Search results

The Chitwan Valley Family Study (CVFS) is a comprehensive family panel study of individuals, households, and communities in the Chitwan Valley of Nepal. The study was initially designed to investigate the influence of changing community and household contexts on population outcomes such as marital and childbearing processes. Over time, the goals of the study expanded to investigate family dynamics, intergenerational influences, child health, migration, labor force participation, attitudes and beliefs, mental health, agricultural production, environmental change, and many other topics. The data include full life histories for more than 10,000 individuals, tracking and interviews with all migrants, continuous measurement of community change, over 25 years of demographic event registry, and many other data collections. For additional information regarding the Chitwan Valley Family Study, please visit the Chitwan Valley Family Study Website. A Data Guide for this study is available as a web page and for download.

Principal Investigators

• William G. Axinn, University of Michigan
• Dirgha Ghimire, University of Michigan
• Jordan Smoller, Massachusetts General Hospital

The National Children's Study (NCS), authorized by the Children's Health Act of 2000, was a large-scale study to investigate environmental influences on child health and development. The NCS Vanguard (Pilot) Study, launched in 2009, tested methods for the larger Main Study and enrolled approximately 5,000 children across 40 locations by July 2013. The Main Study followed 100,000 children from before birth to age 21. On December 12, 2014, the NIH Director closed the study per advice from the expert review group.

The NCS Archive, created after the study's closure, offers researchers access to over 250,000 data and samples, including nearly 19,000 biological and 5,500 environmental samples from the Vanguard Study. The archive contains study visit data from preconception to 42 months post-birth, neuro-psychosocial and cognitive assessments, physical examinations, study protocols, operation manuals, data collection instruments, and more.

The NCS Archive includes various arts-related variables that were part of the study questionnaires and interviews conducted with participants and covered a range of activities and exposures. Specifically, the study captured data on children's participation in artistic activities, including music, dance, drama, and visual arts. Information was collected on the frequency and type of arts engagement, such as attending classes, participating in performances, or creating art. Examples include:

• DANCE_DAYS: The average number of days per week someone dances with the child.

• THEATER_DAYS: The average number of days per week someone engages in theater, play-acting, or make-believe with the child.

• MUSIC_DAYS: The average number of days per week someone plays musical instruments, sings, or listens to music with the child.

• DRAWPAINT_DAYS: The average number of days per week someone spends drawing or painting with the child.

• ART_EVENT_DAYS: The average number of days per week someone takes the child to arts-related events outside the home.

• DAYS_READ: The number of days in the past week that family members read stories to the child.

• TOTAL_NUMBER_BOOKS: The total number of children's books in the home, including library books.

• FREQ_BOOKS: The average number of days per week someone reads or looks at books with the child.

• READ_STORIES: The number of days per week stories are read to the child.

• TELL_STORIES: The number of days per week stories are told to the child.

The NCS Archive is available in NICHD's Data and Specimen Hub (DASH) for researchers to request access and conduct their own studies. For more information, researchers can consult the National Children's Study Archive: Study Description and Guide or contact NICHD's Data and Specimen Hub at [email protected].

The purpose of the original research project was to evaluate birth outcomes of second children after community-based home visiting ("Nurturing Families Network" (NFN)) that targeted first-time parents. Outcomes measured include gestational age, birthweight, pregnancy spacing, cesarean sections, and timing of prenatal care initiation.

Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation-Strong Start (MIHOPE-Strong Start) was a large-scale evaluation that rigorously tested the effectiveness of evidence-based home visiting in improving birth and health outcomes during pregnancy and in the year after birth. Local programs included in the study's analysis implemented one of two evidence-based models: Healthy Families America (HFA) or Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP). These models were chosen because earlier evaluations found some evidence of their having positive impacts on birth outcomes.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) partnered with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to sponsor the study. MIHOPE-Strong Start was part of the CMMI's Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative, which evaluated whether enhanced, nonmedical prenatal interventions, when provided in addition to routine medical care, have the potential to improve birth outcomes and reduce health care costs for women enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Under contract with OPRE, MDRC conducted MIHOPE-Strong Start in collaboration with James Bell Associates, Johns Hopkins University, Mathematica, and New York University.

The analysis for MIHOPE-Strong Start included 2,899 women and 66 local programs (37 HFA and 29 NFP programs) operating across 17 states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin. Women were eligible for MIHOPE-Strong Start if they were pregnant and at least 8 weeks from their due date.

The MIHOPE-Strong Start analysis included a subset of families and local programs that were recruited for MIHOPE, the national evaluation of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. Specifically, the MIHOPE-Strong Start impact analysis included information on 46 local home visiting programs and 1,845 families that were initially recruited for MIHOPE but met the MIHOPE-Strong Start eligibility criteria. An important distinction between MIHOPE-Strong Start and MIHOPE is that MIHOPE included only programs receiving MIECHV funding, while MIHOPE-Strong Start included both MIECHV and non-MIECHV-funded programs.

In both studies, families were randomly assigned either to an evidence-based home visiting program or to a control group who was given information on other services available in the community. The random assignment design was intended to create program and control groups that were similar when women entered the study, so that systematic differences in the outcomes of interest observed between the two groups can be attributed to the home visiting services rather than to the preexisting characteristics of the women.

Tsogolo la Thanzi (TLT) is a longitudinal study in Balaka, Malawi designed to examine how young people navigate reproduction in an AIDS epidemic. Tsogolo la Thanzi means "Healthy Futures" in Chichewa, Malawi's most widely spoken language. New data is being collected to develop better understandings of the reproductive goals and behavior of young adults in Malawi -- the first cohort to never have experienced life without AIDS. To understand these patterns of family formation in a rapidly changing setting, TLT used the following approach: an intensive longitudinal design where respondents are interviewed every fourth months at TLT's centralized research center. Data collection began in May of 2009 and was completed in June of 2012. To assess changes on a longer time-horizon, a follow-up survey referred to as Tsogolo la Thanzi 2 (TLT-2) was fielded between June and August of 2016. Please see ICPSR 36863 for the baseline dataset.

At each wave, women who tested as positive for pregnancy were given a questionnaire asking additional questions about that pregnancy. This dataset includes women from all waves.

This collection provides information on live births in the United States during calendar year 2010. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Dataset 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while dataset 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Variables describe the place of delivery, who was in attendance, and medical and health data such as the method of delivery, prenatal care, tobacco use during pregnancy, pregnancy history, medical risk factors, and infant health characteristics.

Birth and fertility rates, and other statistics related to this study can be found in an Appendix to the User Guide under Detailed Technical Notes.

Demographic variables include the child's sex and month and year of birth and the parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as the mother's marital status and residency status.

This collection provides information on live births in the United States during the calendar year 2011. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Dataset 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while Dataset 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Variables describe the place of delivery, who was in attendance, and medical and health data such as the method of delivery, prenatal care, tobacco use during pregnancy, pregnancy history, medical risk factors, and infant health characteristics.

Birth rates, fertility rates, and other aggregate statistics can be found in the Detailed Technical Notes section of the ICPSR User Guide.

Demographic information includes the child's sex and month and year of birth, the parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as the mother's marital status and residency status.

This collection provides information on live births in the United States during the calendar year 2008. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Dataset 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while Dataset 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Variables describe the place of delivery, who was in attendance, and medical and health data such as method of delivery, prenatal care, tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy, pregnancy history, medical risk factors, and infant health characteristics.

Birth and fertility rates and other statistics related to this study can be found in the User Guide, under Detailed Technical Notes.

Demographic variables include the child's sex, and month and year of birth, and the parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as the mother's marital status and residency status.

This collection provides information on live births in the United States during the calendar year 2014. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Dataset 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while Dataset 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Variables describe the place of delivery, who was in attendance, and medical and health data such as the method of delivery, prenatal care, tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy, pregnancy history, medical risk factors, and infant health characteristics.

Birth and fertility rates and other statistics related to this study can be found in an Appendix to the User Guide, under Detailed Technical Notes.

Demographic variables include the child's sex and month and year of birth and the parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as the mother's marital status and residency status.

This collection provides information on live births in the United States during calendar year 2013. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Dataset 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while dataset 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The variables include information on prenatal care, receipt of WIC, obstetric procedures, onset of labor, characteristics of labor and delivery, place and time of birth, attendant at birth, method of delivery, source of payment for the delivery, maternal lifestyle and health characteristics, and details about the infant's health characteristics.

Birth and fertility rates and other statistics related to this study can be found in the User Guide, under Detailed Technical Notes.

Demographic variables include the child's sex and month and year of birth, and the parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as the mother's marital and residency status.

The Natality Detail File, 2012 [United States] provides information on live births in the United States during the calendar year 2012. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Dataset 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while Dataset 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Variables describe the place of delivery, who was in attendance, and medical and health data such as the method of delivery, prenatal care, tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy, pregnancy history, medical risk factors, and infant health characteristics.

Birth and fertility rates and other statistics related to this study can be found in an Appendix to the User Guide, under Detailed Technical Notes.

Demographic variables include the child's sex and month and year of birth and the parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as the mother's marital status and residency status.

This collection provides information on live births in the United States during the calendar year 2007. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Part 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while Part 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Variables describe the place of delivery, who was in attendance, and medical and health data such as the method of delivery, prenatal care, tobacco use during pregnancy, pregnancy history, medical risk factors, and infant health characteristics.

Birth and fertility rates and other statistics related to this study can be found in the User Guide, under Detailed Technical Notes.

Demographic variables include the child's sex and year of birth, parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as mother's marital status and residency status.

This collection provides information on live births in the United States during calendar year 2009. The natality data in these files are a component of the vital statistics collection effort maintained by the federal government. Birth data is limited to births occurring in the United States to United States residents and nonresidents. Births occurring to United States citizens outside of the United States are not included in this data collection.

Dataset 1 contains data on births occurring within the United States, while Dataset 2 contains data on births occurring in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Variables describe the place of delivery, who was in attendance, and medical and health data such as the method of delivery, prenatal care, tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy, pregnancy history, medical risk factors, and infant health characteristics.

Birth and fertility rates, and other statistics related to this study can be found in an Appendix to the User Guide, under Detailed Technical Notes.

Demographic variables include the child's sex and month and year of birth, and the parents' ages, races, ethnicities, education levels, as well as the mother's marital status and residency status.

The Schools and Families Education (SAFE) Children Study was a randomized control trial designed to test the efficacy of a family-based comprehensive preventive intervention, with children living in inner-city Chicago and entering the 1st grade, for effects on key risk markers for later drug and other substance use.

A total of 11 waves of data were collected over the course of three phases and approximately 13 years. In the spring of 1997, there were 424 kindergarten students and primary caregivers recruited to participate in this study. Wave 1 began while the children were in 1st grade. These data contain survey responses for students, their primary caregivers, and their teachers across 27 datasets.

Phase I of the study was to assess the intervention provided in the 1st grade. Half of the families were randomly selected to receive the intervention. The other half were assigned to the control group. Phase II of the study was set-up to give half of the intervention group a booster, a second intervention training. Lastly, there was a Phase III which sought to assess the long-term affects of the initial and booster interventions.

The first dataset (DS1) provides an overview of the study which includes variables for the study design and survey administration. This first file contains 38 variables.

Survey responses were obtained from students nine times beginning in 1st grade and ending in 12th grade. Children were not surveyed in waves 3 and 7. The student survey response data are in DS2 through DS10. The datasets for waves 1, 2, 4, and 5 contain only 50 variables. Waves 6, 8, and 9 contain 424 variables. Waves 10 and 11 contain 1,394 variables. Each of the three phases contain almost identical variables within their respective waves.

The children's primary caregivers were also surveyed nine times over the survey period. Primary caregivers were not surveyed in waves 3 and 7. These data are contained in DS11 through DS19. The primary caregiver files vary in the number and content of variables. On average each wave contains about 1,060 variables with a low of 470 on up to a high of 1,435.

Teachers were surveyed during each of the first eight waves of the study. The teacher data are in DS20 through DS27. Waves 1 and 2 contain just over 120 variables. Waves 3, 4, and 5 contain 145 variables. And waves 6, 7, and 8 contain 173 variables. Each of the three phases contain almost identical variables within their respective waves.

The ethnographic fieldwork portion of the project - interviews with women of reproductive age, and when available their partners and mothers - was initiated and completed in 2006. For each of four Italian cities (Padua, Bologna, Cagliari, and Naples) studied ethnographically by trained anthropologists, both a working-class and a middle-class neighborhood were identified. These interviews (349 in number) have been transcribed without identifiers. All interviews have been coded and assigned 'attributes' (or nominative variables, such as gender, civil/religious status of marriage, etc.) using the qualitative data analysis software (NVIVO), and these reside in secure electronic project folders. This large body of qualitative interview data is now complete and ready for use across the international collaborative units. Preliminary research reveals the particular significance of family ties in Italy, the fundamental role played by gender systems, and the specific cultural, socio-economic, and politic contexts in which fertility behavior and parenting are embedded.

The Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) was implemented as a result of the Comprehensive Child Development Act (Public Law [PL] 100-297), originally enacted by Congress in 1988 in an effort to increase the educational potential of young children from low-income families and to decrease the likelihood that they would be caught in the cycle of poverty. The CCDP was designed to provide intensive, comprehensive, integrated, and continuous support services for children from low-income families from birth, or before, through their entrance into elementary school, to enhance their intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Additionally, the CCDP was designed to offer support services for parents and other household family members to enhance their life management skills and economic self-sufficiency. The Comprehensive Child Development Act also mandated that programs collect data on the individuals and geographic areas served, including the types of services provided, the estimated costs of providing comprehensive services, the types and nature of conditions and needs identified and met, and other information that may be required.

Thus, there are two components of the CCDP data collection: the Evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program and the Comprehensive Child Development Program Management Information System (MIS). The families in the MIS included all CCDP families in the CCDP evaluation and all families who replaced CCDP families that dropped out of the study any time during the demonstration. More than 4,000 families participated in the CCDP study. Those that were selected were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group.

Evaluation Data

The CCDP evaluation data are taken from parental self-report and child assessments and consist of 25 data files that can be grouped into several broad categories. Some of the data files are longitudinal in nature, that is, there are multiple observations (e.g., interviews and tests) for each family or child. Other files, however, are at the family or child level, and they contain data describing outcomes at the end of the study. The categories covered in the CCDP evaluation data files include:

• Baseline Data -- contain information from recruitment and enrollment forms on background and demographic characteristics, information on focus child birth outcomes, and the mother's behavior during the prenatal period.
• Parent/Family Data -- contain information about household composition and stability, economic self-sufficiency, maternal physical and psychological health, parenting, coping and life skills, early childhood services, health care services, and case management.
• Child Status Data -- are comprised of information related to child health status. This includes topics such as hospitalization, health problems, special health needs, learning problems, and health maintenance.
• Assessments of Child Social-Emotional Development -- contain information about adaptive and presocial behaviors for two, three, and four-year-olds, the prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems for such children, and adaptive social behavior for the five-year-olds.
• Assessments of Child Cognitive Development -- information on children's cognitive development at age two, and children's receptive vocabulary cognitive development (mental processing and achievement) at age three, four, and five.
• Parenting Measures -- are comprised of information about parenting attitudes and beliefs, the home environment for 18-, 36-, and 48-months-old children, parent-child interactions, birth-level data on risk behaviors during pregnancy, and birth outcomes for children.
• Economic Self-Sufficiency Measures -- provide information about employment, income, dependence on public assistance, and steps to employment.

Management Information System Data

For research and monitoring purposes, the CCDP mandated that all contacts and services must be recorded and entered into the management information system (MIS). The MIS was designed to monitor the nature and number of services received by families participating in each of the CCDP projects. The MIS contains both qualitative and quantitative data for CCDP families at all of the 24 project sites. MIS data is composed of 23 data collection forms spanning 4 broad categories: (1) CCDP grantee administration, (2) CCDP program descriptions, (3) CCDP family characteristics and service plans, and (4) CCDP services utilization. MIS data include information about CCDP family goals, service utilization, and program and staff characteristics.

The CCDP MIS was the primary source of the quantitative data used in the CCDP evaluation. Supplemental MIS verification data was a secondary source of qualitative information. The CCDP also collected qualitative data in the form of ethnographer reports that provide information about program characteristics, operations, implementation, service delivery, program attrition, diversity among families, and family satisfaction. Sixteen ethnographer reports were produced for each of the 24 project sites.

The Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area Drug Study (DC*MADS) was conducted in 1991, and included special analyses of homeless and transient delivering live births in the DC hospitals. DC*MADS was undertaken to assess the full extent of the drug problem in one metropolitan area. The study was comprised of 16 separate studies that focused on different sub-groups, many of which are typically not included or are underrepresented in household surveys.

The DC*MADS: Drug Use Among Women Delivering Livebirths in DC Hospitals was designed to examine the nature and extent of drug use among women delivering live births in eight Washington, DC, hospitals participating in the study. Data from the questionnaires include prenatal care, health problems during pregnancy, pregnancy drug use history, needle use, polysubstance use, patterns of use, respondent's general experiences with drug use, including perceptions of the risks and consequences of use, occurrence of psychological and emotional problems, income and insurance coverage, treatment experiences, and maternal and infant outcomes. Medical records were abstracted from the women and their infants to document medical problems. Abstracted data on the mothers included demographics, discharge diagnoses, disposition at discharge, and results of urine screens. Abstracted data on infants included delivery information, status at discharge, discharge diagnoses/procedures, and first urine toxicology screen results.