5 78.3

17.8 78.2

2.81 14.0 I 83.2

I I

3.7 17.0 79.3

15.8 81.1

N 12.8 84.7

2.7 13.3 84.0

2.1 12.1 85.8

2.5 12.7 84.8

--=+4--Q17.7 78.4

::; 13.3 83.5

3.5 10.2 86.2

3.1 10.7 86.3

11.7 86.5

H 10.3 87.3

2.5 15.7 81.8

3.5 16.3 80.2

3.1 18.4 78.5

15.5 83.2

4:: 16.0 81.7

12.4 85.1

::; 15.1 82.4

Standard error

0.52 0.90 1.26 0.31 0.64 0.86 0.28 0.58 0.77

0,55 0.98 1.33 0.42 0.72

0.67

1,01

1.21

0.44

1.48

0.74

0.35

1,00

0.77 0.99 0.32 0.77 0.89

65
Table 43. Mean number of dental conditions for which youtha said they would definitely want to see a

dentist and percent distribution of youths by number of conditions for which they would definitely

want to see a dentist,accordingto sex and age,with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

—

Number of conditions rated as definitely requiring a dentist

Total 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Mean

number of

conditions

Both sexes

12-17 years--------

Percent distribution

3.0

1

100.0

100,0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

3.1

3.4

3.0

2.9

3::

3.3

2.9

19.4

18.5

20.2

21.3

17.9

18.5

19.9

19.3

18.3

22.5

22.0

17.9

16.7

17.7

19.6

16.2

16.2

16.7

17.1

14.3

17.7

15.6

16,5

15.9

16.1

17.3

15.2

18.5

16.1

16.0

12.3

11.3

12.6

13.5

11.9

12.0

12.7

13.4

11.1

12.3

13.3

13.3

15.0

15.5

11.3

12.0

12,3

12.1

12.1

13.1

11.2

10.8

13.8

7.0 11.9 18.2

20.0

17.7

16.4

19,7

;;.;

16.8

21.2

15.8

14.1

;:.;

14:3

19.6

18.7

19.7

18.8

21.1

21.7

17.6

:;

14

15

16

17

12

:;

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

H

3.0

n

3.0

3.0

3.1

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Boys

12-17 years--------

i!:?

6.3

7.8

6.8

7.2

7.1

11.1

11.1

10.4

12.9

11.5

14.6

2.8 10.3

3.1

2.9

2.8

2.8

2.8

2.8

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

;:;

3.8

1.6

:::

3.2

8.6

::;

H

6.8

6.9

6.0

::;

8.5

7.1

7.5

10,9

10.1

1:::

1%:

13.4

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

Girls

12-17 years-------- 3.1

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

years-----------------

2.9

3.0

2.9

3.2

3.2

3.4

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

3.9

3.2

$:

3.6

3.2

11.2

12.1

11.0

15.4

13.2

18.4

18.8

17.8

20.7

17.9

20.4

22.0

16.4

17.4

16.8

13.3

16.7

15.0

11.4

12.9

13.6

10.6

1;::

13.5

11.0

10.7

10.0

8.4

6.3

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years-------

Boys 12-17 years---------

Girls 12-17 years--------

0.03 . . . 0.37

L

0.46

0.44 0.60

0.44 0.60

0.04

0.03

. . .

. . .

66
Table 44. Percent distributions of vouths bv perceived need for a

cavitv-in tooth and crooked teeth,“accordi-ng“tosex and age, with

State;, 1966-70

Sex and age

Both sexes

12-17 yeara-------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

Boys

12-17 yeara-------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

yeara----------------------

yeara----------------------

yeara----------------------

years----------------------

---------------------Girls

12-17 years-------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

yeara----------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years--

Boys 12-17 yeara--------------

Girla 12-17 years-------------

dentist for the conditions hole or

standard errors for totals: United

Hole or cavity in tooth Crooked teeth

Definitely Probably Not want Definitely Probably

want want want want Not want

to see to see

to see

to see to see

to see

dentist dentist dentist dentist dentist dentist

Percent distributions

64.7

66.2

64.5

62.6

65.0

65.3

64.3

63.3

67.6

65.6

63.4

61.7

62.4

58.0

66.1

64.8

63.3

61.8

68.4

68.3

70.7

29.2

27.6

29.3

32.0

28..1

28.3

29.8

29.3

26.1

26.2

31.4

29.1

30.0

33.4

29.1

29.0

32.6

32.7

27.2

26.6

26.2

6.1

6.2

6.2

5.4

6.8

M

7.5

::;

5.2

9.2

7.7

8.6

4.8

52.8

54.9

54.6

51.5

54.1

51.2

50.0

51.0

56.8

52.9

51.2

50.1

46.6

47.4

54.6

53.1

56.3

51.8

58.2

55.8

52.6

38.0

37.0

36.5

39.7

38.0

39.0

38.2

38.3

35.3

36.5

38.4

39.4

42.6

38.0

37.8

38.7

36.6

41.1

36.5

35.3

38.4

9.2

8.1

8.9

8.8

R

11.8

10.7

7.9

10.6

10.4

10.5

10.9

14.6

7.6

8.2

H

5.2

8.9

9.0

Standard error

0.88 0.68 0.44 0.58 0.67 0.43

1.08 0.83 0.58 0.89 1.01 0.58

1,00 0.86 0.50 0.87 0.66 0.59

67
Table 45. Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a dentist for the conditions toothache

and sores in the mouth, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals:

1966-70

United States,

Sex and age

Toothache Sores in the mouth

Definitely I Probably

want want Not want

to see to see

to see

dentist dentist dentist

Definitely

want

to see

dentist

Probably

want

to see

dentist

Not want

to see

dentist

Both sexes Percent distributions

12-17 years------------- 52.7 37.8 9.6 47,6 33.8 18.5

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

:?

12

13

14

15

16

17

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

51,6

49,0

48.7

54.1

55.2

58.2

37,4

39.7

40,6

38,0

36.3

34.2

37.3

10.9

11.3

10,7

R

7.6

44.4

45.2

45,9

48.8

50.6

51,5

35.4

35.9

35,2

32.3

32.0

31,8

34.7

20,2

18,9

18,9

18,9

17.4

16.7

Boys

12-17 years------------- 51.3 11.3 42,9 22.4

52,0

50.0

46.8

52.9

53.9

52,9

35.5

35.9

41.4

38.4

36.0

36.8

38.2

12.5

14.1

11.7

JR

10.2

43.1

41.3

43.7

42.9

43.2

43.4

35,0

35,2

33.6

32.7

35,2

36,9

32.9

35.9

36,6

36.8

31.8

28.8

26,6

years ----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

22.0

23,5

22.7

;:.:

19:7

Girls

12-17 years------------- 54.0 7.8 52.4 14.7

18,4

14,1

15.0

13,3

13,1

13,8

51.2

48.1

50.5

55.4

56,5

63,5

39.5

43.5

39.8

37.6

36.6

31,5

2:

9.7

7.0

6,9

5,0

45.7

49,3

;:.;

58:1

59,6

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

years----------------------

Standard error

Both sexes 12-17 years--

Boys 12-17 years--------------

Girls 12-17 years-------------

0.79 I

0.72 0.32I

0.85 I

0.58 0.61

1.10 1,06 0,51 1,41

0.96

0.68

0.94

0,81

0,48 0,99 0.88 0,77

68
Tabl~e~gk Percent distributions of youths by perceived need for a dentist for the conditions sore gums, stains on

, and bad breath, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sore gums Stains on teeth

m

Bad breath

Probably

want

to see

dentist

Sex and age )efinitely

want

to see

dentist

Not

want

to see

dentist

Definitely

want

to see

dentist

Probably Not

want want

to see to see

dentist dentist

Both sexes

12-17 years---

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

Boys

12-17 years---

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

Girls

12-17 yeara---

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

Percent distributions

50.6

46.7

48.0

50,4

51.4

53.7

54.1

48,9

42,7

45.7

50.6

51,9

51,8

51.2

52.4

15.8

15,4

18.3

16.0

15.9

15.7

13.1

18.1

44.2

43.7

44.4

45.9

44.1

42,5

44,4

44,2

41.6

42,3

47,1

43,3

46.0

45.2

44.1

16,9

16.8

17.1

16.5

18.9

16,9

15.0

19.2

17,3

19.7

16.5

22,9

20,5

18,3

14.5

8.2 73.6

73.6

74.4

76.4

70.8

73.6

72.5

75.4

39.0 33.6 18.3

18.7

16.7

16.4

19.4

19.5

19.1

16.6

19,7

16.6

13.5

16,1

16,8

16.5

20.0

12

13

14

;:

17

::

H

16

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

37.9

33.8

33.5

32,7

30,5

32.8

36.6 33.0 8.0

41.1

38.0

36.4

33,8

33,5

36,5

41.2

32.9

33,3

28.3

30,8

31.0

16.1

21.4

16.1

19.8

17,4

17,7

13,4

14.6

15.1

15.9

11.9

14.0

8.4

72,3

74.1

78.6

75.4

76.8

75.7

41.3 34.2 8.3 71.7

45.8’

46.6

44,6

44,9

38.9

43.5

16,2

14.3

16,5

14,9

13.2

11.6

34.6

34.6

33.8

37.2

30,2

34.6

50.8

50.3

50,3

50.8

55,7

57.0

;::

6,5

11.2

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years--

BcIys12-17 years----

Girls 12-17 years---

0,93 0.76 0,56 0,64 0.68 0.53

XL-!!LE 0.79

0.56 -4--&

69
Table 47. Percent distribution of youths by number of times they had run away

cording to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States,

from home, ac1966-70

Sex and age

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

;;

17

Both sexes

12-17 years----------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

Boys

12-17 years----------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

Girls

12-17 years----------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

years-------------------------------------

Both sexes 12-17 years-----------------

Boys 12-17 years-----------------------------

Girls 12-17 years----------------------------

Number of times youth ran away

Total

II

Once More than

once 1. None

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Percent distribution

6.7

4.6

4.7

5.8

7.4

;:;

7.3

M

6.3

9.0

10.2

8.9

6.1

2.7

2.0

2.0

2.0

;:;

.

2.8

2.4

4.1

2.6

;::

;:!

5.4

2.3

90.6

93.4

93.3

92.2

90.1

86.3

87.6

89.9

92.0

93.9

91.5

88.4

85.8

87.1

91.3

94.8

92.7

92.8

91.8

86.8

88.1

Standard error

70
Table 48. Percent distribution of youths who had ever run away from home by age at which they first ran away, and median age

at which youths first ran away from home, according to sex and age, with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Age first ran away from home

7 8 9 10 H 12 13 14

years years years years years years years yearsn

15 16 17

years years years

Sex and age Median

age in

years

Both SC!X@S Percent distribution

12-17 years--- 100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

6.9 8.1 3.2

...

...

...

...

...

15.2

3.9

12.0

1?:;

11.4

14.3

13.9

15.5

12.2

5.7 8.4 5.0

11.5

6.0

7.6

2.6

?:;

5.0

11.1

15.4

10.7

10.5

10.8

1:::

14.4

4.9 9.2

12.2

1::: 15.6

7.9 16.8

2.5

1.9 +:2

0.7 6.7

6,1 7.6

10.9 6.4

12.2 4.8

1;.; 8.6

2.4

::; 1::;

3.6 11.1

21.5

20.; 25.1

25.5

;:: 6.9

7.1 10.7 12.5

...

...

...

21.1

27.6

11.6

14.1

...

...

...

27.9

28.6

11.4

10.7

7.0

...

...

...

...

2;::

5.7

...

...

...

...

2::;

8:5

12 years----------

13 years----------

14 years----------

15 ywars----------

16 ycarS----------

17 yWlrY----------

11.7

l::i

5.0

7.8

2.5

7.8

10.5

12.9

5.2

::2

5.1

15.5

13.2

8.5

:::

5.1

7.0

16.6

4.6

8.7

3.9

:::

6.3

10.4

::?

5.0

;::

10.4

. ..

14.1

11.7

9.5

7.4

2.2

7.4

.. .

.. .

12.7

27.6

9.0

9.9

9.7

Ihys —

12-17 ycars---

12 yl?ars----------

13 years----------

14 years----------

15 yuars----------

Ih yunrs----------

17 years----------

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

10.1

1$$

6.3

9.5

2.1

5.8

16.9

17.4

:::

4.5

2.3

10.1

13.9

;:;

0.9

5.0

4.9

23.0

1%:

12.8

1%!

7.3

9.8

$;

13:6

15.6

12.7

. . .

19.2

14.8

6.9

;:?

6.8

. ..

.. .

10.1

27.1

7.6

7.2

11.9

. . .

. ..

. . .

. ..

.. .

18.7

2.4

Girls

12-17 years---

12 years----------

13 years----------

14 years----------

15 years ----------

16 yCtltS ----------

17 years----------

14.2

5.2

;::

5.9

3.0

13.4

1?::

15.6

4.8

8.2

H7.0

5.1

::!

1!::

11.2

13.7

14.3

15.4

. . .

9.6

1:::

7.4

2.3

.. .

.. .

15.5

28.2

10.5

12.9

. . .

. ..

. ..

11.1

26.5

11.9

.. .

. . .

. . .

. ..

11.6

26.3

. ..

.. .

. ..

11.3

Standard error

Both S12M?S

12-17 ycars-- . .. 1.70 0.88 1.28 1.38 0.76 1.36 0.88 1.07 1.18 1.48 1.65 1.29 0.68 ---

... 1.98 1.20 1.32 1.60 0.90 2.10 1.06

2.10 1.21

1.24 1.56

2.09

1.53 2.04

2.59

1.45 1.05 ---

... 1.03 1.72 1.20 1.93 1.60 2.09 2.70 1.92 0.77 ---

Buys 12-17 years--

Girls 12-17 ycars71
Table 49. Percent distribution of youths by number of contacts with law enforcement officers, percent of youths

reporting such contacts, and percent distribution of those youths by whether or not they were arrested, according to sex and age with standard errors for totals: United States, 1966-70

Sex and age

Number of police contacts Youths reporting police contacts Percent

~f youths

reporting

police

contacts

Thought

Total they were ar::ted Don’t

arrested know Total One Two More

than two None

Both sexes

12-17 years---

Percent distribution Percent distribution

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

13.0

;:;

11.8

16.0

16.4

16.3

19.0

2.7 81.2 18.8 81,2 4.0

4.2

;:!

4:6

2.4

3.9

3.2

1.6

1.2

2.8

H

6.3

5.4

2.8

:::

6.4

1:::

0.9

0.8

0.7

2.0

;:;

.

4.9

89.3

88.3

83.4

76.9

75.6

71.7

70.7

84.4

80.1

73.7

64.7

62.0

56.2

91.9

10.7

11.7

16.6

23.1

24.4

28.3

29.3L

100.0 9.9

100.0 7.1

100,0 8.3

100.0 17.6

100.0 15.5

100.0 21.5

100.0 17.0

86.0

89.9

84.8

78,8

79.8

76.2

79.1

12

13

14

15

16

17

12

13

14

15

:?

12

i:

15

16

17

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

Boys

12-17 years---

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

. . .

. . .

. . .

11.4

16.1

17.9

22.7

24.9

22.0

6.8

5.4

:::

9.2

7.8

10.5

1.4

1.4

3.5

6.2

1;:;

0.5

15.6

19.9

26.3

35.3

38.0

43.8

8.1

100.0 9.4

100.0 7.6

100.0

100.0 2!::

100.0 18.4

100.0 25.5

85.0

88.9

85.4

74.7

76.8

73.6

89.0

5.6

H

4.2

:.;

.

4,6

years ------------

years ------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

Girls

T

100.0 6.4

100.0 11.3

100.0

100.0 ::7

100.0

100.0 ::!

100.0 7.5

12-17 years---

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

years------------

0.5

0.1

0.8

0.6

1.6

1.6

0.2

0.;

0.8

1.0

0.5

94.2

96.7

93.3

89.4

89.6

87.4

5.8

3.3

1$:

10.4

12.6

88.7

96.0

82.4

92.6

91.8

85.2

Standard error

Both sexes

12-17 years--

Boys 12-17 years----

Girls 12-17 years---

0.61 0.29

0.55

0.17

0.94

0.68

72
Table 50. Percent of youths who had ever dated, percent distributionof youths who had dated by age at

first date, and median age at first datq accordingto sex and age

States, 1966-70

, with standarderrors for totals:United

Percent

of youths

who ever

dated

47.8

8.5

18.2

37.9

:;.:

88:8

46.5

Age at first date

Total 10 years ~1 12 13 14 15 who ever and 16 17

dated under years years years years years years years

Sex and age Median

age in

years

15.1

12.6

13.7

14.2

15.0

15.6

15.8

14.9

percent distribution

12-17 years-- 100.0 1.8

11.5

3.9

2.4

0.8

1.3

1.1

2.6

2.7

31,6

5.8

2,8

1.6

1.2

1.0

3.5

9.2

56.9

32.1

13.4

5.5

2::

11.3

20.2

...

58.1

42.1

18.1

12.5

12.1

21.C

25.3

...

...

...

28.3

40.8

29.3

22.6

1.1

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

3.8

1.3

29.0

...

...

39.3

45.7

28.4

21.5

27.2

...

...

31.7

;+;

21:4

30.6

10.7

...

...

...

...

12.0

26.2

10.4

...

...

...

...

11.8

25.8

11.0

12 years -----------

13 years-----------

14 vears-----------

i:

17

~ears -----------

years-----------

years-----------

Q?&

12-17 years-- 100.0

12

::

15

16

17

10.0

17.9

38,2

60.0

75.9

85.1

49.2

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

. 100.0

100.0

16.0

4.0

3.2

;::

1.6

1.0

51.8

32.4

14.9

:::

8.2

7.3

12.5

13.6

14.1

14.8

15.5

15.8

15.2

years-----------

years-----------

yeare-----------

years-----------

years-----------

years-----------

. . .

56.7

46.9

21.6

12.9

9.4

19.5

. . .

. . .

. . .

22.2

39.2

27.6

27.8

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

4.7

0.9

Girls —.

12-17 years-- 100.0

12

13

14

15

16

17

5.0

3.7

1.6

::;

0.7

30.6

4.6

2.2

::?

0.7

64.4

31.9

11.7

:::

1.7

12.8

13.7

14.4

15.2

15.6

15.8

years-----------

years-----------

years-----------

years-----------

years-----------

years-----------

. . .

57.6

37.2

15.C

12.1

14.7

. . .

. . .

47.2

46.9

28.8

21.6

. . .

. . .

. . .

33.9

42.4

31.0

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

12.3

26.7

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

3.0

Standarderror

Both sexes

12-17 yeara- 1.05 ... 0.23 0.31 0.76 0.75

1.45 ... 0,32 0.52 0.87 1.15

1.01 ... 0.31 0.39 0.88 1.00

.

Boys 12-17 years---

Girls 12-17 years--

73
APPENDIX I

TECHNICAL NOTES

The Survey Design

The sample designs for the first three programs, or Cycles I-III, of the Health Examination Survey have been similar, in that each has

been a multistage, stratified probability sample

of clusters of households in land-based segments.

The successive elements for this sample design

arc primary sampling unit (PSU), census enumeration district (ED), segment (a cluster of households), household, eligible youth, and finally, the

sample youth.

The 40 sample areasand the segments utilized

in the design of Cycle III were the same as those

in Cycle II. Previous reports describe in detail

the sample design used for Cycle II and in

addition discuss the problems and considerations

given to other types of sampling frames and

whether or not to control the selection of

siblings.5’ G

Requirements and limitations placed on the

design for Cycle HI, similar to those for the

design for Cycle H, were that:

1.

2.

%

74

The target population be defined as the

civilian, noninstitutional population of the

United States, including Alaska and

Hawaii, in the age range of 12 through 17

years, with the special exclusion of children residing on reservation lands of the

American Indians. The latter exclusion was

adopted as a result of operational problems encountered on these lands in Cycle

I.

The time period of data collection be

limited to about 3 years for each cycle and

the length of the individual examination

within the specially constructed mobile

examination center be between 2 and 3

hours.

Ancillary data be collected

designed household, medical

on specially

history, and

4.

5.

school questionnaires, and from copies of

birth certificates.

Examination objectives be related primarily to factors of physical and intellectual

growth and development.

The sample be sufficiently large to yield

reliable ~indings within broad ‘geographic

regions and population density groups as

well as within age, sex, and limited socioeconomic groups for the total sample.

The sample was drawn jointly with the U.S.

Bureau of the Census, beginning with the 1960

decennial census list of addresses and the nearly

1,900 PSU’S into which the entire United States

was divided. Each PSU “is either a standard

metropolitan statistical area (SMSA), a county,

or a group of two or three contiguous counties.

These PSU’S were grouped into 40 strata, with

each stratum having an average size of about 4.5

million persons. Stratification was accomplished

so as to maximize the degree of homogeneity

within strata with regard to the population size

of the PSU’S, degree of urbanization, geographic

proximity, and degree of industrialization. The

40 strata were then classified into four broad

geographic regions of 10 strata each and then

within each region, cross-classified by four population density classes and classes of rate of

population change from 1950 to 1960. Using a

modified Goodman-Kish controlled-selection

technique, one PSU was drawn from each of the

40 strata.

Generally, within each PSU, 20 census enumeration districts were selected, with the probability of selection of a particular ED proportional to its population in the age group 5-9

years in the 1960 census, which by 1966

approximated the target population for Cycle

III. A similar method was used for selecting one

segment (a smaller cluster of households) in each
ED. Because of the approximately 3-year time

interval between Cycle II and Cycle III, the

Cycle III sampling frame was updated for new

construction and to compensate for segments

where housing was partially or totally demolished to make room for highway construction or

urban redevelopment. Each of the resulting 20

segments within a PSU was either a bounded

area or a cluster of households (or addresses).

All youths in the appropriate age range who

resided at the address visited were eligible

youths, i.e., eligible for inclusion in the sample.

Operational considerations made it necessary to

reduce the number of prospective examinees at

any one location to a maximum of 200. When

the number of eligible youths in a particular

location exceeded this number, the “excess”

eligible youths were deleted from the sample

through a systematic sampling technique.

Youths who were not selected as sample youths

in the CyclF 111sample, but who were previously

examined in Cycle II, were scheduled for examination if time permitted and will be included in

special longitudinal analyses. In addition, individual twins who were deleted from the Cycle

III sample were also scheduled for examination,

as they were in Cycle II, to provide data on pairs

of twins for future analysis. These data are not

included in the report as part of the national

probability sample of youths.

The sample was selected in Cycle III, as it had

been for the children in Cycle II, to contain

proportional representation of youths from

families having only one eligible youth, two

eligible youths, and so on, so as to be representative of the total target population. However,

since households were one of the elements in the

sample frame, the number of related youths in

the resulting sample is greater than would result

from a design which sampled youths 12-17 years

without regard to household. The resulting

estimated mean measurements or rates should be

unbiased but their sampling variabilities will be

somewhat greater than those from a more

costly, time-consuming, systematic sample design in which every kth youth would be selected.

The total probability sample for Cycle III

included 7,514 youths representative of the

approximately 22.7 million noninstitutionalized

U.S. youths of 12-17 years. The sample contained youths from 25 different States, with

approximately 1,000 in each single year of age.

The response rate in Cycle III was 90 percent,

with 6,768 youths examined out of the total

sample. These exarninees were closely representative of those in the population from which the

sample was drawn with respect to age, sex, race,

region, population density, and population

growth in area of residence. Hence it appears

unlikely that nonresponse could bias the findings appreciably.

Reliability

While measurement processes in the surveys

were carefully standardized and closely controlled, the correspondence between true population figures and HES results cannot be expected to be exact. Survey data are imperfect

for three major reasons: (1) results are subject to

sampling error, (2) the actual conduct of a

survey never agrees perfectly with the design,

and (3) the measurement processes themselves

are inexact, even though standardized and controlled.

Data recorded for each sample youth are

inflated in the estimation process to characterize

the larger universe of which the sample youths

are representative. The weights used in this

inflation process are a product of the reciprocal

of the probability of selecting the youth, an

adjustment for nonresponse cases, and a poststratified ratio adjustment that increases precision by bringing survey results into closer

alinement with known U.S. population figures

by color and sex within single years of age for

ages 12-17.

In the third cycle ~f the Health Examination

Survey, as for the children in Cycle II, the

sample was the result of three principal stages of

selection: the single PSU from each stratum, the

20 segments from each sample PSU, and the

sample youth from the eligible youths. The

probability of selecting an individual youth is

the product of the probability of selection at

each stage.

Because the strata are roughly equal in population size and a nearly equal number of sample

youths were examined in each of the sample

PSU’S, the sample design is essentially selfweighting with respect to the target population;

that is, each youth 12 through 17 years of age

had about the same probability of being drawn

into the sample.

75
The adjustment upward for nonresponse is

intended to minimize the impact of nonresponse

on final estimates by imputing to nonrespondents

the characteristics of “similar” respondents.

Here “similar” respondents in a sample PSU

were defined as examined youths of the same age

(in years) and sex as youths not examined in that

sample PSU.

The poststratified ratio adjustment used in

the third cycle achieved most of the gains in precision that would have been attained if the sample

had been drawn from a population stratified by

age, color, and sex and makes the final sample

estimates of population agree exactly with independent controls prepared by the Bureau of the

Census for the U.S. noninstitutionalized population as of March 9, 1968 (approximate midpoint of the survey for Cycle III) by color and

sex for each single year of age 12-17. The

weight of every responding sample youth in

each of the 24 age, color, ”and sex classes is

adjusted upward or downward so that the weighted

total within the class equals the independent population control. Final sample frequencies and estimated population frequencies as of the approximate midpoint of the survey are presented in

table I by age and sex.

Extent of Missing Questionnaire Data

In addition to youths who were selected for

the sample but for various reasons did not participate, there were some whose questionnaire

were missing or incomplete. The extent of missing

self-report questionnaires was very small, less

than 1 percent for each of the two questionnaires

used for this report. The extent of incomplete

questionnaires, or item nonreponse, was also very

small: about 81 percent of the 92 individual

questions discussed in this report had item nonresponse of 1 percent or less, about 9 percent had

item nonresponse of between 1 and 2 percent, and

nine of the questions (about 10 percent of those

considered here) had nonresponse rates greater

than 2 percent. Only three items had more than

S-percent item nonresponse, the highest being

12 percent. Because of the small amount of nonresponse, a separate category of “unknown” is

seldom shown in the tables of this report.

Unknowns were usually excluded from the estimates. It was assumed that the small number of

youths who did not answer a question were distributed in the same manner as those for whom

responses were available.

Sampling and Measurement Error

In the present report, reference has been

made to efforts to minimize bias and variability

of measurement techniques. The probability design of the survey makes possible the calculation

of sampling errors. The sampling error is used

here to determine how imprecise the survey test

results may be because they result from a sample

Table 1. Sample and estimated population frequency distributions of youths 12-17 years of age in the noninstitutionalized population of

the United States: Health Examination Survey, 1966-70

I 1

—

Number of youths in sample Estimated number of youths

Age in popu Iation as of m idsu rvey

Total

II

soys

I

Girls Total

II

soys

I

Girls

I I

Number in thousands

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14years . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15yaars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..+ . . . . . ..O

17 yeara . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6,76S —

1,190

1,208

1,204

1,116

1,082

958

3,545

643

626

618

613

558

489

3,223

547

582

586

503

536

469

22,692

4,002

3,952

3,852

3,751

3,625

3,510

11,489

2,032

2,0CG

1,951

1,900

1,836

1,764

11,203

1,970

1,846

1,901

1,851

1,789

1,746

76
rather than from the measurement of all elements

in the universe. The estimation of sampling

errors for a study of the type of the Health Examination Survey is difficult for at least three

reasons: (1) measurement error and “pure”

sampling error are confounded in the data, and it

is difficult to find a procedure that will either

completely include both or treat one or the other

separately; (2) the survey design and estimation

procedure are complex and accordingly require

computationally involved techniques for the calculation of variances; and (3) thousands of statistics

are derived from the survey, many for subclasses

of the population for which the number of sample

cases is small. Estimates of sampling error are

obtained from the sample data and are themselves

subject to sampling error, which may be large

when the number of cases in a cell is small or,

occasionally, even when the number of cases is

substantial.

Estimates of approximate sampling variability for most statistics presented in this report

are included in the detailed tables or can be computed from table II. These estimates, called standard errors, have been prepared by a replication

technique that yields overall variability through

Table II. Standard errors associated with selected percent estimates for single-year age

groups (A) and for single-year age-sex groups

(B): Health Examination Survey, 1966-70

Percent

1 -------- -----------

2-------------------

----h--. -----------

:--------------------

5 ------ ------ -------

6 ------------ -------

---------- ---------

:----------------------

9---.--- ------------

10------------------

15------------------

----------- -------

&-----------------

------- -------- ---

,-------- ---..---- --

: L-----------------

45------------------

50------------------

Base for percent

_l__._LB

Estimated standard error

0.40

0.52

0.61

0.69

0.76

0.83

0.88

0.94

0.98

1.03

1,22

1.36

1.47

1.55

1.61

1.65

1.68

1.69

0.50

0.68

0.82

0.94

1.04

1.14

1.22

1.30

1.37

1.43

1.70

1.90

2.06

2.18

2.27

2.33

2.37

2.38

observation of variability among random subsamples of the total sample. The method reflects

both “pure” sampling variance and a part of the

measurement variance, a~~l~ described in previously published reports. ‘

Generally, the percentages shown inthe detailed tables for all youths, all girls, andall boys

are accompanied by their standard errors .Standard errors associated with estimates for single

year age groups (e.g., all 12-year-olds) or for

single year age-sex groups (e.g, 16-year-old

girls) could not beshown conveniently inthe detailed tables but can be estimated from table II.

For example, if 5 percent of all youthsof aspecific age (e.g., 12-year-olds) were estimated to

possess a characteristic, one could obtain the

corresponding standard error of O.76fromcolumn

A of table II. Column B permits the estimation

of the standard error corresponding to a percentage with a population base of a skgle year

age-sex group. For example, if 30 percent of

16-year-old girls were estimated to possess a

characteristic, the standard error associated with

that percentage would be 2.18. Percentages exceeding 50 should be subtracted from 100. The

standard error corresponding to the resulting

percentage can then be applied to the original

percentage of interest.

Hypothesis Testing

In accordance with usual practice, the interval estimate for any statistic was considered

to be the range within one standard error of the

tabulated statistic with 68-percent confidence and

the range within two standard errors of the tabulated statistic with 95-percent confidence. The

latter is used as the level of statistical significance

in this report.

An approximation of the standard error of a

difference cf=x-Yof two statistics andyis given

by the formula S,=(S~+S~)~ where SX and SY

are the standard errors, respectively, of x and

Y .Of course, where thetwogroups ormeasures

are positively or negatively correlated, this formula willgive anoverestimate orunderestimateof

the actual standard error.

Theprocedure used in this report fortesting

the significance of difference between estimates

consisted in dividing the difference between the

77
two estimates by the standard error of the dif- the sampling error may be larger than the staference as computed above. If the absolute value tistic itself. Such statistics are included in this

of the result was 2.00 or more, the difference was report, along with their corresponding standard

considered statistically significant at approx- errors, in the belief that the information, while

imately the 95-percent confidence level. not meeting strict standards of precision, may

Small Categories

In some tables

cells for which the

lend an overall impression of the survey findings

and may be of interest to subject-matter specialists.

statistics may be shown for

sample size is so small that

000

78
APPENDIX II

SELF-REPORT QUESTIONNAIRES

Health Habits and History Questionnaire

CONIVDEN?lAL - All itz/ormatiorr which would permit identi/icntion bf the individual will be held

wfctly confidential, will be used only by pers~s engaged in and for the PurPoses 01tbe ~u~ey and

adll not be discked?r tekmed to othetf for,my other putposes (?.2 FR 1687).

DEPARTMENT OF

ifEALTti,EDUCATION, AND WELFARE

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVtCE

NATIONAL HEALTH sURVEY

HEALTH HABITSAtiD HISTORY- Youth

1 1 I

Name (Last, Fitst, Middle) SEGMENT SERIAL COL. NO.

/NSTRUCTIONS: On the fohowing pages you will find a set of queetitms dealing with your

health. since every person is different, there are no ‘qtandard* answers to the questions;

just answer them as ftilly and honestly as you can. Your answers will be k~pt confidential.

Do your best to pick the most likely airswer from ai120hg the choi oes given. Only if you

really dort% know the answer check “Don’t know. ” WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE

QUESTIONNAIRE,pLkASE M.4111ITi3.4CKTO THE SURVEY INTHE ENVELOPE WE

LEFT wmi YOU -THERE IsNO pCfST.4GENECESSARY IFyou usE OUR ENVsLOPE.

1,SEX 2. AGE 3. OATE OF B1RT34 (Month, Day, h?)

1 ❑ Male 2 ❑ Feud=

I I

4.

3<

6.

T.

How would you describe your present heaIth?

i

?

Poor 2

v

Fair 3 Dcbmd i a Vety gbod $ ❑ Excelierit

IF POOR Olt.FAl R: What is wrong?

DOyctu have any probIems you might like to talk over with a doctor?

1

P

Yes ~❑ No

Do ybti now uee any medicine regularly, not counting. vitarains?

1

P

Yes ,DNO s ❑ Doh’t know

~F.,Y s

a. What is its name?. z~ Don’t know

b. What is it for?

z~ DonJt know

c, Did a doctor say you shotdd use it?

I Cl Yes 20No 3 ❑ Don’t know

d. How long have you been using it?

Have you aver b~ken any bones?

P

Yes ZDNO 3❑ Dcm’t know

A:

a. IIow many tifnes? (Several Ixntes broken &t the satne time, coutit M once.)

I Cl Oime z a Twice 30 Three titnes or mote

b. How did it happen?

79
8.

9.

10.

11.

Have you ever had any &r injuries or accidents?

1

P

Yes 2DN0

IF YIM What happenad?

As a result of an accident, a blow, a fall, or other such cause, have you ever been

unconscious?

1 •l Yes 2UN0 3❑ Don’t. know

Have you ever stayed in a hospital (overnight or longer)?

1

P

Yes, just once 3DN0

2 Yes, more than once 4 ❑ Don’t. know

IF YES: What was the - time you ever spent in i hospital, and for what

reason?

How long: Reason

What was the most serious illness or disease you had in your life?

a. How old were you when it started? years

b. Did you have te stay in a hospital overnight or longer?

1 •l Yes ZQNO 3 ❑ Don’t remember

c. What lasting effects did it Ieave?

HERE ARE A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR EYES AND EARS.

12. Do you evsr wear glasses or contact lenses?

—

1

5

Yes,glasses

2 Yes, contact lenses

*

With your glaases

(or contact lenses)

can you see as well

as most people?

Do you think you need ~w glasses?

1 u Yes 20NcI

When do you wear them?

*~ NotaUday ,DA,,day

F NbT ALL DAY:

When? (Check alJthat apply)

I ❑ For seeing at a distance

*• For reading

3 ❑ For TV

4 ❑ Other (Spc?Ci&)

3

7

No

1~

n

Do you think you

need gIasses?

I DYes 2 ❑No

(GO ONTO QUESTION 13)

13. 1s there anything wreng with your eyes (ezcep$ what is corrected by your gia88e8 or

contact lenae.s)?

1Y

Yes 2DN0

IF YE5 What?

80
14.

15.

16.

DOyou have any difficulty hearing?

.1 •l Yea 2DN0

Were ynur eara ever damaged or injured in any way?

1

7

Yes 20No 3 ❑ Don’t know

a. IF YES: a. In what way and when?

b. Which ear(s)?

[n the past year, how often did you have earaches?

, ❑ Not atall (I can’t wnernbcr my)

z ❑ Not very often (about once a month or tess)

3 ❑ Quite often (more thrm once o rnmth)

17. Have you ever had any M kind of trouble with your ears?

1

?

Yea 20No

IF YEfk What was it?

18,

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Do you think your teeth need atraightsning?

1 ❑ IYea 20No J ❑ Don’t know

Do you have any difficulty talking or apeaking flike stuttering or lisping)?

I ❑ yea 20No

Is there anything wrong with the wsy you walk?

1

7

Yes 20No

IF YES What?

Is there anything that prevents your complete use of your legs?

1

?

Yes 2 ❑N.

IF YES What?

Is there anything that prevents your complete use of your arms?

1

7’

Yes 2 ❑N.

IF YES What?

Have you ever been prevented for reasoirs of health from taking part in hard (physical)

work, exercise, or games?

1YYes XDNO

IF YES:

a. Why?

b. Dld a doctor advise this?

1 •l Yes 20No 3 ❑ Don’t know

c. Are you ~w forbidden to do some of these things?

1 •1 Yes 20No

81
2$. At the present time, do you thirrk YCIUare!

I ❑ Underweigh&

2 ❑ Abe.t the right weight

3 ~Overweight

25. Would you say that you appea~ to be:

I ❑ Thinner than mOst pewOns of your age

, ~Almt the same as most penwm your age

3 U Heavier than moat persona Qf your age

26. At this time, would yQu—like to be:

I ❑ Thinner tharr you are

27. At this time, Wauld you J& tn be:

I ~ Less tall than y.. are

z D About .S tall as you are

3 U TfdIer wan yOIJare

26. In the last year or two, have You had any backaches?

1 ❑ Yes_,quite often -

2 •l Yee, rxxxaionally

3DN0

29. Do you sleep alone in your own loom?

1 •1 Yes 2

$’

No

IF NO:

Who else sleeps in the room?

I ❑ Brother(s) 3 D Fatner

z ~ sister(s) 4 nMother

s H Other person(s)

30, How oftarr do you have trouble getting to sleep or etaying asleep?

1 ❑ Very often 2❑ Only fmnr time to time 3❑ Never

S1. How often do you have bad dreams or nightmares?

I R Q.ka freque~tly ? ~ Only from time to time 3 ❑ Never

32. As far as you know, have you walked in your sleep in the laet year or so?

1 ❑ Ye. ZDNO

82
33. Do you have acne (pimples or blackhe ods)?

1

Y

Ye8 x~No

IF YES:

a. At what age did it start? years

b. Do you use any treatment for it? ] •1 Yes *RN.

c. Have you seen a doctor about it? 1 •1 Yes ,UNO

d. How muoh does it bother or worry you?

, ❑ Quite a lot 2 ❑ Some b“t “ot too much 3 ~ Very little

4 ❑ Not at all

34. Have you ever been away from your family (home ) for @ Iepst two months?

1

7

Yes, once XUNO

9 Yes, more than once

IF YES:

a. Where did you stay? (Check all that apply)

1 ❑ Camp 4 H With a relative

z D Boarding school J ❑ Elsewhere

3 ❑ Hospital

b. How old were you whenthis hapueriedfor the first time?. ..

yeflr8

S5. Are you going to sohool? (If you are now on vacgtiq and wilt re$urn to aohool, check “Yes.”)

1T

Yes

IF YES

During the sahool year, how mrmy

hours do you work? (not couating

hamework for whool)

I U ~j;n’t work(GOTO QUESTION

z ❑ 1-4 hcmrs a week

3 D 6-9 hours R week

~ ❑ 1020 hours. week

5❑ Over 20 houre a week

6 Q I&), hut .an’t tell bow many

What kinde of work do you do?

Do you get paid for this work?

2

7

No

IF NO! -

aa. DQ y;u iav; n job?

7 ~ Yes

s ❑ Nc, hut I *rnlo~king fa one.

s DNo, .nd 1 ?m not lo~king for one.

(AFTER THIS ANSWER, Ml TO QUESTION 37).

83
36. Do you work during vacation time?

1 ❑ IYes, full-time 2 •l Yes, part-time sON.

37. Do you get an allowance from your family (so much money per week, for example)?

*

1

Y

Yes xtl No

IF YES: (~, GOON TO QUESTION 38)

a. Who decides the amount you are ta get?

1❑ Father 2 ❑ Mother ~ ❑ Both parents * ❑ SOmsone else

(Specify)

b. Who do you think should decide about it?

1❑ Father 2 H Mother 3 ❑ Both parents 4 ❑lb33em3e else

(Specify)

c. Are there duties or chores you have tn perform to get this allowance?

I •l Yes 20No

d. Is your allowance ever held back as a punishment?

I ❑IYes 20No

38. Now about your eating habits, do you think you eat

I ❑ Too much 2 ❑ About tbe right amount 3 ❑ Too little

39. When did you last see a doctor for a checkup (routine examination)?

* ❑ In tbe last year 4 ❑ Never

2 Q One-two years ago 5❑ I don’t remember

j ❑ Over two years ago

40, When did you last see a doctor for treatment?

, Q In the last year 4 ❑ Never

* ❑ One-two years ago so I don’t remember

, •1 over twoyears ago

41. When did you last see a dentist for a checkup (routine examination)?

~❑ In the Isst yesr 4 ❑ Never

2 Q One-two years ago 5 ❑I don’t remember

3 ❑ Over two years ago

42. When did you last see a dentist for treatment?

~ ❑ In the last year , ❑ Neve<

z ❑ One-two years ago 5 H 1 dcm!t remember

3 •l Overtwoyears ago

ONE LAST QUESTION

43. Abut how much time would you guess you spend in tbe usual day (enter number of hours

or fraction of hours, or zero, as appropriate)?

a. Watching television

b. Listsning to radio

c. Reading newspapers, comics, magazines

d. Reading books (except comic books)

000

84
Health Behavior Questionnaire

CONFIDENTIAL - All in@mation wbicb would permit identification o/ tbe individual will be held stticfly

con/identiaI, will be used on!y by persons engaged in and [or tbe puQoses of tbe survey and will not be disclosed or released to others for any other purposes (22 FR 1687).

DEPARTMENT OF

HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

NATIONAL HEALTH 2WRVEY Sample No.

HEALTH BEHAVIOR I

NAME OF YOUTH (Last, First, Middle) SEX

❑ M.I. •1 Fan*ie

AGE

INSTRUCTIONS: On the following pages you will find a set of questions dealing with your health

behavi~r. Shce every person is different, there are no “standard” answers to the questions; just

answer th~ as fully and honestIy as you can. Your answers will be kept cmfidential. Do your

hcst to pick ths most likely answer from among the choices given. Only if you really don’t know

the answer check ‘‘Don’t know. ”

1.

2.

3,

Laoking ahead, what would you like to do about school? (Check one only)

1 U Quit school as soon as possibls

, ❑ Finish high school

3 ❑ Get some college or other training

after high schoel

What do you think will happen about school?

1❑ Q.it schoel as seen as possible

2 ❑ Finish high school

4 U F]nish coilege and get a college degree

5 ❑ Finish college and take further training

(medical, “law or ather profeasianal

8ch001, etc.)

(CHECK ONE ONLY)

3 U Get some college or other training after high school

4 ❑ F]nish college and get a college degree

5 ❑ Finish college and take further training (medical, law., other gvofessional school, etc.)

Have you ever bad a date? (That is, a boy and girl going out together, whether or not anyone else

waa along.)

1

T

Yes XONO

IF YES How old were you when you first bad a date? years

85
4. Who makes most of the decisions on the followin~ (Check one in each row.)

(1) (q (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

a. Choosing your clothes

b. How to spend your money

c. Which friends to go out

with

d. How late you can stay out

5.

“6.

7.

6.

9.

How many times have you run away from home? (That means, leaving ar staying away on

purpose, ‘knowing vou wauld be missed, intending to stay away from hame, at least for same

time.)

1

7

Once 2

?

More then once 3 ❑ Iiever

IF ONCE OR MORE:

How old were you then?.—years

How many times have you had anything to do with police, sheriff, or juvenile officers for

something you did or they thought you did?

1

7

Once 2

Y

Twice 3

F

“ More than twice 4 ❑ Never

IF ONCE OR MORE:

a. What was wrong?

b. Were you arrested? 1 ❑ Yes 20No , ❑ Dcm’t know

c. In what way were you punished?

2 H Not at all

How old were you when you smoked for tbe firet t~me~._Years

❑ Never tried (SKIP TO QUESTION 10)

How old were you when you began smoking regularly?— Years

Q Never have smoked regularly

About howmany cigarettes do you smoke per day?

*• I don’t smoke at alI

2❑ I don’t smoke cigarettes (but [ smoke a pipe or cigars)

3 ❑ Less than 1/2 pack

4❑ 1/2 pack but less than 1 pack

5D 1 psck hut less then 2 packs

6 ❑ 2 packs or more

86
10.

11.

12.

At what hour do you usually go to bed when the next day is a school or work day?

Do you ever feel tense, nervous, or fidgety?

*❑ Yes, often

2❑ Yes, sometimes

3❑ yes, but rarely

4 ❑ Never

How important do you think it is for a young person to have each of the qualities or

cbaracteristicw li ated below? (Put one check-mark in each row.)

Extremely Slightly

Important Impnrtant Important Unimportant

(1) (2) (3) (4)

a. To he neat and clean

b..To be able to defend oneself

c. To have self-control

d. To be happy

e. To obey one’e parents

f. To be dependable

g. To be considerate of othere

h. To face life’s problems calmly

i. To obey the law

j. To be ambitioue

k, To know how to keep in

grind health
13. If you had any of the following conditions, would you wwrt u ductm :.J hmx! utmul i[:’

(Includes your seeing him or a telephone caIl almut t.) (Ptarc one checkmark in eac?i mm. J

If I had this condition, I would:

Definitely want to Probably want to Not want m

see a deckx see a doctnr see a doctmr

(1) (2) (3)

a. Stomach ache

b. .%re threat

c. Hurt all over

d. Stiff neck or back

e. Headache

f. Vomit (threw up)

g. Loaa of appetite

h. Overtiredness

i. Pain in oheat

j. Lump in stomach or

abdomen

“k. Blood in urine or bowel

movement

1. Nervousness

14. If You had any of the following conditirms, would YOUwant @ see a dentist draut it?

(P~ace one chwknark in eachvorn.)

If I had this condition, I would:

Definitely want LO Probably want to Not want to

see a dentiet see a dentist see a dentist

(1) (2) (3)

a. Crooked teeth

b. Sore gums

c. Bad breath

d. A toothache

e. Sores in tbe mouth

f. Stains on the teeth that

would not brush off

g. Hole or cavity in a t.cmtheven though it did not hurt

88 000

* U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE :1975 684-527/s5
Series 1.

Series 2.

Series 3.

Se7ies 4.

Series 10.

Sevies 11.

Series 12.

Series 13.

Series 14.

Series 20.

Sm”es 21.

Se7-ies 22.

VITAL AND HEALTH STATISTICS PUBLICATION SERIES

Originally public Health Service publication No. 1000

Programs and collection procedures. — Reports which describe the general programs of the National

Center for Health Statistics and its offices and divisions, data collection methods used, definitions,

and other material necessary for understanding the data.

Data evaluation and methods veseavch. — Studies of new statistical methodology including: experimental tests of new survey methods, studies of vital statistics collection methods, new analytical

techniques, objective evaluations of reliability of collected data, contributions to statistical theory.

Analytical studies. –Repcmts presenting analytical or interpretive studies basedon vital and health

statistics, carrying the analysis further than the expository types of reports in the other series.

Documents and committee ve#sovts.— Final reports of major committees concerned with vital and

health statistics, and documents such as recommended model vital registration laws and revised

birth and death certificates.

Data j%om the Health Interview .%&vev. —Statistics on illness, accidental injuries, disability, use

of hospital, medical, dental, and other services, and other health-related topics, based on data

collected in a continuing national household interview survey.

Data porn the Health Examination Survey. —Data from direct examination, testing, and measurement of national samples of the civilian, noninstitutional population provide the basis for two types

of reports: (1) estimates of the medically defined prevalence of specific diseases in the United

States and the distributions of the population with respect to physical, physiological, and psychological characteristics; and (2) analysis of relationships among the various measurements without

reference to an explicit finite universe of persons.

Data from the Institutional Po@dution Surveys —Statistics relating to the health characteristics of

persons in institutions, and their medical, nursing, and personal care received, based on national

samples of establishments providing these services and samples of the residents or patients.

Data from the Hospital Discharge Survey. —Statistics relating to discharged patients in short-stay

hospitals, based on a sample of patient records in a national sample of hospitals.

Data on health vesowrces: manpower and facilities. —Statistics on the numbers, geographic distribution, and characteristics of health resources including physicians, dentists, nurses, other health

occupations, hospitals, nursing homes, and outpatient facilities.

Datu on mo~tulity. —Various statistics on mortality other than as included in regular annual or

monthly reports-special analyses by cause of death, age, and other demographic variables, also

geographic and time series analyses.

lxzta on natality, marriage, and divorce. —Various statistics on natality, marriage, and divorce

other than as included in regular annual or monthly reports--special analyses by demographic

variables, also geographic and time series analyses, studies of fertility.

Data from the National Natality and Mortality Suneys. — Statistics on characteristics of births

and deaths not available from the vital records, based on sample surveys stemming from these

records, including such topics as mortality by socioeconomic class, hospital experience in the

last year of life, medical care during pregnancy, health insurance coverage, etc.

For a list of titles of reports published in these series, write to: ~ffice of ~nfomation

National Center for Health Statistics

Public Health Service, HRA

Rockville, Md. 20852