Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Series

collection: series

Studies

12

Variables

15,247

Publications

2,908

About this Collection

The Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Series is a data collection stemming from the work of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development (MIDMAC). MIDMAC is an interdisciplinary research group consisting of numerous scholars from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. It was established in 1989 to study a period in the lifespan -- middle age. The primary objective of MIDMAC is to identify the major biomedical, psychological, and social factors that permit some people to achieve good health, psychological well-being, and social responsibility during their adult years. To do this, MIDMAC collected a series of data to establish an empirical basis for documenting what happens in the middle years and to identify the factors that determine the course of midlife development.

The first wave of data collection (MIDUS I) began in 1995 with a National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. The main data collection consisted of a general population survey, as well as surveys of siblings of the general population respondents, and a twin pairs sample. The main data collection also included an oversample of five metropolitan areas. In addition to the main national survey, random subsamples of respondents were recruited to participate in in-depth investigations of selected topics, such as management strategies for coping with stressful experiences, a national study of daily experiences, and a study of psychological experiences.

In 2002 the University of Wisconsin Institute on Aging was awarded a grant from the National Institute on Aging to continue the MIDUS series.

MIDUS datasets can be linked via the M2ID variable.

Additionally, the MIDUS series includes the Midlife in Japan (MIDJA) studies. In 2008, with funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the MIDJA studies began with a baseline sample of Japanese adults (N = 1,027) aged 30 to 79 from the Tokyo metropolitan area. These baseline survey data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status, educational status), psychosocial characteristics (e.g., independence/interdependence, personality traits, sense of control, goal orientations, social support, family obligation, social responsibility), mental health (depression, anxiety, well-being, life satisfaction), and physical health (chronic conditions, health symptoms, functional limitations, health behaviors); biomarker data were later collected from a subset of the baseline cases. The survey and biomarker measures obtained in MIDJA parallel those in the MIDUS 1 and 2 samples - The central objective was to compare the Japanese sample (MIDJA) with the United States sample (MIDUS) to test hypotheses about the role of psychosocial factors in the health (broadly defined) of mid- and later-life adults in Japan and the U.S.

Users should review the "Guide to Merging the MIDJA and MIDUS Data" (in the available downloads for the MIDJA studies) for more information.

In 2011-2014, the MIDUS Refresher study recruited a national probability sample of 3,577 adults, aged 25 to 74, designed to replenish the original MIDUS 1 baseline cohort and paralleling the five decadal age groups of the MIDUS 1 baseline survey. The MIDUS Refresher survey employed the same comprehensive assessments as those assembled on the existing MIDUS sample, but with additional questions about the effect of the economic recession of 2008-09. This new cross-sectional MIDUS sample allows the examination of period effects on health (mental and physical) related to the economic recession by comparing the pre-recession MIDUS 1 sample with the post-recession MIDUS Refresher sample.

MIDUS Refresher datasets can be linked via the MRID variable.

Studies

12 results

Midlife in the United States: Core Sample Mortality Data, 1995-2025

In 1995-1996, the MacArthur Midlife Research Network carried out a national survey of over 7,000 Americans aged 25 to 74 (ICPSR 2760). The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors in understanding age-related differences in physical and mental health.

With support from the National Institute on Aging, an initial follow-up of the original Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) samples was conducted in 2004 (MIDUS 2). The daily stress and cognitive functioning projects were repeated at MIDUS 2; in addition the protocol was expanded to include biomarkers and neuroscience. In 2005, a baseline sample of 592 African Americans from Milwaukee was added to MIDUS to examine health issues in minority populations.

In 2013, a third wave (MIDUS 3) of survey data was collected on longitudinal participants. Data collection for this follow-up wave largely repeated baseline assessments (e.g., phone interview and extensive self-administered questionnaire), with additional questions in selected areas (e.g., economic recession experiences, optimism and coping, stressful life events, and caregiving). A third wave of cognitive functioning data and a second wave of the Milwaukee sample were also collected. Data collection for the daily diary, biomarkers, and neuroscience is ongoing. This dataset includes mortality information for all known MIDUS decedents (N=2,822) from the Core National and Milwaukee samples as of December 2025.

Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 3): Neuroscience Project, 2017-2022

From 2004-2009, an initial follow-up of the original Midlife Development in the United States samples (MIDUS 2) was conducted with expansion of the protocol to include Neuroscience Project data collection and a sample of Black Americans from Milwaukee, WI. The MIDUS Neuroscience Project performed a second follow-up from 2017-2022 of the MIDUS Main and Milwaukee samples (MIDUS 3) on a subsample of those who completed the MIDUS 3 Survey and Biomarker Projects.

The goal was to examine indices of brain aging, function, and structure with a focus on the brain circuitry associated with individual differences in affective style, and to characterize the peripheral consequences of these central profiles for biological systems that may be relevant to health. The primary aims were to: (1) characterize individual differences in emotional reactivity, recovery, and sustaining processes using corrugator and zygomatic electromyography and eyeblink startle magnitude, (2) characterize individual differences in brain morphology and connectivity using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) (3) characterize individual differences in functional activity within the neural circuitry of emotion using task and resting state fMRI, (4) calculate brain age, and (5) test the ability of these indices to predict the comprehensive array of health, wellbeing, cognitive, psychological, social, and life challenge factors assessed in other MIDUS projects. To probe individual differences in emotional processes, psychophysiological and fMRI measures of emotional responses to the presentation of negative, positive, and neutral pictures, and these same measures during a post-picture period were examined.

Emotion-influenced memory was assessed at both the psychophysiological and imaging sessions: (1) Free recall of the presented affective pictures at the end of the psychophysiological session. (2) Memory and likeability ratings for neutral faces paired with the affective pictures in the imaging task. Finally, selected tasks from the CANTAB assessed affective biases and cognitive processes important for emotion regulation.

Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2): Cognitive Project, 2004-2006

In 1994/1995, the MacArthur Midlife Research Network carried out a national survey of over 7,000 Americans aged 25 to 74. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors in understanding age-related differences in physical and mental health. A description of the study and findings from it are available at the MIDUS website.

With support from the National Institute on Aging, a longitudinal follow-up of the original MIDUS samples (core sample (N = 3,487), metropolitan over-samples (N = 757), twins (N = 957 pairs), and siblings (N = 950)) was conducted in 2004-2006. Guiding hypotheses, at the most general level, were that behavioral and psychosocial factors are consequential for health (physical and mental). The purpose of the Cognitive Project was to determine how cognition is related to overall mental and physical health. Specific goals were: (1) to characterize the nature and range of midlife cognitive performance, relative to those younger and older, across multiple domains in a nationally representative sample (MIDUS); and (2) to examine the relationship between biopsychosocial factors (e.g., SES, health status, health-promoting behaviors, metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers, depression, personality, control beliefs, stressful life events) and individual differences in cognitive functioning.

The development of a cognitive battery for the second wave of testing of the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study provided an opportunity to examine the cognitive performance of young, middle-aged and older adults from a wide range of education levels in a large-scale, national sample. As part of the Cognitive Project of the MIDUS II the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) (Lachman & Tun, 2008; Tun & Lachman, 2006) was administered. More information about the BTACT can be found at the Brandeis website. The BTACT represents the first comprehensive cognitive battery, including measures of speed and reaction time, to be administered by telephone to a national sample across the adult years and into later life. With a response rate of over 86 percent for the cognitive testing component of the MIDUS II, a cognitive data set of unprecedented range in terms of age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), education, and geographic diversity was produced.