MIDUS Refresher
In 2011-2014, the MIDUS Refresher study recruited a national probability sample of 3,577 adults, aged 25 to 74, designed to replenish the original MIDUS 1 baseline cohort and paralleling the five decadal age groups of the MIDUS 1 baseline survey. The MIDUS Refresher survey employed the same comprehensive assessments as those assembled on the existing MIDUS sample, but with additional questions about the effect of the economic recession of 2008-09. MIDUS Refresher data is available through ICPSR.
- Project 1: The survey data collection consisted of a 30-minute phone interview followed by two 50-page mailed self-administered questionnaires. Survey data were collected on demographic, psycho-social, and physical and mental health information. This new cross-sectional MIDUS sample allows the examination of period effects on health (mental and physical) related to the economic recession by comparing the pre-recession MIDUS 1 sample with the post-recession MIDUS Refresher sample.
A further objective of the MIDUS Refresher sample was to strengthen cross-project analyses in MIDUS by increasing the sample sizes available for testing hypotheses dealing with the interplay of key factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, gender, psychosocial factors, biological factors) in mid- and later-life health. To that end, the MIDUS Refresher sample followed the same multi-disciplinary protocol established in the main MIDUS sample, in that after completing the survey protocol respondents became eligible to participate in: