Table 2.

Outcome Variables^a

Variable	Items	Response Options and Range
Neighborhood constructs
Neighborhood involvement α = .82	Participated in (past 12 months): neighborhood watch, block/tenant association, community council/board, community action group, neighborhood meeting	Response options: never (1), 1–2 times, 3–5 times, 6–9 times, 10 or more times (5); possible range: 5–25
School involvement α = .79	Participated in (past 12 months): local PTA/PTO, school planning team, classroom volunteer	Response options: never (1), 1–2 times, 3–5 times, 6–9 times, 10 or more times (5); possible range: 3–15
Social connectedness α = .65	# of friends in neighborhood (0, 1–2, 3–5, 6–9, 10+). Able to find help with a favor (never (1) to all of the time (5)). People help neighbors, close-knit neighborhood, neighbors do not get along,b neighbors can be trusted, neighbors do not share same valuesb	Response options: strongly disagree (1), disagree, neither, agree, strongly agree (5); possible range: 7–35
Neighborhood organization α = .74	A lot of crime in neighborhoodb, neighbors take good care of houses/apartments, a lot of aban- doned buildings in neighborhoodb, too much drug use in neighborhoodb, neighbors are afraid to go out at nightb	Response options: strongly disagree (1), disagree, neither, agree, strongly agree (5); possible range: 5–25
Neighborhood availability of alcohol and drugs α = .83	How easy for neighbors: Over age of 21 to buy alcohol; under age of 21 to get alcohol from friends/parents/neighbors; to buy marijuana; teenagers to buy illegal drugs	Response options: very easy (1), easy, difficult, very difficult (4); possible range: 4–16
Neighborhood norms against substance use α = .84	How many adults in the neighborhood approved of: teenagers drinking alcohol, people using marijuana, people using illegal drugs (cocaine, LSD, PCP, heroin, speed, “meth,” or ecstasy)	Response options: all (1), most, some, very few, none,(5); possible range: 3–15
Satisfaction with police enforcement α = .82	Police are doing a good job in the neighborhood, police enforce underage drinking laws, police enforce public drunkenness laws, police enforce laws against illegal drug sales in neighborhood	Response options: strongly disagree (1), disagree, neither, agree, strongly agree (5); possible range: 4–20
Family and substance abuse constructsc
Family conflict	Fight a lot in your familyb, family members hit each otherb, family members hardly ever lose their tempers, family members throw thingsb, family members rarely criticize	Response options: strongly disagree (0), disagree (0), neither (0), agree (1), strongly agree (1); possible range: 0–5; 0 = strongly disagree, disagree, neither to all 5 items, 5 = strongly agree, agree to all 5 items
Parenting frustration	Finds it hard to understand child’s concern, gives in to child or let child have his or her way, not worth getting child to obey	Response options: very often (0), often (0), occasionally (0), seldom (1), never (1); possible range: 0–3; 0 = very often, often, or occasionally to all 3 items, 3 = seldom or never to all 3 items
Physical discipline—spanks child	Spanks child	Response options: very often (1), often (1), occasionally (1), seldom (1), or never (0); possible range: 0–1
Physical discipline—hits child	Hits child with hard object (belt, hairbrush, stick, etc.)	Response options: very often (1), often (1), occasionally (1), seldom (1), or never (0); possible range: 0–1
Use of rules	Tells child reason for making the rules, uses rules to manage child’s behavior, makes sure rules are followed	Response options: never (0), seldom (0), occasionally (0), often (1), very often (1); possible range: 0–3; 0 = never, seldom, or occasionally to all 3 items, 3 = very often or often to all 3 items
Time-out	Uses time-out/sends child to his or her room	Response options: never(0), seldom(0), occasionally(1), often(1), very often(1); possible range: 0 to 1
PC alcohol use α = .77	Number of drinking days in past 30 days, number of drinks on a drinking day, number of days having 5 or more drinks in a row	Response options: past 30 days use: 0, 1–2, 3–5, 6–9, 10–19, 20–29, all 30. # of drinks: (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more), 5+ drinks: 0, 1, 2, 3–5, 6–9, 10– 19, 20+; possible range: 0–17
PC and household sub- stance use	PC (past 30 days): 5+ drinks in a row (1 or more days), should cut down drinking (yes), people annoyed by drinking (yes), felt bad/guilty about drinking (yes), drank first thing in morning (yes), marijuana use (1 or more times), any other illegal drugs (1 or more times), household: high or drunk, marijuana use, any other illegal drugs, illegal use of pain medicines	Response options: PC (past 30 days): as indicated by item. household use (all items): never (0), seldom, occasionally, often, very often (1); possible range: 0 to 1, 0 = no to all items, 1 = yes to any item
Family norms: drinking	How acceptable is it for household members to drink	Response options: very often (1), often, occasionally, seldom, or never (5); possible range: 1–5
Family norms: getting drunk	How acceptable is it for household members to drink enough to feel drunk or high	Response options: very often (1), often, occasionally, seldom, or never (5); possible range: 1–5

^aAll variables are coded so that higher scores indicate better outcomes. The only exceptions are for the PC and Household Substance Abuse index (where a score of 1 indicates the presence of some substance use by the PC or someone in the household and a score of 0 indicates no substance use by the PC or anyone in the household), the PC Alcohol Use scale (where higher scores indicate more alcohol use by the PC), and the Physical Discipline: Hitting and Physical Discipline: Spanking items (where a score of 1 indicates ever using hitting or spanking as a means of discipline).

^bThese items have been reverse coded to be consistent with other items in the scale so that higher scores indicate better outcomes.

^cDue to the social desirability associated with answering personal questions about one’s own parenting practices and family behaviors, the individual items for the Family Conflict and Parenting Frustration scales were dichotomized and then summed for the scale, as opposed to summing the multicategory responses to each item. For the same reason, the single-item constructs, physical discipline: spanking, hitting, and time-out, were dichotomized.