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.
California Families Project [Sacramento and Woodland, California] [Restricted-Use Files] (ICPSR 35476)
The California Families Project (CFP) is an ongoing longitudinal study of Mexican origin families in Northern California. This study uses community, school, family, and individual characteristics to examine developmental pathways that increase risk for and resilience to drug use in Mexican-origin youth. This study also examines the impact that economic disadvantage and cultural traditions have in Mexican-origin youth. The CFP includes a community-based sample of 674 families and children of Mexican origin living in Northern California, and includes annual assessments of parents and children. Participants with Mexican surnames were drawn at random from school rosters of students during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school year. Data collection included multi-method assessments of a broad range of psychological, familial, scholastic, cultural, and neighborhood factors. Initiation of the research at age 10 was designed to assess the focal children before the onset of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) use, thus enabling the evaluation of how hypothesized risk and resilience mechanisms operate to exacerbate early onset during adolescence or help prevent its occurrence. This study includes a diversity of families that represent a wide range of incomes, education, family history, and family structures, including two-parent and single-parent families.
The accompanying data file consists of 674 family cases with each case representing a focal child and at least one parent (Two-parent: n=549, 82 percent; Single-parent: n=125, 18 percent). Of the 3,139 total variables, 839 pertain to the focal child, 1,376 correspond to the mother, and 908 items pertain to the father.
Please note: While the California Families Project is a longitudinal study, only the baseline data are currently available in this data collection.
Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), San Diego, California, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, Florida, 1991-2006 (ICPSR 20520)
Detroit Area Study, 1981: A Study of the Family (ICPSR 9303)
This Detroit Area Study was primarily devoted to investigating the family from the perspective of males. The survey asked men about their relationships with family members and friends and included questions on contact, intimacy, activities done together, help given and received, serious disagreements, and expectations placed on relatives. In addition, men were queried about their own self-image and their views on gender roles, the value of marriage, and the inappropriateness of certain behaviors for wives and steady girlfriends. Married men were questioned about the distribution of power and the division of labor between themselves and their spouses, e.g., who had more say in decisions about the purchase of major household items, and who did most of the housework. The survey explored satisfaction with fatherhood and the degree of and kind of involvement of fathers with their children, including their child-rearing practices and values. As in previous Detroit Area Studies, the survey gauged attitudes toward abortion, defense spending, the Equal Rights Amendment, school prayer, and unions. Additional information gathered by the survey includes duration of residence in the tri-county area and at the current address, moves planned for the future, home and motor vehicle ownership, political party identification, vote in the 1980 presidential election, social class identification, satisfaction with jobs, use of public transportation, religion and religiosity, employment status, occupation and industry, and information on age, sex, place of birth, marital status, education, income, race, ethnicity, and household composition.
Detroit Area Study, 1993: Health and Aging (ICPSR 2839)
The 1993 Detroit Area Study explored a variety of issues related to health, the effects of aging, living conditions, and participation in civic life in the Michigan tri-county area of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. A battery of questions probed respondents' perceptions of their health and mental state and those of their spouse, their ability to perform certain physical and mental activities, and the effect of their emotional state on their appetite and sleeping patterns. Other explored their feelings about neighborhood safety, means of transportation, relationships, accommodation, the portrayal of older people on television programs, and the treatment of older people by employers. The survey also sought respondents' opinions about government, their personal financial situation and problems, money management, savings and investments, and their life as a whole. Additional items questioned respondents about the frequency of their visits to the doctor, overnight hospitalization, chronic health conditions, smoking and drinking habits, and medical coverage, as well as electoral participation, political party preference, ideological leanings, class self-identification, assistance received from community organizations, family, and friends, personal regrets, and time spent watching television and engaging in pleasurable activities. Other questions gauged respondents' memory, vision, and motor skills. Respondents also provided demographic information on sex, age, marital status, race, ethnicity, religion, and education.
Drug Use Among Young American Indians: Epidemiology and Prediction, 1993-2006 and 2009-2013 (ICPSR 35062)
The Drug Use Among Young Indians: Epidemiology and Prediction study is an annual surveillance effort assessing the levels and patterns of substance use among American Indian (AI) adolescents attending schools on or near reservations. In addition to annual epidemiology of substance use, data pertaining to the normative environment for adolescent substance use were also obtained. For this data collection data comes from annual in-school surveys completed between the years 1993 to 2006, and 2009 to 2013. Students completed the surveys at school during a specified class period. The dataset contains 534 variables for 26,451 students in grades 7 to 12.
The Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), Public Use, United States, 1998-2024 (ICPSR 31622)
The Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS, formerly known as the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study) follows a cohort of nearly 5,000 children born in large, U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000. The study oversampled births to unmarried couples; and, when weighted, the data are representative of births in large U.S. cities at the turn of the century. The FFCWS was originally designed to address four questions of great interest to researchers and policy makers:
- What are the conditions and capabilities of unmarried parents, especially fathers?
- What is the nature of the relationships between unmarried parents?
- How do children born into these families fare?
- How do policies and environmental conditions affect families and children?
The FFCWS consists of interviews with mothers, fathers, and/or primary caregivers at birth and again when children are ages 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, and 22. The parent interviews collected information on attitudes, relationships, parenting behavior, demographic characteristics, health (mental and physical), economic and employment status, neighborhood characteristics, and program participation. Beginning at age 9, children were interviewed directly (either during the home visit or on the telephone). The direct child interviews collected data on family relationships, home routines, schools, peers, and physical and mental health, as well as health behaviors.
A collaborative study of the FFCWS, the In-Home Longitudinal Study of Pre-School Aged Children (In-Home Study) collected data from a subset of the FFCWS Core respondents at the Year 3 and 5 follow-ups to ask how parental resources in the form of parental presence or absence, time, and money influence children under the age of 5. The In-Home Study collected information on a variety of domains of the child's environment, including: the physical environment (quality of housing, nutrition and food security, health care, adequacy of clothing and supervision) and parenting (parental discipline, parental attachment, and cognitive stimulation). In addition, the In-Home Study also collected information on several important child outcomes, including anthropometrics, child behaviors, and cognitive ability. This information was collected through interviews with the child's primary caregiver, and direct observation of the child's home environment and the child's interactions with his or her caregiver.
Similar activities were conducted during the Year 9 follow-up. At the Year 15 follow-up, a condensed set of home visit activities were conducted with a subsample of approximately 1,000 teens. Teens who participated in the In-Home Study were also invited to participate in a Sleep Study and were asked to wear an accelerometer on their non-dominant wrist for seven consecutive days to track their sleep (Sleep Actigraphy Data) and that day's behaviors and mood (Daily Sleep Actigraphy and Diary Survey Data).
An additional collaborative study collected data from the child care provider (Year 3) and teacher (Years 9 and 15) through mail-based surveys. Saliva samples were collected at Year 9 and 15 (Biomarker file and Polygenic Scores). The Study of Adolescent Neural Development (SAND) COVID Study began data collection in May 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It included online surveys with the young adult and their primary caregiver.
The FFCWS began its seventh wave of data collection in October 2020, around the focal child's 22nd birthday. Data collection and interviews continued through January 2024. The Year 22 wave included a young adult (YA) survey with the original focal child and a primary caregiver (PCG) survey. Data were also collected on the children of the original focal child (referred to as Generation 3, or G3).
In 2017, the FFCWS team announced the Fragile Families (FF) Challenge, a collaborative effort in which participants were tasked with using machine learning methods and FFCWS data (Baseline to Year 9) to build a model that would predict six key outcomes at Year 15. Materials used in the FF Challenge have been archived in this collection.
Documentation for these files is available on the FFCWS website under Data and Documentation. For details of updates made to the FFCWS data files, please see the project's Data Alerts page.
Data collection for the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers R01HD36916, R01HD39135, and R01HD40421, as well as a consortium of private foundations.
Below is the citation for use of the FFCWS data accessed through ICPSR. For information on additional citation requirements when using FFCWS in publications, please refer to this FAQ on the FFCWS project site.
Mexican-American Families in Los Angeles, 1844-1880 (ICPSR 7582)
Mexican Origin People in the United States: Austin (Texas) Pilot Survey, 1978-1979 (ICPSR 7965)
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2): Milwaukee African American Sample, 2005-2006 (ICPSR 22840)
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 3): Milwaukee African American Sample, 2016-2017 (ICPSR 37120)
In 2005, 592 African Americans from Milwaukee were added to the MIDUS sample to examine health issues in minority populations (for more details, see Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2): Milwaukee African American Sample [ICPSR #22840]). Respondents were interviewed in their homes using a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) survey protocol and asked to complete and return a Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ). Afterwards these individuals were eligible for participation in the same research protocol as the national MIDUS 2 sample, including cognitive, daily stress, biomarker, and neuroscience projects.
With support from the National Institute on Aging, a second wave of survey data collection on the Milwaukee sample was begun in 2016. The survey consisted of a 2.5 hour CAPI interview followed by a 45-page mailed SAQ. CAPI survey data was collected for 389 individuals, realizing a 78 percent response rate, adjusted for mortality and other eligibility criteria. Data collection for this follow-up wave largely repeated baseline assessments, with additional questions in selected areas (e.g., economic recession experiences, childhood experience with race, etc.). Following successful completion of the CAPI and SAQ protocols, individuals were eligible for participation in cognitive, daily stress, biomarker, and neuroscience projects.
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS Refresher 1): Milwaukee African American Sample, 2012-2013 (ICPSR 36722)
In 2012-2013, the MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher study recruited a sample of 508 Milwaukee African American adults, aged 25 to 64, designed to replenish the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS 2): Milwaukee African American Sample, 2005-2006 (ICPSR 22840). This sample was also designed to increase the number of racial minorities included in the broader MIDUS study. The MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher survey employed the same assessments (demographic, psycho-social, and physical and mental health) as those assembled on the existing MIDUS sample, but with additional questions about the effect of the economic recession of 2008-09. A sample of African Americans from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, was stratified by age, gender, and income.
Area probability sampling methods were used to identify potential respondents. Field interviewers screened households to determine if they contained any African American adults. There was additional screening to achieve an appropriate age/gender distribution in a manner similar to what was done for the original MIDUS sample (Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 1), 1995-1996 [ICPSR 2760]). Milwaukee respondents were interviewed in their homes using a 2.5-hour Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) protocol and afterwards asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire (SAQ). All measures paralleled those used in the larger MIDUS samples. In addition to successful completion of the survey, participants were asked to complete a cognitive assessment by phone. Some respondents were eligible to participate in additional MIDUS projects: daily diary assessments, biomarker assessments, and neuroscience assessments.
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS Refresher 2): Milwaukee African American Sample, 2023-2024 (ICPSR 39583)
In 2012-2013, the MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher study recruited a sample of 508 Milwaukee African American adults, aged 25 to 64, designed to replenish the original MIDUS Milwaukee 1 survey that was designed to increase the number of racial minorities in 2005. The MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher survey employed the same comprehensive assessments (demographic, psycho-social, and physical and mental health) as those on the existing MIDUS sample, with additional questions about the effect of the Great Recession in 2008-09.
In 2023-2024, the second wave of survey data was collected from 327 longitudinal Refresher Milwaukee participants, including the questions (1) repeated from the Refresher 1, (2) new impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic replacing the questions related to the Great Recession in the Refresher 1, and (3) the additional questions in selected areas (e.g., AD8, IADL, family history of dementia). This new longitudinal MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee data allow examination of period effects on health and well-being related to the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing the pre-pandemic MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee 1 data with the post-pandemic MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee 2 data. Further, the longitudinal MIDUS Refresher datasets (wave 1 and wave 2) allow investigation of the two major macro-level historic events, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, on health and well-being.
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS): Survey of Minority Groups [Chicago and New York City], 1995-1996 (ICPSR 2856)
Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (12th-Grade Survey), 2018 (ICPSR 37416)
Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (12th-Grade Survey), 2019 (ICPSR 37841)
These surveys of 12th-grade students are part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students are randomly assigned to complete one of six questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions, but all containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and drug use. There are about 1,400 variables across the questionnaires. Drugs covered by this survey include tobacco, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, hashish, prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, LSD, hallucinogens, amphetamines (stimulants), Ritalin (methylphenidate), sedatives/barbiturates, tranquilizers, cocaine, crack cocaine, GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate), ecstasy, methamphetamine, and heroin. Other topics include attitudes toward religion, changing roles for women, educational aspirations, self-esteem, exposure to drug education, and violence and crime (both in and out of school).
Highlights for 2019:
- Change in methodology: half of the MTF schools completed in-class surveys on tablets loaded with the survey; the other half completed traditional paper-and-pencil surveys. Also see the Methodology section on this page for an overview and the codebook for details.
- Expansion and revision of the study documentation in the codebook
- New documentation available for download detailing the question adds/drops/changes to the surveys
- Availability of supplemental data sets for previously unreleased questions
Two supplemental data files (DS8 and DS9) have been included this year by the Principal Investigators. These files each include three administrative variables for year (V1), form (V3), and ID (RESPONDENT_ID) along with a few additional variables of survey questions not previously released for Form 5 (DS8) and Form 6 (DS9) between the years 2016 to 2018. These same variables are already present in the main 2019 data files for Form 5 (DS6) and Form 6 (DS7). The front section of the codebook provides details about each of the variables. There are also instructions on how to merge the supplemental data on to the main data files for the previous three years:
- 2018 data (ICPSR 37416)
- 2017 data (ICPSR 37182)
- 2016 data (ICPSR 36798)
Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (12th-Grade Survey), 2020 (ICPSR 38156)
This survey of 12th-grade students is part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students are randomly assigned to complete one of six questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions, but all containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and drug use. There are about 1,400 variables across the questionnaires. Drugs covered by this survey include tobacco, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, hashish, prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, LSD, hallucinogens, amphetamines (stimulants), Ritalin (methylphenidate), barbiturates (tranquilizers), cocaine, crack cocaine, GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate), ecstasy, methamphetamine, and heroin. Other topics include attitudes toward religion, changing roles for women, educational aspirations, self-esteem, exposure to drug education, and violence and crime (both in and out of school).
Highlights for 2020:
- All students recorded their survey answers on tablets that the project brought to the schools, preloaded with the MTF surveys.
- Data collection was halted prematurely on March 15, 2020 when the University of Michigan stopped all projects that involved face-to-face data collection because of COVID-19 concerns. This resulted in a 2020 sample size about 25% the size of a regular data collection.
- Guidance for combining grades for analysis: see Appendix C of the codebook.
- Information about potential mode effects for questions on student attitudes and beliefs when comparing previous years' paper-based survey responses to the current tablet method of collection. Please see the codebook Introduction - Survey Mode section for details.
Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2018 (ICPSR 37415)
These surveys of 8th- and 10th-grade students are part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students in each grade are randomly assigned to complete one of four questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions but containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and drug use. There are more than 450 variables across the questionnaires. Drugs covered by this survey include amphetamines (stimulants), barbiturates (tranquilizers), other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, vaping, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, marijuana, hashish, LSD, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and injectable drugs such as heroin.
Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2019 (ICPSR 37842)
These surveys of 8th- and 10th-grade students are part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students in each grade are randomly assigned to complete one of four questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions but containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and drug use. There are more than 500 variables across the questionnaires. Drugs covered by this survey include amphetamines (stimulants), barbiturates (tranquilizers), other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, vaping, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, marijuana, hashish, LSD, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and injectable drugs such as heroin.
Highlights for 2019:
- Change in methodology: half of the MTF schools completed in-class surveys on tablets loaded with the survey; the other half completed traditional paper-and-pencil surveys. Also see the Methodology section on this page for an overview and the codebook for details.
- Expansion and revision of the study documentation in the codebook
- New documentation available for download detailing the question adds/drops/changes to the surveys
- Availability of supplemental data sets for previously unreleased questions
A supplemental data file (DS2) has been included this year by the Principal Investigators. This file includes 17 variables (6 administrative and 11 survey questions) and 93,034 cases from the years 2016 to 2018. These same 11 variables are already in the main data file (DS1) for 2019. The front section of the codebook provides details about each of the variables. There are also instructions on how to merge the supplemental data on to the main data files for the previous three years:
- 2018 data (ICPSR 37415)
- 2017 data (ICPSR 37183)
- 2016 data (ICPSR 36799)
Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2020 (ICPSR 38189)
These surveys of 8th- and 10th-grade students are part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students in each grade are randomly assigned to complete one of four questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions but containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and drug use. There are more than 500 variables across the questionnaires. Drugs covered by this survey include amphetamines (stimulants), barbiturates (tranquilizers), other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, vaping, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, marijuana, hashish, LSD, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and injectable drugs such as heroin.
Highlights for 2020:
- All students recorded their survey answers on tablets that the project brought to the schools, preloaded with the MTF surveys.
- Data collection was halted prematurely on March 15, 2020 when the University of Michigan stopped all projects that involved face-to-face data collection because of COVID-19 concerns. This resulted in a 2020 sample size about 25% the size of a regular data collection.
- Guidance for combining grades for analysis: see Appendix C of the codebook
- Information about potential mode effects for questions on student attitudes and beliefs when comparing previous years' paper-based survey responses to the current tablet method of collection. Please see the codebook Introduction - Survey Mode section for details.
Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th- and 10th-Grade Surveys), 2021 (ICPSR 38502)
These surveys of 8th- and 10th-grade students are part of a series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Students in each grade are randomly assigned to complete one of four questionnaires, each with a different subset of topical questions but containing a set of "core" questions on demographics and drug use. There are more than 450 variables across the questionnaires. Drugs covered by this survey include amphetamines (stimulants), barbiturates (tranquilizers), other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, inhalants, steroids, marijuana, hashish, LSD, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and injectable drugs such as heroin.
Highlights for 2021:
- Data collection resumed in 2021, with a change to all web-based surveys.
- Students completed the surveys on their personal or school-provided device.
- Non-survey variables have been changed or added to facilitate analyses. For details, please see the codebook section "MTF Variable Information - Non-survey variables included in the data files - Survey mode and design variables for 2021".
- Information about "screen break" issues, where series of questions were originally presented differently in the web-based survey as compared to the 2019/2020 tablet surveys. Please see the codebook and Appendix D for details.
National Health Interview Survey, 1984 (ICPSR 8659)
National Survey of American Life - Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), 2001-2004 (ICPSR 36380)
The National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), 2001-2004, was designed to estimate the lifetime-to-date and current prevalence, age-of-onset distributions, course, and comorbidity of DSM-IV disorders among African American and Caribbean adolescents in the United States; to identify risk and protective factors for the onset and persistence of these disorders; to describe patterns and correlates of service use for these disorders; and to lay the groundwork for subsequent follow-up studies that can be used to identify early expressions of adult mental disorders. In addition and similar to the NSAL adult dataset (Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001-2003 [United States] (ICPSR 20240)), the adolescent dataset contains detailed measures of health; social conditions; stressors; distress; racial identity; subjective, neighborhood conditions; activities and school; media; and social and psychological protective and risk factors. Numerous variables from the adult dataset have been merged into the adolescent dataset, as the NSAL adult and adolescent respondents reside in the same households. Some of these variables apply to the entire household (i.e. region, urbanicity, and family income), while others apply specifically to the NSAL adult respondent living in the adolescent's household (i.e. adult years of education, adult marital status, and adult nativity [foreign-born vs. US born]). The immigration measures were asked of Caribbean black adult respondents only. No comparable measures assess the immigration and generational status of the Caribbean black adolescent respondents. The adult dataset measures are merged into the adolescent dataset to assist in approximating these measures for adolescent respondents. The NSAL adolescent dataset also includes variables for other non-core and experimental disorders. These include tobacco use/nicotine dependence, premenstrual syndrome, minor depression, recurrent brief depression, hypomania, and hypomania sub-threshold. Demographic variables include age, race and ethnicity, ancestry or national origins, height, weight, marital status, income, and education level.
National Survey of American Life: Multi-Generational and Caribbean Cross-Section Studies, Guyana, Jamaica, [United States], 2004-2005 (ICPSR 36406)
The study National Survey of American Life: Multi-Generational and Caribbean Cross-Section Studies also known as the Family Connections Across Generations and Nations is a follow-up to the National Survey of American Life (NSAL): Coping With Stress in the 21st Century, the baseline study which interviewed 6,200 adults and 1,200 adolescents in households of African Americans, non-Hispanic Whites, and Blacks of Caribbean descent.
This study examines influences of family life on people's satisfaction with their lives and their health and general well-being. Specifically, it investigates family and inter-generational processes, with a special emphasis on contextual and structural influences on relationships as they affect individual and family health and well-being across, and within, ethnically and nationally diverse population samples.
Categories of variables include sections on neighborhood, health, social support, depression, social support, mental health episodes (such as depression and mania), substance use, tobacco use, discrimination, and interviewer observations. Demographic variables include the race and ethnicity of the respondent and their spouse, racial background of parents, education, employment, volunteerism, and family income.
National Survey of Black Americans, 1979-1980 (ICPSR 8512)
National Survey of Black Americans, Waves 1-4, 1979-1980, 1987-1988, 1988-1989, 1992 (ICPSR 6668)
National Survey of Families and Households, Wave 1: 1987-1988, [United States] (ICPSR 6041)
The National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), Wave 1 (1987-1988) is the first of three waves in a longitudinal survey that was designed to study the causes and consequences of changes happening in families and households within the United States. At a time when the range of family structures was becoming more and more diverse, this study permitted a close examination of the resulting family compositions and household operations. One adult per household was randomly selected as the primary respondent, and there was a total of 13,007 respondents. In addition to the main interview conducted with the primary respondent, a shorter, self-administered questionnaire was given to the spouse or cohabitating partner, and also administered to the householder if he or she was a relative of the primary respondent.
A considerable amount of life-history information was collected, such as the respondent's family living arrangements in childhood, departures and returns to the parental home, and histories of marriage, separation, divorce, cohabitation, adoption, child custody arrangements, and stepfamily relations. Respondents were also asked about the relationship of household members to each other and the quality of their relationships with their parents, children, and in-laws. Information on economic well-being was also collected, including earnings from wages, self-employment income, interest, dividends, investments, pensions, Social Security, public assistance, and child support/alimony. Demographic information collected includes sex, age, marital status, education, and employment.
National Survey of Hispanic Elderly People, 1988 (ICPSR 9289)
National Survey of the Aged, 1975 (ICPSR 7945)
National Survey of the Aged [United States], 1962 (ICPSR 7687)
The New Immigrant Survey Round 1 (NIS-2003-1), United States, 2003-2004 [Public and Restricted-Use Version 1] (ICPSR 38031)
The New Immigrant Survey (NIS) was a nationally representative, longitudinal study of new legal immigrants to the United States and their children. The sampling frame was based on the electronic administrative records compiled for new legal permanent residents (LPRs) by the U.S. government (via, formerly, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and now its successor agencies, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS)). The sample was drawn from new legal immigrants during May through November of 2003. The geographic sampling design took advantage of the natural clustering of immigrants. It included all top 85 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and all top 38 counties, plus a random sample of MSAs and counties. The baseline survey was conducted from June 2003 to June 2004 and yielded data on:
- 8,573 Adult Sample respondents,
- 810 sponsor-parents of the Sampled Child,
- 4,915 spouses,
- and 1,072 children aged 8-12.
Interviews were conducted in the respondents' language of choice. The Round 1 questionnaire items that were used in social-demographic-migration surveys around the world as well as the major U.S. longitudinal surveys were reviewed in order to achieve comparability. The NIS content includes the following information: demographic, health and insurance, migration history, living conditions, transfers, employment history, income, assets, social networks, religion, housing environment, and child assessment tests.
Parents And Children Coping Together (PACT I Child), Los Angeles, California, 1997-2002 (ICPSR 35194)
Parents And Children Coping Together (PACT) was designed to longitudinally assess mothers in Los Angeles county living with HIV (MLHs) and their young, well children age 5 to 11 years old. The PACT sample was followed every 6 months for 30 months. The study utilizes longitudinal data from children/adolescent and mother dyads to investigate the effects of maternal HIV and family variables on adolescent sexual behavior. Specific aims were to:
- Evaluate longitudinally youth adjustment (i.e., mental health, behavioral adjustment, social outcomes) including measures for young children. Measures included developmentally appropriate youth and maternal mental health measures (e.g., Children's Depression Inventory for youths age under 18; Beck Depression Inventory for youths age equal to or greater than 18), assessment of maternal physical health, assessment of child behaviors, and family functioning.
- Evaluate youth characteristics from across developmental periods that may moderate or mediate the impact of MLHs' chronic illness on patterns of youth adjustment over time, including: (a) background factors of age, gender, ethnicity; and (b) moderating and mediating factors, such as self-concept, family cohesion, the parent-child relationship, HIV/AIDS knowledge, perceived stigma, autonomy, and parent-adolescent separation.
- Evaluate maternal characteristics that may moderate or mediate the impact of MLHs' chronic illness on the youth (e.g., illness severity, mental health status, social support, parenting skills).
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Family Environment Scale, Wave 1, 1994-1995 (ICPSR 13590)
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Family Structure and Health History, Wave 1, 1994-1997 (ICPSR 13592)
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Household Composition, Wave 2, 1997-2000 (ICPSR 13628)
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Provision of Social Relations (Primary Caregiver), Wave 1, 1994-1995 (ICPSR 13597)
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Provision of Social Relations (Subject), Wave 1, 1994-1995 (ICPSR 13598)
Reports of the American Indian Family History Project, 1885-1930 (ICPSR 3576)
Schools and Families Educating (SAFE) Children Study [Chicago, IL]: 1997-2008 (ICPSR 34368)
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.
Survey of Three Generations of Mexican Americans, 1981-1982 (ICPSR 9413)
Violence Against Women: Developmental Antecedents Among Black, Caucasian, and Hispanic Women in the United States, 1987-1988 and 1992-1994 (ICPSR 3293)
The Women's Employment Study, Genesee County, Michigan, 1997-2004 (ICPSR 37077)
The Women's Employment Study, or "WES" combined the insights of poverty researchers, epidemiologists, and social workers by analyzing the ways in which a broad range of labor market, mental health, physical health, and family problems affect a welfare recipient's ability to obtain and retain employment over time.
WES initially began in the Fall of 1997, and five waves of the survey were completed by early 2004, with a high proportion of the original panel sample retained throughout the study.
The unique aspects of WES rest largely with the broad range of barriers it measures, and the longitudinal nature of the study that allows researchers to look at employment and welfare experiences over time.
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.