I C P S R

National Institute on Aging

Description & Citation--Study No. 22100

Bibliographic Description

ICPSR Study No.:22100
 
Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22100
 
Title:Longitudinal Study of Generations, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000 [California]
 
Principal Investigator(s):Vern L. Bengtson, University of Southern California-Los Angeles
 
Funding Agency:United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute on Aging
 
Grant Number:2R01AG00799-21A2
 
Bibliographic Citation:Bengtson, Vern L. Longitudinal Study of Generations, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000 [California] [Computer file]. ICPSR22100-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2009-05-12. doi:10.3886/ICPSR22100
 

Scope of Study

Summary:The Longitudinal Study of Generations (LSOG), initiated in 1971, began as a survey of intergenerational relations among 300 three-generation California families with grandparents (then in their sixties), middle-aged parents (then in their early forties), and grandchildren (then aged 15 to 26). The study broadened in 1991 and now includes a fourth generation, the great-grandchildren of these same families. The LSOG, with a fully elaborated generation-sequential design, allows comparisons of sets of aging parents and children at the same stage of life but during different historical periods. These comparisons make possible the investigation of the effects of social change on inter-generational solidarity or conflict across 35 years and four generations, as well as the effects of social change on the ability of families to buffer stressful life transitions (e.g., aging, divorce and remarriage, higher female labor force participation, changes in work and the economy, and possible weakening of family norms of obligation), and the effects of social change on the transmission of values, resources, and behaviors across generations. The study also examines how intergenerational relationships influence individuals' well-being as they transition across the life course from early, to middle, to late adulthood. The LSOG contains information on family structure, household composition, affectual solidarity and conflict, values, attitudes, behaviors, role importance, marital relationships, health and fitness, mental health and well-being, caregiving, leisure activities, and life events and concerns. Demographic variables include age, sex, income, employment status, marital status, socioeconomic history, education, religion, ethnicity, and military service. With the addition of Wave 7, in 2000, this collection supercedes LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF GENERATIONS, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997: [CALIFORNIA] (ICPSR 4076).
 
Subject Term(s):activities of daily living, age, aging, caregivers, children, death, drug use, education, employment, ethnicity, family history, generations, grandchildren, grandparents, household composition, institutional care, intergenerational relations, interpersonal relations, life satisfaction, marital status, mental health, military service, parents, physical condition, political affiliation, race, religion, self concept, siblings
 
Smallest Geographic Unit:California
 
Geographic Coverage:California, Los Angeles, United States
 
Date(s) of Collection:1991 - 2000
 
Unit of Observation:individual
 
Universe:Families were drawn randomly from a subscriber list of 840,000 members of a California Health Maintenance Organization in Los Angeles.
 
Data Type:survey data
 

Methodology

Sample:Families were recruited by enlisting a grandfather over the age of 60 who was part of a three-generation family that was willing to participate.
 
Mode of Data Collection:computer-assisted self interview (CASI)
 
  face-to-face interview
 
  mail questionnaire
 
  self-enumerated questionnaire
 
  telephone interview
 
Presence of Common Scales:Affectual Solidarity Reliability, Consensual Solidarity (Socialization), Associational Solidarity, Functional Solidarity, Intergenerational Social Support, Normative Solidarity, Familism, Structural Solidarity, Intergenerational Feelings of Conflict, Management of Conflict Tactics, Rosenberg Self-Esteem, Depression (CES-D), Locus of Control, Bradburn Affect Balance, Eysenck Extraversion/Neuroticism, Anxiety (Hopkins Symptom Checklist), Activities of Daily Living (IADL/ADL), Religious Ideology, Political Conservatism, Gender Role Ideology, Individualism/Collectivism, Materialism/Humanism, Work Satisfaction, Gilford-Bengtson Marital Satisfaction
 

Access and Availability

Note:A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.
 
Original ICPSR Release:2008-10-08
 
Version History:The last update of this study occurred on 2009-05-12.
 
  2009-05-12 - Setup files have been updated.
 
Dataset(s):
  • DS1: Longitudinal Study of Generations, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000 [California]