The National Survey of Adolescent Males 1988 and 1990-91 (NSAM) is a two-wave, longitudinal study conducted between 1988 and 1991. The survey followed young men from adolescence, the period of initiation of sexual activity and other risk behaviors, into the beginning of young adulthood, a time when sexual activity is often at its highest. This dataset includes data from both Wave 1 (1988) and Wave 2 (1990-91) of the survey.

In 1988, a nationally representative sample of 1,880 never-married, non-institutionalized males ages 15 to 19 living in the contiguous United States was surveyed. The original sample of 1,880 males was drawn as a multistage area probability sample that oversampled for Blacks and Hispanics. The study's primary objective was to determine adolescent males' behaviors, education and knowledge concerning human sexuality, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases. Wave 1 data were collected between April and December 1988. The primary mode of data collection was face-to-face interviews. The most sensitive topics (e.g., substance use, risky sexual behaviors) were assessed with confidential, written self-administered questionnaires. Extensive personal histories of sexual activity and contraception use were gathered, as well as respondents' personal perceptions of the various costs and benefits of contraceptive use and fathering children. Information on school attendance and recent employment history were also included.

Wave 2 of NSAM, which is also referred to as the Follow-up Survey of Young Men (FSAM), was conducted between November 1990 and March 1991, when respondents were generally between the ages of 17 and 22. Of those respondents that participated in Wave 1, the follow-up rate was 89 percent (N=1,676). Data collection procedures were similar to that of Wave 1, with the use of face-to-face interviews and self-administered questionnaires.