| Individual-level variables |
|
| Age |
In completed years |
| Aspirations |
Thought about the profession or vocation respondent likes to follow when s/he reaches adulthood (Yes/No). |
| Question to capture future aspirations was phrased slightly differently at wave 1 (‘what would you like to become in future?’) and at wave 2 (‘In future, what kind of work do you prefer to engage in for earning money?’). All those who responded with a vocation or profession (such as, teacher/doctor/engineer/scientist/lawyer or join police force/army or start a business or work in informal sectors like tailor, plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc.) were categorized as having thought about future aspiration and those who replied that they won’t work, can’t say or haven’t thought about it were categorized as “no”. |
| Family-level variables |
|
| Parent-child communication |
Discussed the following topics (school performance, friendship, experience of bullying, physical changes during adolescence or how pregnancy occurs) with mother or father in the year preceding the interview (Yes/No). Question about reproductive processes, i.e., how pregnancy occurs was asked to those aged 15 and above only. Respondents who discussed any one of the topics with either father or mother were coded as “yes” and respondents who discussed none of the topics with their father or mother were coded as “no”. |
| Gender discriminatory experience at home |
Experienced gender discriminatory practices at home where parents favoured sons over daughters in any of the following situations (the quantity or quality of food items given, the amount of pocket money given, the type of school in which they were enrolled, and parental aspirations for the respondent’s education) (Yes/No). Questions on gender discriminatory practices at home, i.e., whether their parents favoured them (among boys) or discriminated against them (among girls) vis-à-vis their opposite-sex siblings, were posed to those who reported co-residing with opposite-sex siblings who were up to three years younger or older than the respondent; those respondents who were not eligible for these questions were considered not to have experienced gender discriminatory practices. Respondents who reported discrimination in any one of the situations were coded as “yes” and respondents who reported discrimination in none of the situation were coded as “no”. |
| Household wealth |
Household wealth index based on ownership of selected durable goods and amenities with possible scores ranging from 0 to 57; households were then divided into quintiles, with the first quintile representing households of the poorest wealth status and the fifth quintile representing households with the wealthiest status. |
| Peer influence related variables |
|
| Peer network size |
Reported five or more friends (Yes/ No). |
| Role models |
Reported having a role model (Yes/No). The role models reported were family members/relatives, teachers, professionals, friends, army/police, sports personalities, friends, actors, politicians and others. |
| Community engagement/participation related variables |
|
| Group membership |
Reported membership in any organised groups such as self-help groups, sports clubs, groups formed under government programmes (e.g., Kishori Shakti Yojana, SABLA, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan) or any other groups (Yes/No). Question on group membership was phrased slightly differently at wave 1 (‘are you member of a group formed under Kishori Shakti Yojana, SABLA, Nehru Yuvak Kendra Sangathan, any self-help groups, sports clubs or any other groups?’) and at wave 2 (‘Have you been a member of any adolescent/youth groups such as groups formed under Kishori Shakti Yojana/SABLA, Nehru Yuvak Sangathan, self-help groups, sports groups in the last three years?’) |
| Political participation |
Reported membership in a political party or engagement in political activities such as attending political protests, participating in election rallies (Yes/No). Question on political participation were not asked to those aged below 15 and they were coded as having not participated in any political activities in the analysis. |
| Participation in adolescent programmes |
Ever attended family life education program, village health and sanitation days/ adolescent health days or school health programme (Yes/No). Question on family life education was asked to those who were aged 13 and above at both waves, the question on school health programme was asked to those who were enrolled in school at the time of the survey at both waves and the question on village health and nutrition day was asked to rural respondents at wave 1 and the question was rephrased to adolescent health days and asked to both rural and urban respondents at wave 2. We also note that the reference period used varied—the question on family life education measured whether the respondent ever attended at wave 1 and in the three years preceding the interview at wave 2, while the questions on school health programme and village health and sanitation days used the reference period of one year preceding the interview at both waves. |
| Interaction with frontline workers |
Interacted with frontline health workers such as Accredited Social Health Activists or Anganwadi workers in the year preceding the interview (Yes/No) |
| Societal institutions and influences |
|
| Education |
Years of schooling successfully completed (range 0–17) |
| Engagement in paid work |
Engaged in paid work in the year preceding the interview (Yes/No) |
| Use of digital media |
Used internet or social media (Yes/No). Questions on internet and social media access were asked to those who reported at least 5 years of schooling; those with less than 5 years of schooling were considered not to have accessed internet or social media for the analysis presented in this paper |
