Table 1.

Measurement detail for Wave I demographic, individual, family, and peer control variables

Construct	Indicators and response options
Demographics
Gender	Dummy variable for female (0/1)
Family structure	Dummy variables; whether R resides with both biological parents (1 = yes, 0 = no)
Family socioeconomic status	Combined index of parent’s education and parent’s occupational level (0–10)
Individual characteristics
Relative pubertal development	“How advanced is your physical development compared to other boys [girls] your age?” (−2 = “I look younger than most” to 2 = “I look older than most” [0 = “I look the same”])
Low self-control	Mean of responses to frequency R has (1) “Trouble keeping your mind on what you were doing,” (2) “Trouble getting your homework done,” (3) “Difficulty paying attention in school,” and (4) “[Feel] like you are doing everything just about right” (0 = never or rarely to 3 = most or all of the time)
Academic aspirations	“On a scale of 1–5, how likely is it that you will go to college?” (0 = low to 4 = high)
Attachment to school	Extent to which R (1) feels close to people at school, (2) feels like a part of the school, and (3) is happy to be in school (mean index; 0 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree)
Religiosity	Mean of responses to (1) frequency attending religious services, (2) importance of religion, and (3) frequency R prays
Nonviolent delinquency	Dummy variable for any of 4 delinquent acts (damaged property, stolen worth >$50/<$50, breaking and entering) (0/1)
Violent perpetration	Dummy variable for any of five violent acts (e.g., threatened someone, pulled a gun/knife on someone) (0/1)
Family characteristics
Family support	Extent to which R feels family (1) understands him/her, (2) pays attention to him/her, and (3) they have fun together (mean index; 0 = not at all to 4 = very much)
Parental attachment	Mean of responses to (1) “How close do you feel to your mother (father),” (2) “How much do you feel that your mother (father) cares about you?” (0 = not at all to 4 = very much, adjusted for single-parent relationships)
Parental monitoring	Whether R’s parents let him/her make decisions about (1) curfew and (2) which friends he/she hangs out with (mean: 1 = no, 0 = yes)
Peer characteristic
Unstructured socializing	“During the past week, how many times did you just hang out with friends” (0 = not at all to 3 = 5 or more times)

Source: National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health (Wave I [1994–1995]).