National Survey of American Life: Multi-Generational and Caribbean Cross-Section Studies, Guyana, Jamaica, [United States], 2004-2005 (ICPSR 36406)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

This is a special longitudinal supplement to the National Survey of American Life (NSAL; Jackson, et al., 2004). The study design is patterned after the National Panel Study of Black Americans (NPSBA) (aka Three Generation Family Study, a 1980s longitudinal follow-up to the National Survey of Black Americans (Taylor et al., 2003).

The study was designed to support analysis of generational, cross-generational and family specific inter-generational characteristics and relationships in the United States African American and Afro Caribbean population. Researchers collected comprehensive data on family function and mental health and substance abuse disorders across three generations of African American, Afro Caribbean, and White three generation families living in the United States and the Caribbean. The emphasis was on contextual and structural influences on relationships as they pertain to individual and family physical and mental health statuses, and material and social well-being, across, and within, ethnically and nationally diverse population samples. The core focus is on the nature of family and individual processes and outcomes among nationally diverse Black Caribbean national and immigrant samples.

The specific aims of this proposal are to:

• Identify and explore the changing nature of family and intergenerational linkages in representative population based samples
• Explore the implications of these changing family and intergenerational linkages for their social convoys, their perceptions of solidarity (and conflict) and their health and well-being at both the individual and the family level
• Explore the growing formal and informal service needs and utilization patterns across generations, especially across migration and acculturative differences, ethnicity, race, gender and age groupings
• Examine cross-national similarities and differences in the linkages, exchanges, and expectations of intra-familial, intergenerational relations

Study Design View help for Study Design

This study required a two-stage process of recruiting respondents. The first step of the process was to call the focal respondents and conduct at screening interview (Screener) to assess eligibility (family triad, and later in the project also dyad) and obtain contact information for selected family members. Subsequently, main interviews (Main) would be conducted with both the Focal Respondents and up to two Family Respondents.

Rostering of all family members in the focal respondent's network and random selection of one eligible member (including the focal respondent with certainty) from each generation to create the sample triad. Two blood-related family members of the Focal R (termed Family respondents) were randomly selected, so that triads of three consecutive generations were formed. For Afro-Caribbean focal respondents, priority (nonrandom) in choosing sample triads and dyads was given to Family Respondents residing in designated Caribbean countries.

During the execution of the study it became apparent that eligibility was lower than originally anticipated. One of the main reasons for this was likely that the oldest generation has passed away since the original information was collected during the NSAL baseline study. Furthermore, it became apparent early on that more Focal Respondents (than originally thought) would be either unable or unwilling to provide the requested contact information for their selected family members. In response to these influential factors, the design was modified on July 29, 2005 to include families with only two living generations ("dyads"). Still, whenever a triad was confirmed, the triad was selected over a dyad, assuming all other things were considered in the ranking of these family units. The acceptance of dyads where no triad existed was implemented both prospectively (from point in time of the decision) as well as retrospectively (previously screened families were identified and re-contacted with request for participation).

Two separate instruments were developed for this project: (1) the Screener questionnaire to recruit eligible Focal Rs into the project, and (2) the Main questionnaire to collect information on both Focal Rs and Family Rs.

Sample View help for Sample

The sample for this study was a subset of respondents who took part in the baseline study, the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), between 2001 and 2003. During the baseline study, all of these respondents indicated that they were part of a family which spanned at least three living generations.

All NSAL non-Hispanic White and Afro-Caribbean adult respondents who met the multi-generational eligibility criteria were selected for this study, while eligible African American respondents were subsampled at a .366 rate for the FCGN Probability selection of a sample of prospective "Focal Respondents" from the pool of eligible adult respondents in the baseline NSAL.

The FCGN African American and Afro-Caribbean samples of triads and dyads are representative of all such inter-generational family sets in the coterminous United States

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Non-Hispanic White and Afro-Caribbean adult respondents to the National Survey of American Life baseline survey who met multi-generational eligibility criteria.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

Variables describe neighborhood, religion, health, social support, screener for mental health, depression, mania, substance use, tobacco, discrimination, personal data, and interviewer observations.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

The response rate for the United States and Caribbean sample was 37.2%.

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

The World Health Organization World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO WMH-CIDI)

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Hopelessness-Sue Everson

Pearlin's Mastery

Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D)

Pearlin's Mastery

CESD-12

Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS)

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2021-12-13

Version History View help for Version History

Weight View help for Weight

There are two final analysis weights. First, the Focal Respondent Weight is to be used in cross-sectional or longitudinal analyses with only Focal respondent data, i.e., those respondents who were previously selected and interviewed in the National Survey of American life (NSAL) study: NSAL: Family Connections across Generations and Nations (FCGN).

The second final weight, the Full Sample Weight, is used in any analyses that include both Focal Rs and Family Rs. Such analyses could be cross-sectional analyses of all individuals within a generation or inter-generational analyses (e.g. son's or daughter's relationship to parents). The Full Sample weight has the additional adjustment for the respondent's probability of being selected through their ties to other family members (a function of the size of their multi-generational family structure).