Family Exchanges Study Wave 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2008 (ICPSR 36360)
The Family Exchanges Study Wave 1 (FESI) was conducted in 2008 by the Institute for Survey Research at Temple University. The original 634 "target" or core sample was recruited from African American and White respondents aged 40-60 living in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties--Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. To be eligible for the study, respondents had to have at least one living parent and one living offspring over 18 years of age. Temple University sought to recruit the parents, spouse, and up to three offspring over 18 years of age into the study. All target, parent, and spouse surveys were conducted by telephone. Offspring were given the option of completing the survey by telephone or web. A total of 337 parents, 511 offspring (with another 80 by web and 1 listed as other for a total of 592), and 197 spouses were successfully recruited into the first wave of the study.
This collection includes four data files, one for each type of participant: target, spouse, parent, and offspring. For each of these participants, there are data related to relationships with other family members, perceptions of family members, and views on key social issues. Demographic information includes gender, marital status, education level, religion, age, race, ethnicity, and employment status.
Family Exchanges Study Wave 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2013 (ICPSR 37317)
The Family Exchanges Study (FESI) began in 2008 conducted by the Institute for Survey Research at Temple University. The original "target" or core sample was recruited from African American and White respondents aged 40-60 living in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties--Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. To be eligible for the study, respondents had to have at least one living parent and one living offspring over 18 years of age. Temple University sought to recruit the parents, spouse, and up to three offspring over 18 years of age into the study. All target, parent, and spouse surveys were conducted by telephone. Offspring were given the option of completing the survey by telephone or web.
For the Wave 2 data collection, the Survey Research Center at Pennsylvania State University attempted to contact all FESI respondents again, as well as collect updated information for spouses/romantic partners, parents, and up to 4 age-eligible offspring. The survey instruments were drawn largely from the first wave of data collection. This collection includes eight data files. These data files include five main study datasets: target, spouse, spouse without target, parent, and offspring. This collection also includes three diary datasets: target diary, parent diary, offspring diary. For each participant, there are data related to relationships with other family members, perceptions of family members, and views on key social issues. Demographic information includes gender, marital status, education level, religion, age, race, ethnicity, and employment status.
Generations: A Study of the Life and Health of LGB People in a Changing Society, United States, 2016-2019 (ICPSR 37166)
The Generations study is a five-year study designed to examine health and well-being across three generations of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGB). The study explored identity, stress, health outcomes, and health care and services utilization among LGBs in three generations of adults who came of age during different historical contexts. This collection includes baseline, wave 1, and wave 2 data collected as part of the Generations study.
The study aimed to assess whether younger cohorts of LGBs differed from older cohorts in how they viewed their LGB identity and experienced stress related to prejudice and everyday forms of discrimination, as well as whether patterns of resilience differed between different LGB cohorts. Additionally, the study sought to examine how differences in stress experience affected mental health and well-being, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, substance and alcohol use, suicide ideation and behavior, and how younger LGBs utilized LGB-oriented social and health services, relative to older cohorts.
In wave 2, respondents were re-interviewed approximately one year after completion of the baseline (wave 1) survey. Only respondents who participated in the original sample of participants were surveyed at wave 2 (i.e., the enhancement oversample was not included in the longitudinal design of this study).
In wave 3, respondents were re-interviewed approximately one year after the completion of the wave 2 survey.
Demographic variables collected as part of this study include questions related to age, education, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, gender identity, income, employment, and religiosity.
Health and Relationships Project, United States, 2014-2025 (ICPSR 37404)
The Health and Relationship Project is a longitudinal study of both spouses in same-sex and different-sex marriages who were legally married and aged 35 to 65 at Time 1 of data collection (2014-2015). Time 2 data were collected in 2021-2022 and Time 3 data were collected in 2024-2025.
At each time, both spouses completed a baseline questionnaire and a daily diary questionnaire (which was completed for 10 consecutive days); both components were completed online and spouses were asked to complete the surveys separately. The baseline questionnaire asks participants about a number of topics related to marriage and health, including stress, health status and health behaviors, relationship quality, and how they have approached health problems in the past. The diary questionnaire asks participants a number of questions about the past 24 hours, including daily stress experiences, social interactions, and health behaviors.
Longitudinal Study of American Youth, 1987-1994, 2007-2011, 2014-2017 (ICPSR 30263)
The Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) is a project that was funded by the National Science Foundation in 1985 and was designed to examine the development of: (1) student attitudes toward and achievement in science, (2) student attitudes toward and achievement in mathematics, and (3) student interest in and plans for a career in science, mathematics, or engineering, during middle school, high school, and the first four years post-high school. The relative influence parents, home, teachers, school, peers, media, and selected informal learning experiences had on these developmental patterns was considered as well.
The older LSAY cohort, Cohort One, consisted of a national sample of 2,829 tenth-grade students in public high schools throughout the United States. These students were followed for an initial period of seven years, ending four years after high school in 1994. Cohort Two, consisted of a national sample of 3,116 seventh-grade students in public schools that served as feeder schools to the same high schools in which the older cohort was enrolled. These students were followed for an initial period of seven years, concluding with a telephone interview approximately one year after the end of high school in 1994.
Beginning in the fall of 1987, the LSAY collected a wide array of information including: (1) a science achievement test and a mathematics achievement test each fall, (2) an attitudinal and experience questionnaire at the beginning and end of each school year, (3) reports about education and experience from all science and math teachers in each school, (4) reports on classroom practice by each science and math teacher serving a LSAY student, (5) an annual 25-minute telephone interview with one parent of each student, and (6) extensive school-level information from the principal of each study school.
In 2006, the NSF funded a proposal to re-contact the original LSAY students (then in their mid-30's) to resume data collection to determine their educational and occupational outcomes. Through an extensive tracking activity which involved: (1) online tracking, (2) newsletter mailing, (3) calls to parents and other relatives, (4) use of alternative online search methods, and (5) questionnaire mailing, more than 95 percent of the original sample of 5,945 LSAY students were located or accounted for. In addition to re-contacting the students, the proposal defined a new eligible sample of approximately 5,000 students and these young adults were asked to complete a survey in 2007. A second survey was conducted in the fall of 2008 that sought to gather updated information about occupational and education outcomes and to measure the civic scientific literacy of these young adults, in which to date more than 3,200 participants have responded. A third survey was conducted in the fall of 2009 that sought to gather updated information about occupational and education outcomes and to measure the participants' use of selected informal science education resources, in which to date more than 3,200 participants have responded. A fourth survey was conducted in the fall of 2010 that sought to gather updated information about occupational and education outcomes, as well as provided questions about the participants' interactions with their children, in which to date more than 3,200 participants have responded. Finally, a fifth survey was conducted in the fall of 2011 that sought to gather updated information about education outcomes and included an expanded occupation battery for all participants, as well as an expanded spousal information battery for all participants. The 2011 questionnaire also included items about the 2011 Fukushima incident in Japan along with attitudinal items about nuclear power and global climate change. To date approximately 3,200 participants responded to the 2011 survey.
There were no surveys conducted in 2012 or 2013. Beginning in 2014 the LSAY was funded by the National Institute on Aging for five years. This data release adds the 2017 data to the previous data release that included data through 2016.
The public release data files include information collected from the national probability sample students, their parents, and the science and mathematics teachers in the students' schools. The data covers the initial seven years, beginning in the fall of 1987, as well as the data collected in the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 questionnaires.
Part 1: LSAY Merged Cohort (Base File) contains student and parent data from both cohorts of the LSAY from 1987-1994 and student follow-up data from 2007-2011 and 2014-2017. Additionally, Parts 2 - 5 contain information gathered from two teacher background questionnaires and two principal questionnaires from 1987-1994.
Mass Marketing Elder Fraud Intervention, United States, 1999-2023 (ICPSR 39001)
Estimates suggest that up to 16% of American adults--approximately 40 million people--fall victim to mass marketing scams each year. Mass marketing scams include any attempts to fraudulently solicit money from consumers through mass communication methods, such as the internet, telephone, and mail. Complaints to consumer protection agencies have risen 240% in the past 10 years (Federal Trade Commission [FTC], 2013, 2023). According to conservative estimates from the most recent Consumer Sentinel Network Report (FTC, 2023), Americans reported more than $2.7 billion in direct losses from fraud in 2022. In addition to financial costs, consequences to victims include feelings of shame and embarrassment, loss of trust, depression, and, in the most severe cases, suicidal ideation. These consequences of fraud are particularly impactful for older adults who suffer higher losses per incident, on average (FTC, 2022) and face greater challenges recovering from losses after retirement. Research on elder mistreatment in general has shown that older victims consume 30% more mental health and substance abuse services and are hospitalized more often than non-victims.
These scams convince susceptible targets that they have won bogus sweepstakes, merchandise, free vacations, or lotteries, but they first need to pay money to claim their winnings. Based on data from one major investigation from 2011 to 2016, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) found that Americans sent $558 million in checks, credit card payments, and money orders through the mail in response to such scams (USPIS internal data). Overall, the USPIS estimates that 3% of U.S. adults--7.5 million Americans--have mailed a payment in response to mass marketing fraud and that 60%-70% of these individuals are revictimized by a similar solicitation or an entirely different offer. Given these figures, reducing the incidence of mass marketing fraud could save millions of dollars annually.
Although the FTC, the National Council on Aging, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Better Business Bureau, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), and other agencies and organizations routinely disseminate fraud education and awareness materials, it is unclear how much of these materials reach the most vulnerable populations. Much of the content is available online, yet according to the Pew Research Center, only 75% of adults older than age 65 use the internet, and only 64% have home broadband. Printed materials are also disseminated at senior centers, libraries, legal service offices, and outreach events, but older adults who are socially isolated and most susceptible to fraud are unlikely to be reached through these venues.
To address gaps in intervention research, Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International and the University of Minnesota conducted the Mass Marketing Elder Fraud Intervention (MMEFI) Study with collaboration and support from the USPIS. This multiphase research project included a secondary analysis of USPIS administrative data on prior scams and a randomized controlled trial test of the efficacy of two variations of a mailed intervention for preventing revictimization by mail fraud. The overall objective was to provide specific policy recommendations to the USPIS and other consumer protection agencies regarding the effectiveness of a mailed intervention. The MMEFI Study had the following specific goals:
- Enhance knowledge and understanding of repeat victimization among older victims of mass marketing scams.
- Engage in rigorous testing of the efficacy of two versions of a fraud intervention strategy geared toward preventing repeat victimization among older victims of mass marketing scams.
- Assess victims' perceptions of the intervention and collect self-report data on experiences with other types of fraud by surveying individuals in the intervention study.
National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], April 2017 (ICPSR 37305)
By tapping into the perspectives of older adults and their caregivers, the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA) helps inform the public, health care providers, policymakers, and advocates on issues related to health, health care and health policy affecting Americans 50 years of age and older.
The poll is designed as a recurring, nationally representative household survey of U.S. adults, which allows assessment of issues in a timely fashion.
Launched in spring 2017, the NPHA is modeled after the highly successful University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. The NPHA grew out of a strong interest in aging-related issues among many members of the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI), which brings together more than 600 faculty who study health, health care and the impacts of health policy. IHPI directs the poll which is sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan academic medical center.
More waves of the NPHA data can be found on the NACDA-OAR site:
- National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], October 2017
- National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], March 2018
- National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], October 2018
- National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], May 2019
The various waves of NPHA represent separate samples of participants and cannot be joined or merged.
National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP): Round 3 and COVID-19 Study, [United States], 2015-2016, 2020-2021 (ICPSR 36873)
The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) is a population-based study of health and social factors on a national scale, aiming to understand the well-being of older, community-dwelling Americans by examining the interactions among physical health, illness, medication use, cognitive function, emotional health, sensory function, health behaviors, and social connectedness. It is designed to provide health providers, policy makers, and individuals with useful information and insights into these factors, particularly on social and intimate relationships.
The National Opinion Research Center (NORC), along with Principal Investigators at the University of Chicago, conducted more than 3,000 interviews during 2005 and 2006 with a nationally representative sample of adults aged 57 to 85. Face-to-face interviews and biomeasure collection took place in respondents' homes. Round 3 was conducted from September 2015 through November 2016, where 2,409 surviving Round 2 respondents were re-interviewed, and a New Cohort consisting of adults born between 1948 and 1965 together with their spouses or co-resident partners was added. All together, 4,777 respondents were interviewed in Round 3. The following files constitute Round 3: Core Data, Social Networks Data, Disposition of Returning Respondent Partner Data, and Proxy Data.
Included in the Core files (Datasets 1 and 2) are demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, education, race, and ethnicity. Other topics covered respondents' social networks, social and cultural activity, physical and mental health including cognition, well-being, illness, history of sexual and intimate partnerships and patient-physician communication, in addition to bereavement items. In addition data on a panel of biomeasures including, weight, waist circumference, height, and blood pressure was collected. The Social Networks (Datasets 3 and 4) files detail respondents' current relationship status with each person identified on the network roster. The Disposition of Returning Respondent Partner (Datasets 5 and 6) files detail information derived from Section 6A items regarding the partner from Rounds 1 and 2 within the questionnaire. This provides a complete history for respondent partners across both rounds. The Proxy (Datasets 7 and 8) files contain final health data for Round 1 and Round 2 respondents who could not participate in NSHAP due to disability or death.
The COVID-19 sub-study, administered to NSHAP R3 respondents in the Fall of 2020, was a brief self-report questionnaire that probed how the coronavirus pandemic changed older adults' lives. The COVID-19 sub-study questionnaire was limited to assessing specific domains in which respondents may have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, including: (1) COVID experiences, (2) health and health care, (3) job and finances, (4) social support, (5) marital status and relationship quality, (6) social activity and engagement, (7) living arrangements, (8) household composition and size, (9) mental health, (10) elder mistreatment, (11) health behaviors, and (12) positive impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Questions about engagement in racial justice issues since the death of George Floyd in police custody were also added to facilitate analysis of the independent and compounding effects of both the COVID-19 pandemic and reckoning with longstanding racial injustice in America.
National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP): Round 4, [United States], 2021-2023 (ICPSR 39511)
The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) is a population-based study of health and social factors on a national scale, aiming to understand the well-being of older, community-dwelling Americans by examining the interactions among physical health, illness, medication use, cognitive function, emotional health, sensory function, health behaviors, and social connectedness. It is designed to provide health providers, policy makers, and individuals with useful information and insights into these factors, particularly on social and intimate relationships.
The study team collected data for Round 4 of this study from 2021 through 2023 and covered the following subjects: bereavement, caregiving, elder mistreatment, employment, functional health, health behaviors, mental and physical health, cognitive function, neighborhood information, sexual interest and activity, social activity, and familial and friend support.
Nursing Home Consumer Preferences, United States, 2017 and 2019 (ICPSR 37969)
Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID): Main Interview, 2021 (ICPSR 39190)
The PSID is the world's longest-running nationally representative household panel survey. With over 50 years of data on the same families and their descendants, the PSID is a cornerstone of the data infrastructure for empirically based social science research in the U.S. PSID gathers data on the family as a whole and on individuals residing within the family, emphasizing the dynamic and interactive aspects of family economics, demography, and health. PSID data were collected annually from 1968-1997 and biennially after 1997.
In the Main Interview, one person per family is interviewed on a regular basis. Information about each family member is collected, but much greater detail is obtained about the reference person and, if married/cohabitating, the spouse or long-term cohabitor. Survey content changes to reflect evolving scientific and policy priorities, although many content areas have been consistently measured since 1968. Information includes employment, income, wealth, expenditures, time use, health, dementia screener, insurance, education, marriage, childbearing, philanthropy, and numerous other topics. Additional types of PSID data are available only under a restricted contract. These include but are not limited to: geospatial data below the level of state; mortality data; Medicare claims; and educational characteristics from the National Center for Education Statistics.
With low attrition and high success in following young adults as they form their own families, the sample size has grown from roughly 5,000 families in 1968 to more than 9,000 families and 24,000 individuals by 2021. Over the course of the study, the PSID has distributed data on more than 84,000 individuals. The long panel, genealogical design, and broad content of the data offer unique opportunities to conduct generational and life-course research.
The PSID now contains thousands of inter- and intragenerational relationships over 50 years of data, including (as of the 2021 wave):
- "Paired" generational relationships, with each family in the pair providing independent interviews
- Parent-Adult Child pairs: ~4,300
- Sibling pairs: ~5,200
- Cousin pairs: ~5,400
- "Tripled" generational relationships, with all three generations providing independent interviews
- Grandparent-Parent-Adult Child triplets: ~1,000
For information about earlier data collections, see Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID): Main Interview, 1968-2015.
In 2021, the main interview was updated to include questions about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including: loss of earnings, US government stimulus payments, charitable giving, participants' exposure to COVID-19, and vaccination status.
Stress in America, United States, 2007-2024 (ICPSR 37288)
Since 2007, the American Psychological Association (APA) has commissioned an annual nationwide survey as part of its Mind/Body Health campaign to examine the state of stress across the country and understand its impact. The Stress in America survey measures attitudes and perceptions of stress among the general public and identifies leading sources of stress, common behaviors used to manage stress and the impact of stress on our lives. The results of the survey draw attention to the serious physical and emotional implications of stress and the inextricable link between the mind and body.
From 2007 to 2024, the research has documented this connection among the general public as well as various sub-segments of the public. Each year, the Stress in America surveys aims to uncover different aspects of the stress/health connection via focusing on a particular topic and/or subgroup of the population. Below is a list of the focus of each of the Stress in America surveys.
- 2007-2018 Cumulative Dataset
- 2007 General Population
- 2008 Gender and Stress
- 2009 Parent Perceptions of Children's Stress
- 2010 Health Impact of Stress on Children and Families
- 2011 Our Health Risk
- 2012 Missing the Health Care Connection
- 2013 Are Teens Adopting Adults' Stress Habits
- 2014 Paying With Our Health
- 2015 The Impact of Discrimination
- 2016 Coping with Change, Part 1
- 2016 Coping with Change, Part 2: Technology and Social Media
- 2017 The State of Our Nation
- 2018 Stress and Generation Z
- 2019-2024 Cumulative Dataset
- 2019 Stress and Current Events
- 2020 COVID Tracker Wave 1
- 2020 COVID Tracker Wave 2
- 2020 COVID Tracker Wave 3
- 2020 A National Mental Health Crisis
- 2021 Pandemic Anniversary Survey
- 2021 Stress and Decision-Making During the Pandemic
- 2022 Pandemic Anniversary Survey
- 2022 Concerned for the Future, Beset by Inflation
- 2023 A Nation Recovering From Collective Trauma
- 2024 A Nation in Political Turmoil
Survey of Long-Term Care Awareness and Planning, 2014 [United States] (ICPSR 36969)
The Survey of Long-Term Care Awareness and Planning was designed to measure the attitudes of Americans ages 40-70 towards long-term care (LTC), retirement planning, and insurance policy preferences. Few people have private LTC insurance, and Medicare does not cover LTC. Many older adults pay for LTC out of their income and personal savings until they are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. Others, to avoid exhausting their financial resources and relying on Medicaid, depend on unpaid family support or go without needed services. The Survey of Long-Term Care Awareness and Planning collected data on LTC in order to help inform federal policy in this area.
The survey collected respondents' current health information, willingness to take risks, plans for disability care, retirement preparation, and insurance coverage. Part of the survey was a discrete choice experiment (DCE) or conjoint analysis designed to elicit respondent preferences on specific features of LTC insurance. This section included choices on daily benefit, benefit period, deductible period, health requirements, type of insurer, monthly premium, and voluntary or universal. Respondents were also asked about the types of investments they had, where they received health information, opinions on the US healthcare system, whether they had been diagnosed with specific health conditions, willingness to make lifestyle changes due to a disability, concerns about long-term disability care, and opinions on who should be responsible for the costs of LTC. Demographic information collected includes age, education, household size, race, gender, income, marital status, and region.
UC Berkeley Social Networks Study (UCNets), San Francisco Bay Area, 2015-2018 (ICPSR 36975)
Understanding How Personal Networks Change: Wave 1 (UCNets) is the University of California Berkeley Social Networks Study, a longitudinal study with the objective of understanding how network composition changes over time as a result of life course transitions - e.g., graduation, marriage, retirement or widowhood - and how these changes are related to health status and outcomes. Using mostly addressed-based sampling from six San Francisco Bay Area counties, the study recruited participants in two age groups (cohorts) - 21-30 year-olds and 50-70 year-olds -- to maximize the possibility of experiencing a life transition. There are 3 waves of interviewing. The first interview, Wave 1, was May 2015 through January 2016. The re-interview for Wave 2 was conducted in Feb-June 2017, and Wave 3 was during Feb-May 2018. In Wave 1, the majority of respondents completed a face-to-face (FTF) survey, with the rest filling out a comparable web survey. In Wave 2 about half completed the FTF survey, and in Wave 3, about one-quarter. The survey contains items regarding households, personal networks, family milestones, employment, health status and behavior, personality and demographic characteristics.