Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a long-term study of substance use and related factors among U.S. adolescents, college students, and adult high school graduates through age 60. It is conducted annually and supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. MTF findings identify emerging substance use problems, track substance use trends, and inform…

Concerns about the breadth of the U.S. income distribution and limited intergenerational mobility have led to a focus on educational achievement gaps by socio-economic status (SES). Using intertemporally linked assessments from NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress], TIMSS [Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey], and…

Sport is a context that provides positive developmental benefits to adolescents. However, these benefits are not distributed equally to all participants. This study examined whether the motivational constructs of attainment value and ability self-concept were related to positive developmental experiences in sport, and tested intensity of…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health, but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems…

As the 21st century unfolds, the United States faces historic challenges, including a struggling economy, an aging infrastructure and global terrorism. Solutions will have to come from educated, skilled citizens who understand and believe in our democratic system and are civically engaged. This incisive new report examines these fault lines and…

This occasional paper presents national demographic subgroup data for the 1975-2014 Monitoring the Future (MTF) national survey results on 8th, 10th, and 12th graders' use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. MTF is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health under a series of investigator-initiated, competitive…

This study used a representative metropolitan sample to make longitudinal comparisons of college-bound and non-college-bound youth on incidents and predictors of heavy drinking. Respondents in the six-wave study were ages 13-16 at wave 1 and 18-21 at wave 6 (n's ranged from roughly 425-500 for different analyses). College/non-college comparisons…

Purpose is an internal compass that integrates engagement in activities that affect others, self-awareness of one's reasons, and the intention to continue these activities. We argue that purpose represents giftedness in intrapersonal intelligence, which processes information related to self, identity, self-regulation, and one's place in the world.…

The District conducts a "cross-sectional" analysis of student dropouts annually; it examines dropout rates among students enrolled in various grades at one point in time. A "longitudinal" analysis, also conducted annually, tracks a group of students in the same grade or cohort over a period of several years. Each method…

This qualitative study is an exploration of 32 urban high school students' narratives about the connection between school, work, and societal expectations of their future success related to their racial and ethnic background. The sample varied along 2 contextual dimensions: participation in a psychoeducational intervention (Tools for Tomorrow) and…

The District conducts a "cross-sectional" analysis of student dropouts annually; it examines dropout rates among students enrolled in various grades at one point in time. A "longitudinal" analysis, also conducted annually, tracks a group of students in the same grade or cohort over a period of several years. Each method…

This study examines development along Perry's intellectual and ethical scale among three successive graduating classes of students identified as gifted and talented in mathematics and science. Perry posits that intellectual development proceeds from a basic dualism through nine stages ("positions") and culminates with a sense of personal identify…

Background: Latino youth experience disproportionate rates of mental health problems including suicide and depression. Better understanding of underlying risk and protective factors on the part of school-based health professionals, teachers, and health care providers in their lives is warranted. The aims of this secondary analysis of 2004…

The authors examined circumplex models of interest structure across time (Grades 8, 10, and 12), gender, and analytic method in a secondary analysis of vocational interest type (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) data generated from the American College Testing database (national sample of 69,987 students).…

The District conducts a "cross-sectional" analysis of student dropouts annually; it examines dropout rates among students enrolled in various grades at one point in time. A "longitudinal" analysis, also conducted annually, tracks a group of students in the same grade or cohort over a period of several years. Each method…