The National Institute on Drug Abuse of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the primary supporter of the long-term study entitled "Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth," conducted at the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research. One component of the study deals with student drug abuse. Results of a national sample survey have been published annually since 1975. With the exception of 1975, when about 9,400 students participated in the survey, the annual senior samples are comprised of roughly 16,000 students in 133 schools. They complete self-administered questionnaires given to them in their classrooms by University of Michigan personnel. Each year 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders are surveyed (12th-graders since 1975, and 8th- and 10th-graders since 1991). The 10th-grade samples involve about 17,000 students in 140 schools each year, while the 8th grade samples have approximately 18,000 students in 150 schools. In all, approximately 50,000 students from 420 public and private secondary schools are surveyed annually. Over the years, the response rate has varied from 77 to 84 percent.
Understandably, there will be some reluctance to admit illegal activities. Also, students who were out of school on the day of the survey were nonrespondents. The survey did not include high school dropouts. The inclusion of these two groups would tend to increase the proportion of individuals who had used drugs. A 1983 study found that the inclusion of the absentees could increase some of the drug usage estimates by as much as 2.7 percentage points. (Details on that study and its methodology were published in Drug Use Among American High School Students, College Students, and Other Young Adults, by Lloyd D. Johnston, Patrick M. O'Malley, and Jerald G. Bachman, available from the National Clearinghouse on Drug Abuse Information, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.)
Further information on the Monitoring the Future drug abuse survey may be obtained from:
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Division of Epidemiology and Statistical Analysis
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org
Other Governmental Agencies