Table 1.
Descriptive Information for the Dependent and Independent Variables
| Mean | SD | Min-Max | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent Variables | ||||
| Any past month TAM | Youth reports of any use of tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana in the past month (wave 2) | .18 | .38 | 0–1 |
| Any past year violence | Youth reports of perpetration of any of 7 violent behaviors in the past year (wave 2) | .30 | .46 | 0–1 |
| Variety of past month TAM | Number of substances (tobacco, alcohol or marijuana) used in the past month (wave 2) | .30 | .72 | 0–3 |
| Variety of past year violence | Number of 7 violent behaviors perpetrated in the past year (wave 2) | .50 | .95 | 0–6 |
| Neighborhood Variables | ||||
| Collective efficacy | Three-level item response model based on 10 indicators of social cohesion and informal social control reported by adult residents in the Community Survey (1995–1996) | −.00 | .22 | −.46–.64 |
| Concentrated disadvantage | Principal components factor analysis using three items (alpha=.81) from the 1990 Census: the percentage of residents below poverty, households receiving public assistance, and residents unemployed | −.00 | 1.01 | −1.51–2.35 |
| Individual-Level Variables | ||||
| Exposure to violence | Number of 14 violent acts witnessed or experienced by youth in the past year (wave 2) | 2.04 | 2.13 | 0–11 |
| Age | Youth's age in years (wave 1) | 11.91 | 2.41 | 7.77–16.38 |
| Male | Dichotomous variable indicating youth is male (wave 1) | .51 | .50 | 0–1 |
| Caucasian | Dichotomous variable indicating youth is Caucasian (wave 1) | .14 | .35 | 0–1 |
| Hispanic | Dichotomous variable indicating youth is Hispanic (wave 1) | .48 | .50 | 0–1 |
| African American | Dichotomous variable indicating youth is African American (wave 1) | .34 | .47 | 0–1 |
| Other race/ethnicity | Dichotomous variable indicating youth is of another race/ethnicity (wave 1) | .04 | .19 | 0–1 |
| Socioeconomic status | Princip al components factor analysis of 3 items (alpha=.42) reported by caregivers at waves 1 or 2: household income, education of both parents, caregivers' employment status. | .16 | .99 | −1.67–2.11 |
| Low self-control | Standardized summed scale of 17 items (alpha=.75) reported by caregivers related to youth's inhibitory control, decision-making, sensation seeking, and persistence (Buss & Plomin, 1975; Gibson, Sullivan, Jones, & Piquero, 2010) at wave one. | −.02 | .99 | −2.52–3.40 |
| Routine activities | Standardized summed scale of 4 items (alpha=.58) rating youth reports of their engaging in unstructured, unsupervised activities (e.g., hanging out with peers and going to parties). (Osgood, Wilson, O'Malley, Bachman, & Johnston, 1996) at wave two. | .01 | 1.00 | −2.50–2.34 |
| Curfew | Sum of caregivers' reports that children had to sleep at home on school nights, had a curfew on school nights, and had a curfew on weekend nights (3 items; alpha=.60; wave two). | 2.86 | .46 | 0–3 |
| Family social support | Standardized summed scale of 6 items (alpha=.67) rating youth agreement with items like “my family….will always be there for me” (Turner, Frankel, & Levin, 1983) at wave one. | .03 | .95 | −5.42–.81 |
| Peer social support | Standardized, summed scale of 9 items (alpha=.70) rating youth agreement with items such as “I have at least one friend I could tell anything to” (Turner et al., 1983) at wave one. | .03 | .99 | −3.97–1.34 |
| Peer drug use | Standardized summed scale reflecting the number of friends reported by youth who used marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco in the past year (4 items; alpha=0.85; wave two). | −.03 | .99 | −.73–4.79 |
| Perceptions of drug harmfulness | Standardized summed scale of 7 items (alpha=.76) in which youth reported “how much people would hurt themselves” if they regularly used tobacco, alcohol and marijuana | .01 | .99 | −4.47–1.52 |
| Any prior TAM use | (National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1991) at wave two. Dichotomous variable; youth reports of any past year tobacco, alcohol, marijuana use (wave one) | .18 | .39 | 0–1 |
| Peer delinquency | Standardized summed scale based on youth reports of the number of their friends who engaged in 11 delinquent acts (alpha=.085) in the past year (wave two). | −.04 | .95 | −1.11–4.82 |
| Any prior violence | Dichotomous variable; youth reports of any of 7 violent acts in the past year (wave one). | .33 | .47 | 0–1 |
Note: The descriptives are based on 1,718 individuals from 79 neighborhoods clusters.