Parents (2015-2017)

Add Health Parent Study (2015-2017), gathered social, behavioral, and health survey data in 2015-2017 on a probability sample of the Add Health parents who were originally interviewed in 1995. Data for 2,013 Wave I parents, ranging in age from 50-80 years and representing 2,244 Add Health sample members, are available. Additionally, 988 current spouse/partner interviews are available. Codebooks and documentation for these data are here.

Survey Objectives

The Add Health Parent Study (2015-2017) was designed to improve the understanding of the role that families play through socioeconomic channels in the health and wellbeing of the older, parent generation and that of their offspring. This unique data set supports the analyses of intergenerational transmissions of (dis)advantage that have not been possible to-date. Add Health Parent Study data permits the examination of both short-term and long-term linkages and interactions between parents and their adult children.

Content

The Add Health Parent Study (2015-2017) interview is a comprehensive survey of Add Health parents’ family relations, education, religious beliefs, physical and mental health, social support, and community involvement experiences. In addition, survey data contains cognitive assessments, a medications log linked to a medications database lookup table, and household financial information collection. The survey also includes permission for administrative data linkages and includes data from a Family Health History Leave-Behind questionnaire. Interviews were conducted with parents’ spouse/partner when available.

Research Domains

Research domains targeted in the survey and research questions that may be addressed using The Add Health Parent Study (2015-2017) data include:

Health Behaviors and Risks

Many health conditions and behaviors run in families; for example, cardiovascular disease, obesity and substance abuse. How are health risks and behaviors transmitted across generations or clustered within families? How can we use information on the parents’ health and health behavior to better understand the determinants of their (adult) children’s health trajectories?

Cognitive Functioning and Non-Cognitive Personality Traits

What role does the intergenerational transmission of personality and locus of control play in generating intergenerational persistence in education, family status, income and health? How do the personality traits of parents and children, and how they interact, influence the extent and quality of intergenerational relationships and the prevalence of assistance across generations?

Decision-Making, Expectations, and Risk Preferences

Do intergenerational correlations in risk preferences represent intergenerational transmission of preferences? If so, are the transmission mechanisms a factor in biological and environmental vulnerabilities? Does the extent of genetic liability vary in response to both family-specific and generation-specific environmental pressures?

Family Support, Relationship Quality and Ties of Obligation

How does family complexity affect intergenerational obligations and the strength of relationship ties? As parents near retirement: What roles do they play in their children’s lives and their children in their lives? What assistance are they providing to their adult children and grandchildren? What do they receive in return? And how do these ties vary with divorce, remarriage and familial estrangement?

Economic Status and Capacities

What are the economic capacities of the parents’ generation as they reach their retirement years? How have fared through the wealth and employment shocks of the Great Recession? Are parents able to provide for their own financial need? And, do they have the time and financial resources to help support their children and grandchildren and are they prepared to do so?