Surveys
:: Monitoring the Future
The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has conducted the MTF
series of annual, national surveys of
secondary school students since 1975. This
is an ongoing study of the behaviors,
attitudes, and values of American secondary school students, college students and young adults. Each year, a total of approximately
50,000 8th, 10th and 12th-grade students
are surveyed. In addition, annual follow-up
questionnaires are mailed to a sample of
each graduating class for a number of years
after their initial participation. Among the
many objectives, this survey measures
national trends in smoking, drinking and
illicit drug use among American youth. The
MTF is funded by the National Institute on
Drug Abuse. For more information, see
www.monitoringthefuture.org.
:: National Youth Smoking Cessation Survey
This two-year longitudinal telephone survey, beginning in 2003, asked smokers aged 16 to 24 years at baseline about their smoking cessation activity. Findings provide national estimates of quitting activity, help elucidate factors associated with the natural history of quitting among adolescents and young adults, and clarify preferences for different types of assisted quitting interventions among this age group. Several papers have been generated, and a public use file is available. Funded by RWJF, with cofunding by NCI and CDC.
:: National Youth Tobacco Survey
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/surveys/nyts/index.htm
The National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) is a population-based survey developed to provide the data needed to design, implement and evaluate comprehensive tobacco control programs at the state and national levels. NYTS is representative of middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12) students in the United States and provides information on many key tobacco-related intermediate and long-term indicators, allowing programs to measure progress toward state and national goals and objectives. Survey questions cover prevalence (cigarette, cigar, smokeless tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidi and kretek use); knowledge of and attitudes toward tobacco use and cessation; exposure to secondhand smoke; and influences that promote or discourage tobacco use, including tobacco-related messages delivered through advertising and mass media, enforcement of age restrictions in the sale of tobacco to minors, presence of school-based and community-based interventions, nicotine dependence, interactions with health care providers, cessation attempts, and resources that aid cessation efforts. The NYTS was funded and conducted by the American Legacy Foundation during Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 and 2002, and funded and conducted by CDC in Spring 2004 and 2006. The most recent NYTS was conducted by the CDC during Spring 2009. For more information, see www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/surveys/NYTS/index.htm.
:: Youth Education and Society Survey
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/surveys/yts/index.htm
The Youth, Education & Society (YES) project, which began in 1997, is a nationwide study of American secondary schools and the students in them. A central purpose of the YES study is to measure, track and assess the importance of various aspects of the school environment – particularly programs, policies and practices - on student dietary and exercise habits, overweight, and tobacco and other drug use. YES is conducted by the Survey Research Center (SRC), part of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan (Lloyd Johnston, Principal Investigator). It is one of two components of the RWJF Bridging the Gap initiative. For more information, see www.yesresearch.org. Funded by RWJF.
:: Youth Tobacco Survey
The YTS is a state-level, school-based survey of students in grades 6-12. It provides states with the data needed to design, implement and evaluate comprehensive tobacco control programs that work to prevent young people from beginning tobacco use, and to help those who are already using tobacco to quit. These data allow states to measure progress toward state and national goals and objectives by providing information on many key tobacco-related intermediate and long-term indicators. Topic areas include: prevalence; knowledge and attitudes; media and advertising; minors’ access; school curriculum; secondhand smoke; addiction; and cessation. Since 1999, 46 states have conducted a YTS, usually at both the middle and high school levels. Approximately 80,000 students participate in the YTS each year. Funded by individual states with support from the CDC.
