Search results

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.

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 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.

Musical training is popularly believed to improve children's cognitive ability. Early research evidence, mostly correlational, suggests that musicians outperform non-musicians on many cognitive abilities. However, recent experimental evidence has failed to replicate most benefits, leaving it unclear whether previously demonstrated effects were a direct result of learning music. While a few studies have shown some change with as little as a few weeks of training, the larger training literature shows that transfer of skills between unrelated areas is extremely rare, especially in properly controlled studies.

This study used an experimental design to assess the cause (whether music uniquely produces change) and the effect (which cognitive abilities are impacted) of the link between music and cognition. Six- to nine-year-old children (n=75) with no prior training were randomly assigned to three weeks of music or dance training. Cognitive performance before and after training was compared between trained groups, since both training forms share features of training, plus with a non-trained control group to isolate training-induced change from normal maturation. No changes were found on any measured ability (inhibitory control, working memory, task switching, processing speed, receptive vocabulary, and non-verbal intelligence).

Findings confirm evidence from the general training literature that training-induced improvements on cognitive performance are unlikely. Short-term training effects have a much narrower scope than previous evidence suggests.

The study is comprised of interviews from 227 Hispanic males aged 45 or older living in the area of Houston, Texas to address the gaps in knowledge on the social factors and health consequences of injection heroin use among aging Mexican American males. Specifically, the study investigated how the life course transitions of incarceration and drug treatment and drug abuse and family trajectories affect both the heroin career status and health consequences of these aging Mexican American men.

The study used a cross-sectional, field-intensive outreach methodology augmented with respondent-driven sampling. Recruitment was focused in two Houston neighborhoods that are predominantly Mexican American areas with high rates of crime, poverty, and psychosocial challenges. Trained Outreach Specialists familiar with these communities identified community gatekeepers and gained their trust through continued presence in the community and ongoing dialogue about the study. These gatekeepers then helped identify individuals meeting the inclusion criteria: Mexican American men aged 45 years or older with a history of injection drug use for at least 3 years. The men were then classified into one of three groups: current injectors (current group), former injectors not in treatment (former group), or former injectors currently enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment programs (MMTP group).

The second part is a second survey asking questions about social networks the respondent participates in. Questions ask the respondent to answer on one individual in their network and answer questions about that person and their interaction with them. Questions include basic demographics, history injecting drugs and sexual contact with the person.

The Hispanic EPESE provides data on risk factors for mortality and morbidity in older Mexican Americans in order to contrast how these factors operate differently than in non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and other major ethnic groups.

The Wave 10 dataset comprises the ninth follow-up of the baseline Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, 1993-1994: [Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas] (ICPSR 2851). The baseline Hispanic EPESE collected data on a representative sample of community-dwelling Mexican Americans, aged 65 years and older, residing in the five Southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

The public-use data covers demographic characteristics (age, sex, type of Hispanic ethnicity, income, education, marital status, number of children, employment, and religion), height, weight, social and physical functioning, chronic conditions, related health problems, health behaviors, self-reported use of dental, hospital, and nursing home services, and depression. Subsequent follow-ups allow examination of the predictors of mortality, changes in health outcomes, institutionalization, changes in living arrangements, as well as changes in life situations and quality of life.

During this 10th Wave, 131 re-interviews were conducted either in person or by proxy, with 77 of the original respondents interviewed in 1993-1994. This Wave also includes 54 re-interviews from the 902 new respondents added at Wave 5 in 2004-2005. All respondents were aged 90 and over at Wave 10.

The wave 10, was conducted over 2020 and 2021 and consisted of two components, a pre-COVID in-person component and a post-COVID telephone component to the informant only. The pre-COVID in-person interviews were conducted from January 1, 2020 to March 17, 2020 (N=131 respondents; N=122 informants). In March 2020, the in-person interviews were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From April 1, 2021 to July 1, 2021, telephone interviews were conducted only with informants (n = 101). The study team collected information on health, function, social situation, finances, and general well-being of the older Hispanic EPESE respondents. Information was also collected on the informant's health, function, and caregiver responsibilities and burden. In Wave 10, during the telephone interviews conducted with the informant, the study team collected information related to their experiences during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and their contemporary experiences around the time of widespread vaccine availability in the United States.

The Hispanic EPESE provides data on risk factors for mortality and morbidity in older Mexican Americans in order to contrast how these factors operate differently than in non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and other major ethnic groups.

The Wave 9 dataset comprises the eighth follow-up of the baseline Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, 1993-1994: [Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas] (ICPSR 2851). The baseline Hispanic EPESE collected data on a representative sample of community-dwelling Mexican Americans, aged 65 years and older, residing in the five Southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

The public-use data covers demographic characteristics (age, sex, type of Hispanic race, income, education, marital status, number of children, employment, and religion), height, weight, social and physical functioning, chronic conditions, related health problems, health behaviors, self-reported use of dental, hospital, and nursing home services, and depression. Subsequent follow-ups allow examination of the predictors of mortality, changes in health outcomes, institutionalization, changes in living arrangements, as well as changes in life situations and quality of life.

During this 9th Wave (Dataset 1), 2016, 480 re-interviews were conducted either in person or by proxy, with 283 of the original respondents interviewed in 1993-1994. This Wave also includes 197 re-interviews from the 902 new respondents added at Wave 5 in 2004-2005. All respondents were aged 85 and over at Wave 9.

The Wave 9 Informant Interviews dataset (Dataset 2) includes data from interviews with 460 respondents who provided information on themselves as well as the older respondents. The older respondents were asked to provide the name and contact information of the person they are "closer to" or they "depend on the most for help." These INFORMANTS, many of whom provide caregiving support to the older respondents, were contacted, and interviewed regarding the health, function, social situation, finances, and general well-being of the older Hispanic EPESE respondents. Information was also collected on the informant's health, function, and caregiver responsibilities and burden. This dataset includes information from the 460 informants, more than two-thirds of whom were children of the respective respondents. Thus, there are 460 respondent-informant dyads that provide opportunities for caregiving research.

This catalog record includes detailed variable-level descriptions, enabling data discovery and comparison. The TILDA Series data files, including studies 34315, 38681, 37105, 37106, 38670, 38674, are no longer available from ICPSR and NACDA at the request of the data producer due to concerns related to EU and Irish data privacy and data sharing rules. Individuals interested in obtaining TILDA data access at this time should reach out to the TILDA project directly (https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/).

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a major inter-institutional initiative led by Trinity College Dublin which aims to produce a massive improvement in the quantity and quality of data, research and information relating to older people and ageing in Ireland. Eligible respondents for this study include individuals aged 50 and over and their spouses or partners of any age. The study involves interviews on a two yearly basis with a sample cohort of 8,504 people aged 50 and over (or their spouses/partners) and resident in Ireland, collecting detailed information on all aspects of their lives, including the economic (pensions, employment, living standards), health (physical, mental, service needs and usage) and social aspects (contact with friends and kin, formal and informal care, social participation). Both survey interviews and physical and biological measurements are utilized. Demographic and background variables include age, sex, marital status, household composition, education, and employment.

This catalog record includes detailed variable-level descriptions, enabling data discovery and comparison. The TILDA Series data, including studies 34315, 38681, 37105, 37106, 38670, 38674, are currently unavailable at the request of the data producer due to concerns related to EU and Irish data privacy and data sharing rules. We are working to determine the best solution to continue to share these data with the research community. Individuals interested in obtaining TILDA data access at this time should reach out to the TILDA project directly (https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/).

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a major inter-institutional initiative led by Trinity College Dublin which aims to produce a massive improvement in the quantity and quality of data, research and information relating to older people and ageing in Ireland. Eligible respondents for this study include individuals aged 50 and over and their spouses or partners of any age. The study involves interviews on a two yearly basis with a sample cohort of 8,504 people aged 50 and over (or their spouses/partners) and resident in Ireland, collecting detailed information on all aspects of their lives, including the economic (pensions, employment, living standards), health (physical, mental, service needs and usage) and social aspects (contact with friends and kin, formal and informal care, social participation). Both survey interviews and physical and biological measurements are utilized.

The second wave of TILDA interviews were undertaken between February 2012 and March 2013. Of the 8,504 interviewed in Wave 1, a second interview was obtained for 7,445 respondents. These consisted of the self, proxy and end-of-life interviews types. In addition to the returning respondents, 170 interviews were obtained from eligible household members who had chosen not to take part in Wave 1 or the new spouses/partners of existing respondents.

Demographic and background variables include age, sex, marital status, household composition, education, and employment.

This catalog record includes detailed variable-level descriptions, enabling data discovery and comparison. The TILDA Series data, including studies 34315, 38681, 37105, 37106, 38670, 38674, are currently unavailable at the request of the data producer due to concerns related to EU and Irish data privacy and data sharing rules. We are working to determine the best solution to continue to share these data with the research community. Individuals interested in obtaining TILDA data access at this time should reach out to the TILDA project directly (https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/).

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a major inter-institutional initiative led by Trinity College Dublin which aims to produce a massive improvement in the quantity and quality of data, research and information relating to older people and ageing in Ireland. Eligible respondents for this study include individuals aged 50 and over and their spouses or partners of any age. The study involves interviews on a two yearly basis with a sample cohort of 8,504 people aged 50 and over (or their spouses/partners) and resident in Ireland, collecting detailed information on all aspects of their lives, including the economic (pensions, employment, living standards), health (physical, mental, service needs and usage) and social aspects (contact with friends and kin, formal and informal care, social participation). Both survey interviews and physical and biological measurements are utilized.

The third wave of TILDA interviews were undertaken between March 2014 and October 2015. Of the 7,445 interviewed in Wave 2, a third interview was obtained for 6,874 respondents. These consisted of the self, proxy and end-of-life interviews types. In addition to the returning respondents, 28 interviews were obtained from eligible household members who had chosen not to take part in Wave 1 or the new spouses/partners of existing respondents.

Demographic and background variables include age, sex, marital status, household composition, education, and employment.

This catalog record includes detailed variable-level descriptions, enabling data discovery and comparison. The TILDA Series data, including studies 34315, 38681, 37105, 37106, 38670, 38674, are currently unavailable at the request of the data producer due to concerns related to EU and Irish data privacy and data sharing rules. We are working to determine the best solution to continue to share these data with the research community. Individuals interested in obtaining TILDA data access at this time should reach out to the TILDA project directly (https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/).

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a major inter-institutional initiative led by Trinity College Dublin which aims to produce a massive improvement in the quantity and quality of data, research and information relating to older people and ageing in Ireland. Eligible respondents for this study include individuals aged 50 and over and their spouses or partners of any age. The study involves interviews on a one year basis with a sample cohort of residents of Ireland, collecting detailed information on all aspects of their lives, including the economic (pensions, employment, living standards), health (physical, mental, service needs and usage) and social aspects (contact with friends and kin, formal and informal care, social participation). Both survey interviews and physical and biological measurements are utilized.

The fourth wave of TILDA interviews were undertaken between January and December 2016. A total of 5,713 participants completed the self-interview.

Demographic and background variables include age, sex, marital status, household composition, education, and employment.

This catalog record includes detailed variable-level descriptions, enabling data discovery and comparison. The TILDA Series data, including studies 34315, 38681, 37105, 37106, 38670, 38674, are currently unavailable at the request of the data producer due to concerns related to EU and Irish data privacy and data sharing rules. We are working to determine the best solution to continue to share these data with the research community. Individuals interested in obtaining TILDA data access at this time should reach out to the TILDA project directly (https://tilda.tcd.ie/data/accessing-data/).

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a major inter-institutional initiative led by Trinity College Dublin which aims to produce a massive improvement in the quantity and quality of data, research and information relating to older people and ageing in Ireland. Eligible respondents for this study include individuals aged 50 and over and their spouses or partners of any age. The study involves interviews on a one year basis with a sample cohort of residents of Ireland, collecting detailed information on all aspects of their lives, including the economic (pensions, employment, living standards), health (physical, mental, service needs and usage) and social aspects (contact with friends and kin, formal and informal care, social participation). Both survey interviews and physical and biological measurements are utilized.

The fifth wave of TILDA interviews were undertaken between January and December 2018. A total of 4,978 participants completed the self-interview.

Demographic and background variables include age, sex, marital status, household composition, education, and employment.

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. The study was innovative for its broad scientific scope, its diverse samples (which included siblings of the main sample respondents and a national sample of twin pairs), and its creative use of in-depth assessments in key areas (e.g. daily diary of stressful experiences [ICPSR 3725] and cognitive functioning [ICPSR 3596]) on a subset of participants. A detailed description of the study and findings generated by it are available at: http://www.midus.wisc.edu.

With support from the National Institute on Aging, a follow-up of the original Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) sample was conducted in 2004 (MIDUS 2 [ICPSR 4652]). The daily stress and cognitive functioning projects were repeated and expanded at MIDUS 2; in addition the protocol was expanded to include biomarkers and neuroscience.

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 such as economic recession experiences. Cognitive functioning data were also collected at the same time, while data collection for the daily diary, biomarker, and neuroscience projects commenced in 2017.

Data in this collection are related to MIDUS 3 [ICPSR 36346]. Data collection for the MIDUS 3 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).

In 2013-2014, a second wave of cognitive assessments (Project 3) were carried out on individuals who had recently completed the MIDUS 3 phone survey (Project 1). This assessment, known as the Brief Test of Adult Cognition via Telephone (BTACT), was carried out approximately 9 years after the first wave of cognitive data collection was completed in 2004-2005. MIDUS 3 BTACT data were collected from 2,693 MIDUS 3 participants. Further, a second wave of cognitive assessments were also carried out on respondents to the MIDUS Milwaukee Wave 2 survey that was conducted in 2016-2017. BTACT data were collected from 330 Milwaukee respondents. Finally, BTACT data was collected in 2017 from another 268 respondents (called the Refielding sample) who did not complete this project during the M3 field period. This M3 BTACT dataset contains a total of 3,291 respondents. More details on the fielding of these cases can be found in the MIDUS field reports for the M3 survey [ICPSR 36346] and the Milwaukee 2 survey [ICPSR 37120].

The dataset includes 245 variables and 3,291 cases. Demographic variables in this collection include sex and age.

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.

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 MIDUS Refresher Neuroscience Project studied 138 participants from the Refresher sample. These respondents included two distinct subsamples, all of whom completed both the Survey Project and the Biomarker Project's assessment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: the Main Refresher (n = 93) and Milwaukee Refresher (n = 45) samples.

The purpose of the Neuroscience Project is to examine the central circuitry associated with individual differences in affective style that represent a continuum from vulnerability to resilience, and to characterize the peripheral consequences of these central profiles for biological systems that may be relevant to health.