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The Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) survey series is an ongoing, nationally representative, longitudinal study focusing especially on differences between Black and White Americans in middle and late life. These data constitute the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth waves in a panel survey covering a wide range of sociological, psychological, mental, and physical health items. Wave I of the study began in 1986 with a nation face-to-face survey of 3,617 adults ages 25 and up, with Black Americans and people aged 60 and over over-sampled at twice the rate of the others. Wave II constitutes face-to-face re-interviews in 1989 of those still alive. Survivors have been re-interviewed by telephone, and when necessary face-to-face, in 1994 (Wave III), 2001/02 (Wave IV), 2011 (Wave V), and 2019/21 (Wave VI).

Please note that for Wave VI, the majority of data collection occurred in 2019, with only a small subset (n=39) of participants surveyed in 2021.

ACL was designed and sought to investigate the following: (1) The ways in which a wide range of activities and social relationships that people engage in are broadly "productive," (2) how individuals adapt to acute life events and chronic stresses that threaten the maintenance of health, effective functioning, and productive activity, and (3) sociocultural variations in the nature, meaning, determinants, and consequences of productive activity and relationships. Among the topics covered are interpersonal relationships (spouse/partner, children, parents, friends), sources and levels of satisfaction, social interactions and leisure activities, traumatic life events (physical assault, serious illness, divorce, death of a loved one, financial or legal problems), perceptions of retirement, health behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, overweight, rest), and utilization of health care services (doctor visits, hospitalization, nursing home institutionalization, bed days). Also included are measures of physical health, psychological well-being, and indices referring to cognitive functioning.

Demographic information provided for individuals includes household composition, number of children and grandchildren, employment status, occupation and work history, income, family financial situation, religious beliefs and practices, ethnicity, race, education, sex, and region of residence.

The objectives of the current study were to describe child post-traumatic stress (PTS), coping behavior, and parent coping assistance following a child's injury. The study enrolled children age 8 to 17 treated at the emergency department or admitted to the hospital for unintentional injury, and one parent per child. Children and parents completed measures of child PTS, coping, and coping assistance at 2 weeks post-injury and 3 months post-injury. The research team addressed these questions:

1. What types of coping do children use following an injury?
2. Is parent coping assistance related to child coping behavior?
3. Are child coping strategies associated with PTS symptoms?
4. Is early parent coping assistance related to later development of child PTS symptoms?

This study was originally conceived as a prospective randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of secondary prevention messages conveyed in printed informational materials (handouts and workbooks) for children and parents after pediatric injury. Children and their parents received 1 of 5 randomly assigned workbook sections (each addressing a different key theme). No differences were observed between groups for parent/child knowledge and beliefs about PTS and adaptive coping, nor in child PTS symptoms. Thus, data from all groups have been combined for analyses of prospective PTS outcomes and coping processes.

The aims of this study were to describe the course of posttraumatic stress responses in children after exposure to a hurricane and to examine potential predictors of child outcomes.

Three months after a major hurricane, the study enrolled students in grades three to five (age 7 to 12) in local schools. At the initial (3 month) assessment, children reported on specific hurricane-related trauma exposures, posttraumatic stress and anxiety symptoms, coping, and social support; at 7 months and 10 months post-hurricane, children reported on posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and coping.

The overall objective of this study was to examine trajectories and predictors of posttraumatic stress and depression in children and parents after a major hurricane, with a particular focus on hurricane exposure and on parenting variables that might be amenable to intervention.

Three months after the hurricane, the study enrolled students in grades four through eight (age 8 to 16) in local schools and invited parent participation, and conducted assessments at four time points post-hurricane. Children reported on prior violence exposure and hurricane-related trauma exposure, and on posttraumatic stress, coping, social support; and parents reported on child behavior as well as their own posttraumatic stress and other mental health symptoms, coping, and parenting practices. (Note: The current dataset does not include measures of parenting practices.)

Millions of children suffer unintentional injuries annually. While the majority display transient psychological distress, a significant minority develop significant, persistent symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that are associated with poorer general health outcomes and impaired quality of life. Understanding variables that contribute to the development of PTSD is an essential step in identifying children at increased risk for PTSD and improving secondary prevention to reduce the incidence of PTSD in children following medical events.

The objective of this study was to examine the interplay of biological, psychological (cognitive appraisals, coping), and environmental (parent influence) factors during the peri-trauma time period as these relate to the development of child PTSD symptoms over time.

Children age 8-13 with a recent injury (within the past 2 weeks) and one parent / caregiver per child were enrolled during an inpatient hospitalization. At the time of enrollment, and again 6 weeks and 12 weeks post-injury, children and parents completed measures of cognitive appraisals, coping, coping assistance, and PTSD symptoms. A brief parent-child interaction task was completed at the time of the baseline assessment - data from this task-based assessment are not included in this dataset.