Americans' Changing Lives: Waves I, II, III, IV, V, and VI, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2002, 2011, and 2021 (ICPSR 4690)
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.
Community Health Center: Core Data Project, 2001-2002 [United States] (ICPSR 21520)
Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) 2: HIV Services and Treatment Implementation in Corrections 2010-2013 [United States] (ICPSR 34983)
The Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies 2 (CJ-DATS 2) was launched in 2008 with a focus on conducting implementation research in criminal justice settings. NIDA's ultimate goal for CJ-DATS 2 was to identify implementation strategies that maximize the likelihood of sustained delivery of evidence-based practices to improve offender drug abuse and HIV outcomes, and to decrease their risk of incarceration.
CJ-DATS 2 HIV Services Treatment Implementation in Corrections focused on implementing interventions to address the HIV continuum of care in correctional settings. There are 5 datasets associated with this study.
-Dataset 1 (DS1) contains data aggregated at the correction facility level that examines delivery of HIV services in the experimental and control study groups (215 cases).
-Dataset 2 (DS2) and Dataset 3 (DS3) detail survey responses from correctional staff about how the HIV services were changed and/or implemented at their facilities (DS2 has 68 cases and DS3 has 85 cases).
-Dataset 4 (DS4) contains survey responses from inmates about their perceptions of the HIV services provided at facilities in which they are incarcerated (2,301 cases).
-Dataset 5 (DS5) contains data merged together by the principal investigator from several surveys given to treatment staff, treatment directors, correctional officers and correctional directors. This dataset includes demographic information, staff perceptions of their work environment, perceptions of HIV infected individuals, evaluations of HIV workshops and perceptions of the delivery of HIV services at their facility (385 cases).
These 5 datasets contain a total of 889 variables.
Detroit [Michigan] Neighborhood Health Study, 2008-2013 (ICPSR 37038)
The Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (DNHS) is a prospective, representative longitudinal cohort study of predominantly African American adults living in Detroit, Michigan. The main purpose of the study was to determine the predictive effects of ecological stressors, such as income distribution and residential segregation, on the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use, and other psychological and behavioral outcomes. An additional purpose was to study the interrelationships between ecological stressors, exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), PTSD, substance use, and immune function. The study team hypothesized that exposure to ecological stressors would influence the risk of PTE exposure, PTSD, substance use, other psychological outcomes, and the relationships between these factors.
The current collection includes data from all 5 waves of the study. Cohort participants were initially recruited in 2008 with a dual-frame probability design, using telephone numbers obtained from the U.S. Postal Service Delivery Sequence Files as well as a listed-assisted random-digit-dial frame. Individuals without listed landlines or telephones and individuals with only a cell phone listed were invited to participate through a postal mail effort. Participants completed a 40 minute, structured telephone interview annually between 2008-2012 to assess perceptions of participants' neighborhoods, mental and physical health status, social support, exposure to traumatic events, and alcohol and tobacco use. In addition, the study team completed a structured assessment of Detroit's 54 neighborhoods in order to describe the characteristics of respondents' neighborhoods. The assessment included information about the quality of housing exteriors; presence of graffiti, abandoned cars, alcohol and tobacco advertisements, and security warning signs; presence of vacant buildings; and street and traffic noise levels.
All survey participants were offered the opportunity to provide a blood specimen (venipuncture, blood spot, or saliva) for immune and inflammatory marker testing as well as genetic testing of DNA. Participants received an additional $25USD if they elected to give a sample. Informed consent was obtained at the beginning of each interview and again at specimen collection. However, these specimens are not included as part of this data collection.
For more information about the study, please visit the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study website.
Genotypic data from DNHS are available on the NIH database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP).
Drug Use and Cultural Factors Among Hispanic Adolescents and Emerging Adults, Los Angeles, 2006-2016 (ICPSR 36765)
The Drug Use and Cultural Factors Among Hispanic Adolescents and Emerging Adults - Los Angeles, 2006-2016 collection examines the cultural risk and protective factors for substance use among Hispanic adolescents and emerging adults in Southern California. Adolescents were recruited in 9th grade and completed annual surveys about their substance use, acculturation, ethnic identity, cultural stressors, peer and family relationships, and cultural values. They were re-contacted to complete surveys in their early 20s; this survey also included measures of sexual behavior and interpersonal violence.
Demographic variables present in this collection include age, gender, grade in school, ethnicity, country of origin, education level, language spoken, socioeconomic status, marital status, sexual orientation, ZIP code, and place of residence.
Drug Use Trajectories: Ethnic/Racial Comparisons, 1998-2002 [United-States] (ICPSR 30862)
Effectiveness of Peer Navigation to Link Released HIV-Positive Jail Inmates to HIV Care (LINK LA), Los Angeles, California, 2012-2016 (ICPSR 39789)
This study is part of the Seek, Test, Treat and Retain (STTR) Collaboration Project that involved over twenty studies in the fields of HIV and drug abuse. All studies were independently developed, but were chosen for the collaboration because they focused on one or more steps of the HIV treatment cascade: Seek, Test, Treat and Retain. As part of STTR Collaboration Project, the studies were grouped into Criminal Justice-related studies and Vulnerable Population-related studies. The data collected by these studies included twelve common domains (e.g., Demographic characteristics, Mental Health) in each of which a shared questionnaire or instrument was taken up by the studies and adapted to fit the study.
This study was a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of a peer-based health system navigation intervention among individuals assigned to the intervention group compared with those assigned to the control group (usual care transitional management services). Baseline interviews were conducted during incarceration while the follow-up interviews were conducted at months 2, 6 and 12 following release from jail to the community. For participants who were re-incarcerated during, interviews were conducted in the jail setting to ensure high study retention. The goal was to improve engagement and retention in HIV care.
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 3), 2013-2014 (ICPSR 36346)
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.
MIDUS also maintains a Colectica portal, which allows users to interact with variables across waves and create customized subsets. Registration is required.
Substance Use Among American Indian Youth: Epidemiology and Etiology, [United States], 2015-2020 (ICPSR 37997)
This study is a continuation of an ongoing 40+ year surveillance effort assessing the levels and patterns of substance use among American Indian (AI) adolescents attending schools on or near reservations. The current set of data is from the most recent funding cycle, 2015-2020. During this funding cycle, annual samples across various geographic regions in which reservation-based AI residents reside were obtained and school-based surveys were completed. In addition to the annual epidemiology of substance use, data pertaining to risk and protective factors, including cultural-ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, family factors, and individual risk and protective factors were obtained. It should be noted that two major changes were made during this funding cycle:
1) The wording of substance use variables was altered to mirror wording from Monitoring the Future to allow for direct comparisons between the two studies.
2) All data during this funding cycle were obtained online using Qualtrics.
Youth Development Study, 1988-2020 [St. Paul, Minnesota] (ICPSR 24881)
The Youth Development Study (YDS) was initiated as a school-based study of adolescent children and their parents to examine the consequences of formative experiences in adolescence for mental health, value formation, educational achievement, and multiple facets of behavioral adjustment. Particular attention was directed to the impacts of early work experience. Data were also obtained about parent-child and peer relationships and experiences in school. As the study continued, the focus shifted to adult development and attainment and, most recently, mid-life adjustment and health. This comprehensive longitudinal study now encompasses three generations: the initial cohort studied from adolescence to mid-life (G2), their parents (G1), and their adolescent children (G3). Data from three generations in the same families enable study of intergenerational relationships and differences in the experience of adolescence and transition to adulthood across parent and child cohorts. The YDS covers a wide range of topics of interest to sociologists, social psychologists, developmental psychologists, and life course scholars, including the development and impacts of agentic resources, socioeconomic attainment, processes of inter- and intra-generational mobility, objective and subjective work conditions, family relationships, intergenerational relationships, mental and physical health, and well-being.
In-school administration of paper surveys during the first four years of the study was supplemented by mailed surveys. Subsequent data collection took place entirely by mail, with 19 surveys conducted between 1988 and 2011. A final survey was conducted on-line in 2019. Survey data was obtained from the parents (G1) of this cohort during the first and fourth waves of the study (1988 and 1991). Surveys of the children (G3) began in 2009, continued in 2010 and 2011 (by mail) and in 2019-2020 (online).
The Youth Development Study measures a wide range of formative experiences and both psychological and behavioral variables, using survey methodology.
The G1 surveys obtained information about socioeconomic background as well as attitudes toward teenage employment, the parents' own employment as teenagers, their current work experiences, and educational expectations for their children.
The G2 surveys during the high school years included detailed questions about students' work and volunteer experiences, as well as experiences in their family, school, and peer groups, with an emphasis on the ways that working affected other life domains, mental health, and well-being. Shorter surveys containing many of the same topics were administered to students in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and included questions about current family and living arrangements. In 1995, a full survey was administered covering the wide range of topics included in previous surveys as well as information about career plans and life events that had occurred in the past five years. G2 Waves 9 through 19 (1997-2011) included many of the same questions contained in earlier surveys and additional sections that focused on the respondents' educational experiences, family relationships, sources of living expenses, and health and well-being. The most recent G2 survey (2019), administered on-line, included questions about support of aging parents. The YDS is unique in its coverage of both objective and subjective work experiences from adolescence to mid-life.
The topics covered by the G3 surveys are very similar to the G2 variables described above. Variables in each G2 and G3 wave are included in cross-wave codebooks, available at the Data Archive Codebook website.
For an overview of the Youth Development Study, see Mortimer, Jeylan T. (2012) "The Evolution, Contributions, and Prospects of the Youth Development Study: An Investigation in Life Course Social Psychology." Social Psychology Quarterly 75(1, March):5-27.