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ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly) was a multisite randomized controlled trial conducted at six field sites with New England Research Institutes (NERI) as the coordinating center. The field sites included the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Hebrew Senior Life (formerly Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged) in Boston, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Pennsylvania State University, and Wayne State University (Detroit). Data in this study are drawn from measures of cognitively demanding daily activities performed by participants who received a variety of cognitive interventions. Measures included both cognitive functioning (memory, inductive reasoning, speed processing, and general knowledge) and daily functioning (everyday problem solving, observations of daily living, complex reaction time, and general functional ability). Secondary to these measures, the study also includes data on health care and service utilization, driving habits, and mobility. Data were collected at the start of the study (baseline) as well as one, two, three, five, and ten years into the study.

This collection integrates data from two previous collections (ICPSR 4248 and ICPSR 36036) and fills in gaps that existed in these two collections. In addition, this collection features composite scores for constructs like memory, reasoning speed, Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), as well as data from the National Death Index and state driving records.

Please read the collection notes for important analysis details.

The MIDUS Refresher Daily Diary Project (aka National Study of Daily Experiences or NSDE) contains data from 782 respondents. The purpose of the Daily Stress Project was to examine how sociodemographic factors, health status, personality characteristics, and genetic endowment modify patterns of change in exposure to day-to-day life stressors as well as physical and emotional reactivity to these stressors.

The primary aims were:

1. To describe how the links between multiple aspects of daily stressors (e.g., frequency, content, severity) and daily physical and emotional well-being change over ten years during adulthood;
2. To examine how sociodemographic factors and personality characteristics influence change in both exposure to as well as changes in physical and emotional reactivity to daily stressors;
3. To investigate how exposure and reactivity to daily stressors correlate with physiological indicators of physical health and predict changes in global health reports; and
4. To explore the relative genetic and environmental influences mediating change in exposure and physical and emotional reactivity to daily stressors throughout adulthood.

The Daily Diary study is comprised of a subsample of the MIDUS (Midlife in the United States) Refresher, a national survey of nearly 3,600 Americans (aged 25 to 75) conducted during 2011-2014. The MIDUS Refresher survey was designed to replenish the original MIDUS 1 baseline cohort and allow 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. Guiding hypotheses, at the most general level, were that behavioral and psychosocial factors are consequential for health (physical and mental).

Demographic variables in this collection include sex and age.

The data producers have recompiled the ACTIVE data into a new study which is available as of December 2023, ICPSR 38821; data users should plan to use study 38821 instead.

ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly), 1999-2008 was a multisite randomized controlled trial conducted at six field sites with New England Research Institutes (NERI) as the coordinating center. The field sites included the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Hebrew Senior Life (formerly Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged) in Boston, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Pennsylvania State University, and Wayne State University (Detroit). Data in this study are drawn from measures of cognitively demanding daily activities performed by participants who received a variety of cognitive interventions. Measures included both cognitive functioning (memory, inductive reasoning, speed processing, and general knowledge) and daily functioning (everyday problem solving, observations of daily living, complex reaction time, and general functional ability). Secondary to these measures, the study also includes data on health care and service utilization, driving habits, and mobility. Data were collected at the start of the study (baseline) as well as one, two, three, five, and ten years into the study. This collection includes the data from the tenth year of the study as well as a comprehensive analytical dataset, incorporating data from the previous collections (data from previous waves of the study as well as participant demographic data can be found in ICPSR 4248). A total of 2,832 older adults were enrolled in the trial, and 2,802 were included in the analytical sample. Twenty-six percent of the participants were African American.

A Survey of the Arts in Everyday Life 2002 examined the involvement of Chicago-area individuals in "informal" arts activities, such as acting in community theater, singing in a church choir, writing poetry at the local library, or painting portraits in a home studio. This survey was a significant component in the larger study "Informal Arts: Finding Cohesion, Capacity and Other Cultural Benefits in Unexpected Places," which was a two and a half year study of the informal arts in Chicago undertaken by Columbia College Chicago's Center for Arts Policy. The research was undertaken by Principal Investigator Alaka Wali Ph.D., ethnographers Rebecca Severson M.A. and Mario Longoni M.A., the survey statistician Kevin Karpiak, and dedicated interns and professional volunteers. Elena Marcheschi J.D. took on the overall responsibilities of Project Director. This survey is used frequently to reinforce and expand on ethnographic findings drawn from a series of case studies and at large fieldwork. The University of Illinois Survey Lab assisted in the survey design. As part of the strategy to triangulate the data sources, the survey instrument was designed to test researchers' findings and to gather additional data on areas such as participants' depth of involvement in civic life. The questionnaire contained 67 questions divided into broad topical areas such as organizational dynamics, networks, resources and barriers, and visibility of arts, in addition to demographics. The sampling goal was to get a census of all the participants at each case study location at a given moment in time. Most of the questionnaires were mailed to participants. Other questionnaires were either hand-delivered or emailed. During August 2001, 165 of the 310 recipients completed and returned the survey. Partial funding for this study was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Urban Institute/Arts and Culture Indicators in Community Building Project (ACIP), and Columbia College Chicago.

The 1985 Detroit Area Study surveyed life events of respondents. Questions addressed alcohol and drug use, emotional state, incidents of depression and fear, stress caused by children and work, and respondent's general health. Information on the respondent's family background was also collected, with specific emphases on children, parenting, and marriage. Gender comparison questions were posed to explore in detail issues such as the benefits/responsibilities of marriage, marriage roles and careers, and division of housework tasks. The survey also included items on the respondent's financial situation, social life, social support network, and demographic characteristics such as age, race, sex, education, religion, and income.

The data producers have recompiled the ACTIVE data into a new study which is available as of December 2023, ICPSR 38821; data users should plan to use study 38821 instead.

ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly), 1999-2001 [United States] was a multisite randomized controlled trial conducted at six field sites with New England Research Institutes (NERI) as the coordinating center. The field sites included the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged in Boston, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Florida/Wayne State University (Detroit). The primary aim of the trial was to test the effects of three distinct cognitive interventions -- previously found to be successful in improving elders' performance on basic measures of cognition under laboratory or small-scale field conditions -- on measures of cognitively demanding daily activities. Trainings consisted of an initial series of ten group sessions followed by four-session booster trainings at one and three years. The three cognitive interventions focused on memory, executive reasoning, and speed of processing. The design included a no-contact control group. Participants were assessed at baseline, immediately after training, and annually thereafter. A total of 2,832 older adults were enrolled in the trial, and 2,802 were included in the analytical sample. Twenty-six percent of the participants were African American.

For this survey, respondents from three counties in the Detroit, Michigan, area were queried about how they received and used information in their daily lives and how they viewed other people, groups, and institutions. Respondents were asked about their activities during the previous 12 months, the work they did, and about some things they or someone in their household may have experienced because of their race, ethnicity, or religion. Respondents were also asked for their opinions about American news coverage, helping children grow up, and what the aims of this country should be for the next ten years. In addition, questions addressed respondents' feelings and thoughts during the past 12 months about world events and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Demographic information includes age, sex, marital status, income, education, national origin, employment status, and household composition.

The 500 Family Study was designed to obtain in-depth information on middle class, dual-career families living in the United States. To understand the complex dynamics of today's families and the strategies they use to balance the demands of work and family, over 500 families from 8 cities across the United States were studied. To address different issues facing parents with older and younger children, families with adolescents and families with kindergartners were included in the sample. Working mothers and fathers are now splitting their time between their responsibilities to their family, and to their respective occupations. This study of 500 families explores how work affects the lives and well-being of parents and their children.

The study's data allows researchers to explore a broad range of questions:

• How do dual-career families manage and organize their resources and time between family and work?
• How do work conditions, including characteristics of the job and workplace environment, affect the quality of relationships among household members?
• How do dual career parents manage the moral and social development and learning experiences of their children?
• How do the work-related responsibilities of working parents affect their child's moral, social, and educational development?
• What effect is consumerism and technology having on how working families direct the moral and social development of their children?
• What do parents believe is their role regarding the child-care of their children and how they should fulfill that role both in terms of time and in the allocation of economic and social resources? What are some of the resources in the community that parents use to supervise their children?
• How do families regard the "free time" of adolescents and how they allocate adolescent "free time" in maintenance of the household?
• What is the quality of relationships among family members?

To obtain a detailed picture of work and family life, mothers, fathers, and their children were asked to complete a series of instruments including surveys, in-depth interviews, and time diaries. These instruments were designed to provide information about work, marriage, child care and parental supervision, management of household tasks, time allocations, coping strategies, and psychological well-being.

The four datasets associated with this data collection are summarized below:

1. The Cortisol Data contains information for a subsample of families that elected to participate in a study of psychological stress. Parents and teenagers who agreed to participate completed an additional two days of ESM data collection. The health survey that was administered reported on a variety of health and lifestyle issues that might affect cortisol (stress hormone) levels such as medication use, consumption of caffeine and alcohol, use of nicotine, timing of menstrual cycle, pregnancy, presence of chronic illness, and respondent's height and weight. Additionally, parents reported on the health of the children (teenagers and kindergartners) participating in the study.
2. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) Data contains a variety of information related to how individuals spend their time, who they spent it with, and what activities they were engaged in over the course of a typical week. Respondents wore programmed wrist watches that emitted signals (beeps) throughout the day. When possible, family members were placed on identical signaling schedules to provide information on a range of family activities. At the time of each beep, participants were asked to complete a self-report form which asked them to answer a number of open-ended questions about their location, activities, who they were with, and psychological states. Several Likert and semantic-differential scales were used to assess participants' psychological states.
3. The Parent Data contains basic demographic information from respondents as well as detailed information about parents' occupation job duties, income, work schedule, benefits (e.g., medical care, flexible work schedules, and family leave), and the consequences of their jobs (e.g. long hours, job stress, having to work weekends). Additionally, the data contain information about the extent to which parents experienced work-family conflict and what changes might help with better balance of the demands of work and family (e.g., more flexible work hours, more help from spouses with household and child care responsibilities, improved child care, and after-school care arrangements). Parental attitudes toward traditional arrangements, how household tasks were actually divided among family members, and how often the family paid for services (e.g., cleaning, yard work, meal preparation) were also captured. The data also contain information about how children are socialized in families with two working parents. Topics about the frequency with which parents engaged in various activities with their children (e.g., talking, eating meals together, attending religious services), how frequently parents monitored their teenager's activities, and how often they talked with their teenager about school activities, plans for college, career plans, friendships, and peer pressure.
4. The Adolescent Data contains data for sixth through twelfth graders, which focuses on family relationships and experiences, school experiences, paid work, psychological well-being and behavioral problems, and plans for the future (e.g., college, career, and marriage -- including expectations regarding spouses' sharing of responsibility for child care, cooking, chores, and paid work). To allow for comparison of parents' and adolescents' responses to similar questions, several items appear in both the adolescent and parent data. These items include the frequency with which parents and adolescents discuss school events, college and career plans, participation in religious and other activities, gender role attitudes and the division of household tasks within the family, and items measuring depression, stress, and anxiety.

Qualitative Data -- Interviews The main purpose of the interviews was to explore topics addressed in the parent and adolescent surveys in greater detail. Parent interviews were designed to examine how working parents cope with the demands of work and family life. Adolescent interviews touched on similar themes but altered questions to gauge the adolescent's perceptions of their parents work and family lives. Kindergartner interviews were brief and focused on children's after-school and child care arrangements and time spent with parents.

The National Survey of Children's Health, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is a module of the State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS) that is conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The survey was conducted to assess how well each state, and the nation as a whole, met MCHB's strategic plan goals and national performance measures. These goals include providing national leadership for maternal and child health, promoting an environment that supports maternal and child health, eliminating health barriers and disparities, improving the health infrastructure and systems of care, assuring quality care, working with states and communities to plan and implement policies and programs to improve the social, emotional, and physical environment, and acquiring the best available evidence to develop and promote guidelines and practices to assure a social, emotional, and physical environment that supports the health and well-being of women and children.

The National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) was designed to produce national- and state-specific prevalence estimates for a variety of physical, emotional, and behavioral health indicators and measures of children's experiences with the health care system. Respondents were asked an extensive battery of questions about the family, including parental health, stress and coping behaviors, family activities, and parental concerns about their children, as well as their perceptions of the child's neighborhood.

Demographic information includes race, gender, family income, and education level.