In 2000, the Medical University of South Carolina, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center made available online data from the National Survey of Adolescents in the United States, 1995. "The goal of this study was to test specific hypotheses illustrating the relationships among serious victimization experiences, the mental health effects of victimization, substance abuse/use, and delinquent behavior in adolescents. The study assessed familial and nonfamilial types of violence." Adolescent respondents to the survey were asked a host of questions regarding their experience or witnessing of physical and emotional abuse and their levels of involvement with violent, self-abusive, and/or criminal behaviors. Background questions also probed for evidence of a "history of personal and family substance use and mental health issues, such as major depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, weight changes, sleeping disorders," and the like. Researchers interested in correlating various types of behavior problems among teens to prior incidents of victimization should find this data highly useful. The survey was funded by the Department of Justice.
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