The findings of my study of the eight UC campuses -- Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and San Diego -- and their surrounding communities were similar. Students 18 to 24 years old rarely died violently, and the rates of such deaths were declining dramatically.
Today, 18- to 24-year-olds make up about 40% of the adult populations surrounding the eight UCs but account for just 12% of suicides, 15% of violent deaths, 21% of gun deaths, 27% of traffic deaths and 5% of drug overdose deaths. My research found that older students and college personnel were much more at risk than undergraduates.
Monitoring the Future, a survey of 12,000 high school seniors annually conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, contradicts Twenge's claim that students suffer more pathologies because of undeserved self-esteem. According to the surveys, today's high school seniors actually have lower self-images than those of 30 years ago. For instance, in 1976, 82% of the students said, "I take a positive attitude toward myself," and 86% agreed that "I am a person of worth." In 2005, the percentages were 73% and 77%, respectively.
However, considerably higher percentages of these students than their predecessors say they are "very happy," are having fun, enjoy the fast pace of modern life, view the future optimistically and feel it's important to make a contribution to society. Many fewer report feeling lonely, left out and "no good at all" compared to their counterparts of the 1970s.
Nor do Monitoring the Future surveys support Twenge's contention that today's youth are stressed by rising materialism. Compared to their counterparts of 20 to 30 years ago, current high school seniors are substantially less likely to value owning the latest fashions or to feel their status is enhanced by driving a nice car or coming from the right family. And while the percentages of them saying they wanted to have "lots of money" rose from 1976 (46%) to 1985 (61%), they have not significantly risen since then.
Students today also appear less psychiatrically medicated, according to the Monitoring surveys. About 7% of high school seniors report taking doctor-prescribed sedatives, tranquilizers or amphetamines versus 15% in the 1970s.
Likewise, illicit pharmaceutical drug use is only half as common today as back then. Use of prescription narcotics like codeine or Vicodin has remained flat over time.
