DOI: 10.3886/icpsr39445
title: Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2024
title: Archival Version

description: These surveys of 8th- and 10th-grade students are part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students in each grade are randomly assigned to complete one of four questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions but containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and substance use. There are more than 450 variables across the questionnaires. Substance use covered by this survey includes: amphetamines (stimulants), sedatives/barbiturates (tranquilizers), other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, vaping, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, marijuana, hashish, LSD, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and injectable drugs such as heroin.
Highlights for 2024:

The MTF sampling procedure was updated in 2024. Please see the 2024 MTF annual report for details. Variable-specific details are found in the user's guide that accompanies this study.
Changes were made to the question stems for many of the substance use "triplets", i.e. lifetime, 12-month, and 30-day timeframes, including: marijuana/cannabis, hallucinogens other than LSD, amphetamines (stimulants), sedatives/barbiturates, tranquilizers, and narcotics other than heroin. Additional information about question text and response option changes, along with details about added and dropped questions, are documented in the MTFQchanges2024byForm.pdf and MTFQchanges2024byType.pdf files available for download.
MTF is no longer providing dichotomized substance use variables on the DS1 datasets. As each researcher has their own method of working with data, it is up to the researcher to create these variables for their specific needs.
description: A total of 17,351 students completed a survey in 2024. There were 7,460 8th graders and 9,891 10th graders. The number of students completing each form were:

Form 1: 5,797
Form 2: 5,749
Form 3: 2,871
Form 4: 2,934

The split is approximately equal between forms completed by 8th graders and 10th graders.
In 2024, MTF continued the web-based survey administration. Depending on the school, surveys were completed in-person, remotely, or a combination of modes, and MTF survey proctors were permitted in the classrooms.
description: The downloadable data file contains a total of 609 variables (600 survey questions, 9 administrative variables). Not all of the 600 survey questions were asked on each form.
All of the survey questions are categorical in nature. The majority of questions fall into one of seven types of response options.

Yes / No
Marked / Not Marked
Agree / Disagree scale (5 point)
Disapproval scale (3 point)
Risk scale (4 point)
Frequency of days (6 point)
Frequency of use (7 point)
description: The file contains a weight variable, <strong>V5</strong>. It originally varied
by school but was modified to protect respondent confidentiality. Users should include
the weight variable in all analyses, the results of which will differ slightly
from published data tables that used original data.
<strong>OF SPECIAL NOTE:</strong> As the MTF respondents are sampled using a two-stage
stratified random sampling procedure, it
is often desirable to incorporate the complex sample design information into
analyses. However, in order to protect respondent confidentiality, the
variables that represent the complex sample design of the MTF, i.e., sampling
stratum and cluster, are omitted from the public use files. For researchers who
wish to incorporate the unaltered weight variable and complex sample design
variables into their analyses, these variables are accessible through
restricted access from NAHDAP. Please see Monitoring
the Future (MTF) Restricted-Use Cross-Sectional Datasets for details.
description: Response Rates: The student response rates for the 2024 8th- and 10th-grade
surveys were 89 percent and 85 percent, respectively.
description: The MTF
sample is drawn to generate nationally-representative samples of each grade. All three
grades, 8, 10, and 12, are sampled
independently, with no school representing more than one grade, resulting in
three separate and independent, nationally representative samples each year.
A two-stage
stratified random sampling procedure was used involving (1) selection of
schools within geographic areas, and (2) selection of students within sampled
schools. Generally speaking, in schools with
more than 350 students in the target grade, a sample of students or classes was
drawn. In schools with less than 350 students in the target grade, all were asked to participate unless logistical
challenges required a sample be taken. Each school was asked to participate for
three years so that each year one-third of the sample would be replaced.
Schools declining participation were replaced with similar schools in terms of
geographic location, size, and type of school (e.g., public, private/Catholic,
private/non-Catholic). The participation rate among 8th and
10th grade schools has been between 78 and 91 percent since the inception of the study.
Note: The MTF sampling design used
through 2023 was updated in 2024. For details, please see the MTF
annual report.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2024
description: Enrolled 8th- and 10th-grade students in the contiguous United States. Smallest Geographic Unit: Census Region
description: web-based surveyThis study was conducted by the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.Subsequent to a significant change made in 2012, the data files from the two grades and four forms are merged to create a single file. The variables <strong>V3</strong> and <strong>V501</strong> designate the form number and grade, respectively. The end of each variable label lists the form(s) on which the question appeared. The missing value (-8) is used to distinguish those cases where the question corresponding to a given variable was not asked on a particular form.To protect the anonymity of respondents, all variables that could be used to identify individuals have been collapsed or recoded in the public use files. These modifications are noted in the codebook. They should not affect analytic uses of the public use files.Variables omitted from the Western region questionnaires are noted in the codebook.A cross-time question index is included with the available documentation for the MTF 8th- and 10th-grade data. The document is sorted by subject area and covers the time period 1991 to 2024.As referenced in the UsersGuide two PDF documents have been included for download to help provide additional context and understanding to data users. These documents provided by the Principal Investigators detail changes in 2024 to the questionnaires. One document is organized by form. The other document is organized by change (dropped items, added items, changes to response categories, and changes to the text of the question). Each document covers changes for both the 8th/10th grade and 12th grade data. Therefore, the exact same documents are available for download with the 12th grade data (ICPSR 39444).MTF does not release detailed geography codes in its public use files because of the disclosure risk it would cause. The MTF sample is drawn to generate representative samples of the four Census Bureau regions of the country (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West), but it does not generate representative samples of smaller geographic areas such as states, counties, or cities. For additional information about data that are withheld from the public use files, please see the study codebook.For further information about Monitoring the Future please visit their web site. The site provides links to more publications, press releases, and data findings.