DOI: 10.3886/icpsr34595.v3
title: Boys Town Study of Youth Development, United States, mid-1970s
title: Version 3

description: The Boys Town Study of Youth Development surveyed 3,065 students in junior high and high schools in the Midwestern United States (predominantly in Nebraska and
Iowa) in the mid-1970s. The study focused on adolescent substance use and
deviant behavior, school aspirations, and parental and friendship relationships.
Additional topics included opinions toward, influences for or against, and legal ramifications of substance use, drug/alcohol education programs and the availability and perceived difficulty in obtaining drugs and or alcohol. Respondents were asked whether they had used tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, depressants, and stronger drugs such as narcotics and psychedelics, the frequency and quantity of use, effects they felt using a substance for the first time, and the usual effects they felt if used more than once. Those who had never used any substances were asked about their perceived effects of use. Delinquent behavior engaged in by the respondents such as truancy issues, running away from home, and theft, as well as behavior while under the influence of substances such as fighting, being stopped by the police, and being in an accident were also asked about. A cohort-based school design was used to tap different ages and developmental periods. Special attention was paid to the use of illicit substances and general deviance in the contexts of criminological theory (particularly social control and learning theory). Demographic information includes age, sex, religion, religiosity, grade point average, and grade level.
description: The purpose of this study was to test a social learning explanation of drinking and drug behavior.
description: Major variable groups included: Demographics, social learning variables, attitudes on drug/drinking, substance use history, perceived (or actual) results of substance use and delinquent behavior inquiries.
description: Response Rates: Across all districts, 74 percent of parental permission forms were returned, 95 percent of those returned had permission granted, and 95 percent of those with permission granted actually took the survey.
description: No attempt was made to get a probability sample or insure that the sample was regionally or nationally representative. Sampling design involved purposive selection of several school districts of varying sizes and demographic characteristics located in communities ranging from rural to urban. In smaller districts, sampled from each secondary school; in larger districts selected junior and senior high schools. Classrooms served as clusters, and in consultation with principal, PI's sampled at random (but purposively to give a cross-section of the school population) 2-3 classrooms per grade level from among the required courses or from among the general enrollment classes in those grades. The number of classes sampled depended on class size, with an aim toward including enough classes to include responses from at least 10% of total school enrollment or a minimum of 100 respondents per school, whichever was greater.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Boys Town Study of Youth Development, United States, mid-1970s
description: Adolescents between 7th and 12th grade living in the Midwestern United States, particularly Iowa and Nebraska.
description: paper and pencil interview (PAPI)Information on sample design and descriptive tables can be found in the manual.