DOI: 10.3886/icpsr24881.v5
title: Youth Development Study, 1988-2020 [St. Paul, Minnesota]
title: Version 5

description: The Youth Development Study (YDS) was initiated as a school-based study of adolescent children and their parents to examine the consequences of formative experiences in adolescence for mental health, value formation, educational achievement, and multiple facets of behavioral adjustment. Particular attention was directed to the impacts of early work experience. Data were also obtained about parent-child and peer relationships and experiences in school. As the study continued, the focus shifted to adult development and attainment and, most recently, mid-life adjustment and health. This comprehensive longitudinal study now encompasses three generations: the initial cohort studied from adolescence to mid-life (G2), their parents (G1), and their adolescent children (G3). Data from three generations in the same families enable study of intergenerational relationships and differences in the experience of adolescence and transition to adulthood across parent and child cohorts. The YDS covers a wide range of topics of interest to sociologists, social psychologists, developmental psychologists, and life course scholars, including the development and impacts of agentic resources, socioeconomic attainment, processes of inter- and intra-generational mobility, objective and subjective work conditions, family relationships, intergenerational relationships, mental and physical health, and well-being. In-school administration of paper surveys during the first four years of the study was supplemented by mailed surveys. Subsequent data collection took place entirely by mail, with 19 surveys conducted between 1988 and 2011. A final survey was conducted on-line in 2019. Survey data was obtained from the parents (G1) of this cohort during the first and fourth waves of the study (1988 and 1991). Surveys of the children (G3) began in 2009, continued in 2010 and 2011 (by mail) and in 2019-2020 (online). The Youth Development Study measures a wide range of formative experiences and both psychological and behavioral variables, using survey methodology. The G1 surveys obtained information about socioeconomic background as well as attitudes toward teenage employment, the parents' own employment as teenagers, their current work experiences, and educational expectations for their children. The G2 surveys during the high school years included detailed questions about students' work and volunteer experiences, as well as experiences in their family, school, and peer groups, with an emphasis on the ways that working affected other life domains, mental health, and well-being. Shorter surveys containing many of the same topics were administered to students in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and included questions about current family and living arrangements. In 1995, a full survey was administered covering the wide range of topics included in previous surveys as well as information about career plans and life events that had occurred in the past five years. G2 Waves 9 through 19 (1997-2011) included many of the same questions contained in earlier surveys and additional sections that focused on the respondents' educational experiences, family relationships, sources of living expenses, and health and well-being. The most recent G2 survey (2019), administered on-line, included questions about support of aging parents. The YDS is unique in its coverage of both objective and subjective work experiences from adolescence to mid-life. The topics covered by the G3 surveys are very similar to the G2 variables described above. Variables in each G2 and G3 wave are included in cross-wave codebooks, available at the Data Archive Codebook website. For an overview of the Youth Development Study, see Mortimer, Jeylan T. (2012) "The Evolution, Contributions, and Prospects of the Youth Development Study: An Investigation in Life Course Social Psychology." Social Psychology Quarterly 75(1, March):5-27.
description: The Youth Development Study examines the consequences of formative experiences in adolescence and early adulthood for mental health, value formation, socioeconomic attainment, and multiple facets of behavioral adjustment. This comprehensive study now encompasses three generations: a child generation studied over a 32 year period from adolescence to adulthood (G2), their parents (G1), and their adolescent children (G3).
description: Data collection began in the 1987-88 academic year with a panel of teenagers (G2) randomly selected from a list of 9th graders attending the St. Paul (Minnesota) Public Schools. G2 respondents have filled out surveys near-annually (exceptions are 1996, 2001, 2006, 2008, and 2010), first administered in their high school classrooms (Waves 1 through 4) and subsequently by mail, through 2011 (Wave 19), when the respondents were 37 and 38 years old. Shorter surveys containing many of the same topics were administered to students in 1992, 1993, and 1994. In 1995, a full survey was administered covering the wide range of topics included in the previous surveys as well as information on career plans and life events that had occurred in the past five years. G2 Waves 9 through 15 (1997-2004) included many of the same questions contained in 1992-1994 surveys. The parents of the G2 cohort (G1) were surveyed in the first and fourth waves of the study, when their G2 children were in the first year of high school and four years later. In 2008, the children of G2 who were age 11 and older were recruited (G3). The first data collection (a mailed survey) from G3 occurred in 2009, followed by the second in 2010, and the third in 2011, again including those children who turned 11, as well as older children who had not joined the study previously. Data collection for the G2 and G3 cohorts for years 2019 and 2020, asks similar questions as previous survey years.
description: The Youth Development Study enables assessment of intergenerational transmission across a wide range of psychological and behavioral variables. The G1 surveys obtained information about socioeconomic background as well as attitudes toward teenage employment, their own employment as teenagers, their experiences in their current employment, and educational expectations for their children. The G2 surveys included detailed questions about students' work and volunteer experiences, as well as experiences in their family, school, and peer group, with an emphasis on the ways that working affected other life domains. G2 Waves 9 through 15 (1997-2004) included many of the same questions contained in 1992-1994 surveys with addition sections that focused on the respondents' school and work experiences, family relationships such as marital status and children, education level and career preparation, how the respondent learned of his or her job and his or her level of satisfaction with it, and economic support questions including income level and living expenses. Wave 20 asks similar questions as waves 9 through 15. The topics covered by the G3 surveys are very similar to the G2 topics listed above. Demographic variables include child and parent sex, age, race, education level, religious preference, frequency of religious attendance, marital status, employment status, income, language used at home, and whether respondents were born in the United States, as well as the sex and age of all household members.
description: Response Rates: G2: In 1988, 64% of students invited agreed to participate (N = 1,139). By 1991, 92.3% of the non-Hmong panel and 79.8% of the Hmong panel were retained. By 1995, 77.2% of the non-Hmong panel were retained, compared to 51.9% for the Hmong panel. Response rates for waves 9 through 12 of the G2 survey are as follows (Hmong panel in parentheses): 78% (37.2%) (1997), 75.2% (37.2%) (1998), 71.9% (17.8%) (1999), and 75.2% (33.3%) (2000). Response rates for waves 13 through 15 of the G2 survey are as follows: 71.4% (33.3%) (2002), 70.4% (27.1%) (2003), and 72.8% (33.3%) (2004). Response rates for waves 16 through 19 of the G2 survey are as follows: 70.4% (31%) (2005), 70.6% (32.6%) (2007), 66.3% (32.6%) (2009), and 65.7% (33.6%) (2011). G1: In 1988, 96% of the participating non-Hmong youth were covered by at least one parent and 79% were covered by 1991. Among the Hmong youth, 69% were covered by at least one participating parent in 1988. G3: In 2009, 89.4% of 311 G3 respondents who consented to participate in the study completed their surveys. The G3 response rates for 2010 and 2011 are, respectively, 78.5% (n=349) and 76.8% (n=449). Response rates for linked G2 surveys (i.e., % of G3 respondents with at least one linked G2 survey) are 94.6% (n=207), 96.7% (n=227), and 92.5% (n=281) respectively. In 2019-2020, G3 W4, 60.4% of those who consented to participate completed surveys. Information about response rates for G1, G2, and G3 at each wave of the study is available at the YDS Data Archive.
description: Presence of Common Scales: The survey items were drawn from a variety of prior studies: Youth in Transition Study (Bachman), Quality of Employment Survey (Quinn and Staines), and the Study of Occupations (Kohn and Schooler). The survey contains standard mental health scales: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Pearlin Mastery Scale depressive affect from the "Current Health Insurance Study Mental Health Battery" (Ware, et al.).
description: Data collection began in the 1987-88 academic year, a panel of 1,139 teenagers (henceforth referred to as G2) was randomly selected from a list of 9th graders attending the St. Paul (Minnesota) Public School District. At the time of the first survey in the Spring of 1988, most G2 respondents were 14 or 15 years old. G2 respondents have filled out surveys near-annually (exceptions are 1996, 2001, 2006, 2008, and 2010), first administered in their high school classrooms (Waves 1 through 4) and subsequently by mail, through 2011 (Wave 19), when the respondents were 37 and 38 years old. The most recent (Wave 20) survey was administered on-line in 2019, when the respondents were 45 and 46 years old. The G2 cohort (referred to as G1) sample consists of 924 mothers and 649 fathers surveyed in 1998; and 690 mothers and 440 fathers surveyed in 1991. The parents of the G2 cohort (referred to as G1) were surveyed in the first and fourth waves of the study, when their G2 children were in the first year of high school and four years later. In 2008, the children of G2 were age 11 and older when recruited. Data collection (by mailed survey) from G3 (the children of respondents in G2) occurred in 2009, 2010, and 2011.The most recent survey of G3, administered on-line, occurred in 2019-2020. Each G3 wave included children who were 11 years old or older. The total number of unique G3 respondents, across waves, is 673. The three generations are predominantly white (for example, the initial G2 sample in 67% white, 9% Black, 4% Hispanic, and 13% Asian, including the Hmong). This distribution reflects the racial/ethnic composition of the St. Paul School District at the time. Since additional G3 children entered the study each year, G3 longitudinal data are limited.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: G1, Wave 1 (combined file) DS2: G1, Wave 4 (combined file) DS3: G2, Wave 1 (combined file) DS4: G2, Wave 2 (combined file) DS5: G2, Wave 3 (combined file) DS6: G2, Wave 4 (combined file) DS7: G2, Wave 5 (combined file) DS8: G2, Wave 6 (combined file) DS9: G2, Wave 7 (combined file) DS10: G2, Wave 8 (combined file) DS11: G2, Wave 9 (combined file) DS12: G2, Wave 10 (combined file) DS13: G2, Wave 11 (combined file) DS14: G2, Wave 12 (combined file) DS15: G2, Wave 13 (combined file) DS16: G2, Wave 14 (combined file) DS17: G2, Wave 15 (combined file) DS18: G2, Wave 16 (main file) DS19: G2, Wave 16 (occupational file) DS20: G2, Wave 16 (volunteering file) DS21: G2, Wave 16 (life history file) DS22: G2, Wave 17 (main file) DS23: G2, Wave 17 (occupational file) DS24: G2, Wave 17 (life history file) DS25: G2, Wave 18 (main file) DS26: G2, Wave 18 (occupational file) DS27: G2, Wave 18 (volunteering file) DS28: G2, Wave 18 (life history file) DS29: G2, Wave 19 (main file) DS30: G2, Wave 19 (occupational file) DS31: G2, Wave 19 (volunteering file) DS32: G2, Wave 19 (life history file) DS33: G3, Wave 1 (main file) DS34: G3, Wave 1 (occupational file) DS35: G3, Wave 1 (volunteering file) DS36: G3, Wave 2 (main file) DS37: G3, Wave 2 (occupational file) DS38: G3, Wave 2 (volunteering file) DS39: G3, Wave 3 (main file) DS40: G3, Wave 3 (occupational file) DS41: G3, Wave 3 (volunteering file) DS42: G2, Wave 20 DS43: G3, Wave 4
description: Students enrolled in the ninth grade in the St. Paul Public School District in Minnesota in the fall of 1987 (G2), their parents (G1), and their children (G3) who were age 11 and older in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2019.
description: mail questionnaire; on-site questionnaireOf the 1,139 initial G2 participants in 1988, survey procedures differed for 129 Hmong youths due to a lack of English language proficiency. Since the factor structure of standard mental health survey instruments differed for the Hmong and the non-Hmong youth, investigators should exercise caution in making comparisons. Hmong parents were surveyed in 1988 in their own homes by native interviewers. Separate analyses of Hmong and non-Hmong samples have been conducted. Response rates noted below are based on the non-Hmong panel. Hmong retention was lower.On-site questionnaires were administered to students in each of the four years of high school in the Spring (April 1988, April 1989, April 1990, April 1991) and continued through the school year. Students not available for two scheduled survey administrations in each school were sent surveys by mail. Parents of the participating students were surveyed by mail in 1988 and 1991, with the exception of the parents of Hmong students, who were not surveyed in 1991. From 1992 to 2004, with the exceptions of 1996 and 2001, students were resurveyed each Spring by mail.Please see the ICPSR User Guide for a detailed listing of the contents of this collection, as well as the variables which have been dropped, masked, or recoded due to disclosure risk.G2 parent and G3 child files can be linked by the variables <b>FAMID</b> and <b>SGID</b> for G3 Waves 1-3. Please see the "Wave1-3_G3" zipped file under "Study-Level Files" for the linking files in SPSS format. Because G3 Wave 4 has both the <b>SGID</b> and the matching <b>FAMID</b> variables embedded in the dataset, no separate linking file is needed.Recent Wave 20 of the Parent Survey (G2) and Wave 4 of the Child Survey (G3) have been added to this study as Dataset 42 (Wave 20 G2) and Dataset 23 (Wave 4 G3).Additional information about this study, a cross-wave variable codebook, can be found at the Youth Development Study (YDS) website and the Data Archive Codebook website.