All teen-agers aren't indulging in risky business. High-achieving teens often say "no" to drinking, illegal drugs and sex, University of Nebraska Family Scientists Doug Abbott and Bill Meredith found.

Meredith said he decided to study high-achieving kids after observing his daughter and her friends earn good grades, spend time with their parents and avoid risky behaviors.

"I think we can learn more from adolescents who do well and find out why they do well," Meredith said.

The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers are collecting data on 300 high-achieving Nebraska teens from anonymously returned surveys and face-to-face interviews. All are Nebraska high school juniors or seniors averaging 17 years old, earning grade point averages of 3.5 or higher and participating in school and community activities. Researchers selected participants from groups such as 4-H, Cornhusker Boys' or Girls' State and scholarship winners listed in Nebraska's metropolitan newspapers.

Ninety-eight percent of teen respondents said they haven't used illegal drugs, 90 percent said they haven't had sexual intercourse, 83 percent don't smoke cigarettes and 60 percent don't drink alcohol.

These high-achieving teens reported engaging in some high-risk behaviors. Twenty-eight percent said they had cheated in school, 15 percent said they'd vandalized property and 7 percent said they'd shoplifted, Meredith said.

"All of these percentages are low compared to adolescents in general," he said.

Overall, these successful teens can show parents how to help their kids, Meredith said.

"A lot of times parents assume, 'there's no way we can stop it. That's just what teens do'," he said.

This research suggests parents can help their teens succeed, avoid risky behaviors and minimize parent/teen conflict by spending time with and monitoring them - knowing their kids' pals and their whereabouts, Abbott said. Many parents limited television viewing to encourage reading.

These teens stood out in other ways, they said.

"The parents reported these teens were highly motivated to accomplish things and learn," Abbott said. "They noticed it early on."

Both parents and teens said other adults, especially teachers, coaches, clergy and relatives, as well as peers participate in the teens' lives, he said.

"There's a bunch of people around these kids who love and care about them," he said. Many teens reported extracurricular activities developed their self-confidence. "They said things like, 'my talents have come out,' and 'people have told me I do a great job'," Abbott said.

Parents and teens often cited religious involvement as part of their success, he said. The survey measured how religious the teens considered themselves.

"Teens said things like, 'I have God in my life and that helps'," Abbott said.

Among respondents, 53 percent are first-borns, reinforcing studies suggesting first-borns are more likely to be goal-oriented than younger siblings, Meredith said. Nearly 90 percent lived with both biological parents, about 5 percent lived with a stepparent, 4 percent with a single mother and 2 percent with a single father.

"What it's saying is there may be an association between a two-parent family and successful kids," Abbott said. "But that does exclude other kids who are successful who come out of single-parent households."

"We're not trying to make interpretations at this point, but some things really stand out," Meredith said.

The 15 parents and teens interviewed live in Lincoln and Omaha. Researchers hope to interview another 15 to 20 teens and parents to better represent minorities and to add rural Nebraska teens. They plan to increase the survey sample to 500 teens.

Researchers plan to talk with interviewees in two and four years to chart their college success.

- Molly Klocksin