National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), Wave III, 2001-2002, Public Use Education Data
Investigators: Catherine Riegle-Crumb, Chandra Muller, Kenneth Frank, Kathryn S. Schiller, Stephen Roey: Carolina Population Center

The National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health) was mandated by Congress to collect data for the purpose of measuring the impact of social environment on adolescent health. It examines the general health and well-being of adolescents in the United States, including, with respect to these adolescents, (1) the behaviors that promote health and the behaviors that are detrimental to health; and (2) the influence on health of factors particular to the communities in which adolescents reside. Dependent variables include diet and nutrition, eating disorders, depression, violent behavior, intentional injury, unintentional injury, suicide, exercise, health service use, and health insurance coverage.

Sociometrics is responsible for distribution of the public-use version of Add Health Wave III Education Data described in this document. The Wave III follow-up survey was designed to collect data helpful in analyzing the transition between adolescence and young adulthood. Many of the choices adolescents make staying in school or dropping out, getting married or staying single, attending college or getting a job are more consequential later on than during adolescence. As adolescents move toward adulthood, the decisions they made begin to influence the outcomes they experience.

To better understand this transition, original Wave I respondents were re-interviewed between August 2001 and April 2002. At Wave III they were between 18 and 26 years of age. The emphasis in Wave III was on the multiple domains of young adult life that individuals enter during the transition to adulthood, and their well-being in these domains: labor market, higher education, relationships, parenting, community involvement. Data collected at Wave III will allow for diverse analyses across a spectrum of social, economic, and health-related outcomes.

This dataset includes four data files:

Education Data File (Dataset S3): This file includes data from 3,947 respondents on 80 variables.
Education Graduation Data File (Dataset S4): This file contains graduation date information for 4,521 respondents.
Education Weights Data File (Dataset S5): This file contains longitudinal and cross-sectional weights for 3,964 respondents.
School Weights Data File (Dataset S6): This file contains school weights for 132 schools.

The investigator hopes this research will enable Congressional leaders, parents, researchers, policy makers, educators, and health-care providers to better understand how to protect the health of young people in the United States.

The public use version of Add Health Waves I and II is available from the American Family Data Archive

The public use version of Add Health Wave III is available from the Data Archive on Adolescent Pregnancy and Pregnancy Prevention

A complete merged dataset (Waves I, II, and III) is also available in SPSS portable or SAS transport format

Please Note: Before the Add Health data set can be shipped, we must have a signed copy of the Use Agreement (fax copy is OK) in our office. The original is to be kept by the ordering institution or individual, and EVERY person who accesses the data set must read and sign the agreement. There is no need to send us additional copies of the agreement as new users add their signatures. However, the Carolina Population Center reserves the right to audit the Use Agreement Form. To expedite your shipment, it is helpful to download the Use Agreement, and fax it back to Sociometrics at (650) 949-3299. Due to the necessity of the Use Agreement, this data set is not available for download.