Midlife in the United States (MIDUS Refresher 2): Cognitive Project, 2022-2025 (ICPSR 39815)
Version Date: Aug 11, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Carol D. Ryff, University of Wisconsin-Madison;
Margie E. Lachman, Brandeis University
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39815.v1
Version V1
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Summary View help for Summary
The MIDUS Refresher sample is the second wave of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. The MIDUS study seeks to understand how factors in the lives of American adults such as working conditions, relationships, health, finances, personal outlooks and individual choices impact health and well-being as individuals age from early adulthood to later life. This second wave of the study with the refresher sample also sought to shed light on how U.S. adults have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and how these experiences are linked with their health, broadly defined.
In 2022-2025, the second wave of cognitive assessments were carried out on the MIDUS Refresher participants who had completed the MIDUS Refresher 2 survey interview. The first part of the assessments consists of the Brief Test of Adult Cognition via Telephone (BTACT) including seven subtests: word list recall immediate, word list recall delayed, backward digit span, number series, counting backward speed, category fluency, and an attention switching reaction time task. The second part consists of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-BLIND), which is newly introduced at the Refresher 2. It is an adapted version of the original MoCA, a rapid screening instrument for mild cognitive dysfunction, and tests seven cognitive domains: attention and concentration, memory, language, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation.
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Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
None
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
- For additional information on the Midlife in the United States survey series, please visit the MIDUS study website.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The MIDUS Refresher study was designed to replenish the original MIDUS 1 baseline cohort and parallel the five decadal age groups of the MIDUS 1 baseline survey. The MIDUS Refresher sample aimed to strengthen cross-project analyses in MIDUS by increasing the sample sizes available for testing hypotheses dealing with the interplay of key factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, gender, psychosocial factors, biological factors) in mid- and later-life health. The purpose of the cognitive project was to determine how cognition is related to overall mental and physical health and to examine the relationship between biopsychosocial factors and individual differences in cognitive functioning.
Study Design View help for Study Design
The MIDUS Refresher 2 Cognitive Project returned to the 3247 living longitudinal sample who participated in MIDUS Refresher 1. Participants were recruited into MIDUS R2 via an initial 45-minute telephone interview and were then invited to complete a 100-page mail questionnaire and a 35-minute cognitive interview via telephone using CATI technology.
Overall, the basic study design was as follows:
- An advance letter was sent which included a brochure explaining the three portions of the study (the telephone, mail, and cognitive interviews), and a $5 pre-incentive.
- Cases were fielded for the initial telephone interview a week after the advance letter posted.
- A CATI post-incentive check for $40 and a thank you letter was sent to the respondent within a week of completion of the telephone interview.
- An SAQ packet was sent to the respondent at the same time the CATI post-incentive was sent. The SAQ packet contained a cover letter, two SAQ booklets, a $5 pre-incentive, a MIDUS-branded pen, a tape measure, a re-contact information form, and two stamped envelopes for returns.
- An SAQ reminder postcard was sent two weeks after the SAQ packet was mailed.
- For SAQ non-responders, a second SAQ packet was sent.
- For SAQ responders, an SAQ post-incentive check for $40 was sent.
- Cases were fielded for the cognitive interview two weeks after the SAQ-post incentive or the second SAQ reminder postcard was sent. No additional incentives were sent for completed cognitive interviews.
- At the end of the cognitive interview, SAQ non-responders were again prompted to return their questionnaires.
Sample View help for Sample
The MIDUS Refresher 2 returned to participants originally recruited in the MIDUS Refresher 1 sample, which replenished the original MIDUS sample with a younger cohort. The MIDUS Refresher 1 sample consisted of two independent samples, the younger decades (MRY) sample and the older decades (MRO) sample. Additionally, the study includes a city-specific oversample of African Americans from Milwaukee.
The MRY and MRO used the same sampling frame - an RDD landline telephone sampling frame and cell phone sample frame made up of all possible cellphone numbers. The eligible respondents for the MRY and MRO samples were English-speaking adults living in residential units in the USA between the ages of 25 through 75 at the time of sampling. Eligibility was determined at the time of contact. The Milwaukee oversample was stratified by age (25 to 64), gender, and income for English-speaking adults living in residential units of Milwaukee.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Non-institutionalized English-speaking adults living in residential units in the United States.
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Response Rates View help for Response Rates
The response rate for the MIDUS Refresher 2 cognitive interview was 79%.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
The MIDUS Refresher 2 cognitive interview included two scales:
- The Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT): This scale includes 7 subtests (immediate word list recall, digits backward span, category fluency, the stop and go switch task, number series, backward counting, and delayed word list recall) that provide an index of cognitive function in domains of key importance in cognitive aging.
- The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)-BLIND 8.1: This is a non-visual adapted version of the original MoCA, a rapid screening instrument for mild cognitive dysfunction. The MoCA-BLIND contains 10 subtests from the original MoCA, only excluding tasks that contain a visual element. The subtests of the MoCA-BLIND include immediate word list recall, digit span, vigilance, serial 7s, sentence repetition, verbal fluency, abstraction, delayed word list recall, memory index test, and orientation.
Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2026-08-11
Version History View help for Version History
2026-08-11 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
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