Wray-Lake and colleagues describe and analyze trends in environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of nearly 10,000 adolescents from 1976 to 2005. They examined data from the Monitoring the Future study, a survey that has been conducted annually among a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school seniors. As part of this survey, a wide range of information is gathered from adolescents, including information about their conservation behaviors; attitudes toward consumer, government, and personal responsibility for the environment; and resource scarcity. In examining trends in adolescents' environmental concerns over the past three decades, overall, the researchers found increases during the early 1990s and declines over the remainder of the last three decades. For example, researchers found steep declines in adolescents' willingness to engage in conservation behaviors, such as reducing their electricity or heat usage or driving less. In addition, Wray-Lake and colleagues found that adolescents were more likely to support consumer and government responsibility to protect the environment than to take personal action. The researchers also conducted some preliminary explorations of associations between different trends, as well as materialistic values and technological beliefs. Among their findings, Wray-Lake and colleagues reported parallel trends for resource scarcity and conservation behavior and negative associations between materialism and personal environmental responsibility and conservation. The researchers discuss observed trends as they relate to adult opinions and specific historic events and time periods, such as the 1970s energy crisis and different presidential administrations. Wray-Lake and colleagues highlight the importance of examining and understanding young people's environmental concerns and suggest areas for future research.
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