Americans' Changing Lives: Waves I, II, III, IV, and V, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2002, and 2011

Resource Information

The work Americans' Changing Lives: Waves I, II, III, IV, and V, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2002, and 2011 represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bates College. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Americans' Changing Lives: Waves I, II, III, IV, and V, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2002, and 2011

Creator

• House, James S
• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]

Author

• House, James S

Contributor

• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]

Subject

• demographic characteristics
• depression (psychology)
• discrimination
• employment
• environment
• experience
• family relationships
• health behavior
• health services utilization
• hearing
• hospices
• household composition
• housework
• life events
• life satisfaction
• marital status
• memory
• mental health
• older adults
• parenting skills
• personality
• physical fitness
• psychological wellbeing
• quality of life
• race
• recession
• religion
• retirement planning
• social adjustment
• social networks
• socioeconomic status
• stress
• survey
• vision
• Ecology
• volunteers
• child care
• cognitive functioning
• coping

Genre

• survey

Summary

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, and fifth 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, 2001/02, and 2011, making up Waves III, IV, and V of the data. ACL was designed and sought out 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