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.

This study is part of a larger research program designed to investigate the following: the ways in which a wide range of activities and social relationships that people engage in are broadly "productive;" how individuals adapt to acute life events and chronic stresses that threaten the maintenance of health, effective functioning, and productive activity; and sociocultural variations in the nature, meaning, determinants, and consequences of productive activity and relationships. Focusing especially on differences between Black and white Americans in middle and late life, these data constitute both the first, second, and third waves in a national longitudinal panel survey covering a wide range of sociological, psychological, mental, and physical health items. 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 (doctor visits, hospitalization, nursing home institutionalization, bed days). Also included are measures of physical health, psychological well-being, and indices referring to cognitive functioning. Background 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.

Please Note: This dataset is part of the historical CISER Data Archive Collection and is also available at ICPSR at https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04690.v9. We highly recommend using the ICPSR version as they have made this dataset available in multiple data formats and with additional waves.

This Pew Research Center survey examines the views of Americans on a variety of topics including the following: satisfaction with life ; feelings toward the country's future; different family arrangements; marriage as obsolete; satisfaction with life aspects; family life expectations; closeness with other family members; marriage affecting life goals; family trends affecting society; nuclear family importance ; family compared to growing up; closeness to spouse ; reasons for marriage; women caring for household; living together as a step toward marriage; household finances; desire for marriage; remarrying; desire for children; desired spousal traits; family definitions; financially supporting family; rating parental ability; balancing job and family; challenges for children; family dinners; Thanksgiving meal; obligation to provide assistance; one true love. The Princeton Survey Research Associates International performed the survey from October 1 through October 21, 2010.

Since 2007, the American Psychological Association (APA) has commissioned an annual nationwide survey as part of its Mind/Body Health campaign to examine the state of stress across the country and understand its impact. The Stress in America survey measures attitudes and perceptions of stress among the general public and identifies leading sources of stress, common behaviors used to manage stress and the impact of stress on our lives. The results of the survey draw attention to the serious physical and emotional implications of stress and the inextricable link between the mind and body. From 2007 to 2023, the research has documented this connection among the general public as well as various sub-segments of the public. Each year, the Stress in America surveys aims to uncover different aspects of the stress/health connection via focusing on a particular topic and/or subgroup of the population. Below is a list of the focus of each of the Stress in America surveys. 2007-2018 Cumulative Dataset 2007 General Population 2008 Gender and Stress 2009 Parent Perceptions of Children's Stress 2010 Health Impact of Stress on Children and Families 2011 Our Health Risk 2012 Missing the Health Care Connection 2013 Are Teens Adopting Adults' Stress Habits 2014 Paying With Our Health 2015 The Impact of Discrimination 2016 Coping with Change, Part 1 2016 Coping with Change, Part 2: Technology and Social Media 2017 The State of Our Nation 2018 Stress and Generation Z 2019-2023 Cumulative Dataset 2019 Stress and Current Events 2020 COVID Tracker Wave 1 2020 COVID Tracker Wave 2 2020 COVID Tracker Wave 3 2020 A National Mental Health Crisis 2021 Pandemic Anniversary Survey 2021 Stress and Decision-Making During the Pandemic 2022 Pandemic Anniversary Survey 2022 Concerned for the Future, Beset by Inflation 2023 A Nation Recovering From Collective Trauma

The Portraits of American Life Study (PALS) is an unprecedented, multi-level panel study focused on religion in the United States, with a particular focus on capturing ethnic and racial diversity. The PALS seeks to show the impact of religion in everyday life, and ultimately the connections between religious change and other forms of change in individuals and families over the course of their lives and across generations. It includes substantive modules on family relationships, deviance, health, civic participation and volunteering, moral and social attitudes, and race and ethnic issues. In time, this panel study is expected to develop into a multi-wave longitudinal study comprising both individual and congregational level data. This study was formerly known as the Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity (PS-ARE).

This dataset comprises the fifth follow-up of the baseline Hispanic EPESE (HISPANIC ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS FOR THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES OF THE ELDERLY, 1993-1994: [ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS] [ICPSR 2851]). The baseline Hispanic EPESE collected data on a representative sample of community-dwelling Mexican Americans, aged 65 years and older, residing in the five southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. The primary purpose of the series was to provide estimates of the prevalence of key physical health conditions, mental health conditions, and functional impairments in older Mexican Americans and to compare these estimates with those for other populations. The Hispanic EPESE provides data on risk factors for mortality and morbidity in Mexican Americans in order to contrast how these factors operate differently in non-Hispanic White Americans, African Americans, and other major ethnic groups. The public-use data cover demographic characteristics (age, sex, type of Hispanic race, income, education, marital status, number of children, employment, and religion), height, weight, social and physical functioning, chronic conditions, related health problems, health habits, self-reported use of dental, hospital, and nursing home services, and depression. Subsequent follow-ups provide a cross-sectional examination of the predictors of mortality, changes in health outcomes, and institutionalization, and other changes in living arrangements, as well as changes in life situations and quality of life issues. During this 6th Wave, 2006-2007, reinterviews were conducted either in person or by proxy, with 921 of the original respondents. This fifth follow-up includes an additional sample of 621 Mexican Americans aged 75 years and over with higher average-levels of education than those of the surviving cohort, increasing the total number of respondents to 1,542. By diversifying the cohort of those aged 75 and older, a better understanding can be gained of the influence of socioeconomic and cultural variations on the lives and health of older Mexican Americans.

Study of the changing nature of the family, family life, and work ethic in American society."Variables focused on effects of working on child care; strains of work on family life; setting priorities about family and careers; balancing the demands of work and family; job of homemaking, and how it compares with other work; employer's policies and benefits to working parents; and attitudes of teenagers toward work and family"

The Hispanic EPESE provides data on risk factors for mortality and morbidity in Mexican Americans in order to contrast how these factors operate differently in non-Hispanic White Americans, African Americans, and other major ethnic groups. The Wave 8 dataset comprises the seventh follow-up of the baseline Hispanic EPESE (HISPANIC ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS FOR THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES OF THE ELDERLY, 1993-1994: [ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS] [ICPSR 2851]). The baseline Hispanic EPESE collected data on a representative sample of community-dwelling Mexican Americans, aged 65 years and older, residing in the five southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. The public-use data cover demographic characteristics (age, sex, marital status), height, weight, BMI, social and physical functioning, chronic conditions, related health problems, health habits, self-reported use of hospital and nursing home services, and depression. Subsequent follow-ups provide a cross-sectional examination of the predictors of mortality, changes in health outcomes, and institutionalization, and other changes in living arrangements, as well as changes in life situations and quality of life issues. During this 8th Wave, 2012-2013, re-interviews were conducted either in person or by proxy, with 452 of the original respondents. This Wave also includes 292 re-interviews from the additional sample of Mexican Americans aged 75 years and over with higher average-levels of education than those of the surviving cohort who were added in Wave 5, increasing the total number of respondents to 744.

About 23 percent of Americans wanted to start 2022 by living healthier, which was the most popular New Year’s resolution. In addition, personal improvement or happiness was the year's resolution for 21 percent of Americans.

Resolution makers, resolution keepers?

While some might say that they do not need New Year’s Eve to finally turn their life around, making resolutions on December 31 is a common, well-liked tradition, especially in the Western world. They are usually meant to contain some kind of improvement or betterment of one’s conduct or life choices. However, these resolutions are not compulsive; only a small share of people who make them actually keep them, according to a Statista survey. They are more like a signal for a new start than an actual catalyst for change.

Traditional changes

While they signal a change of choices and behavior, New Year’s resolutions themselves hardly ever change: When comparing past resolutions for 2018 and 2019, for example, it’s obvious that people still just want to be healthy and happy, maybe broaden their horizons, and save up – in general, be a sensible, content adult. This is not only true for Americans – Italians also wish for stable finances and their own and loved ones’ health, as do South Koreans.

At a glance - NHANES is the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. - NHANES is a national survey that measures the health and nutrition of adults and children in the United States. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collects data about the health of adults and children in the United States. We also collect data about what participants eat, drink, and take as supplements to determine how many nutrients are in their diet. These dietary interviews and blood tests help us measure the nutritional status of U.S. adults and children. CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) conducts NHANES. NHANES is the only national health survey that includes health exams, laboratory tests, and dietary interviews for participants of all ages. NHANES data can help improve the health of Americans. Survey data have driven changes in how doctors treat patients and how public policy supports good health. The NHANES program began in the early 1960s. It started as a series of surveys that focused on different population groups and health topics. Since 1999, NCHS has conducted NHANES without interruption—what we call continuous NHANES. Now, NHANES can focus on different health and nutrition measurements to meet changing information needs. Each year, about 5,000 adults and children in communities across the United States participate in NHANES. We use a random, scientific process to select the people we invite to participate. This process ensures that this group of people can accurately represent the health and nutritional status of everyone in our diverse nation. To collect data about a wide range of health and nutrition topics, NHANES includes— - Interviews about health, diet, and personal, social, and economic characteristics - Visits to our mobile exam center for dental exams and health and body measurements - Laboratory tests by highly trained medical professionals (Text above quoted from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/about/ on 2025-03-23)

Over the past 160 years, life expectancy (from birth) in the United States has risen from 39.4 years in 1860, to 78.9 years in 2020. One of the major reasons for the overall increase of life expectancy in the last two centuries is the fact that the infant and child mortality rates have decreased by so much during this time. Medical advancements, fewer wars and improved living standards also mean that people are living longer than they did in previous centuries.

Despite this overall increase, the life expectancy dropped three times since 1860; from 1865 to 1870 during the American Civil War, from 1915 to 1920 during the First World War and following Spanish Flu epidemic, and it has dropped again between 2015 and now. The reason for the most recent drop in life expectancy is not a result of any specific event, but has been attributed to negative societal trends, such as unbalanced diets and sedentary lifestyles, high medical costs, and increasing rates of suicide and drug use.

Historical chart and dataset showing U.S. life expectancy by year from 1950 to 2025.

In 2023, about 17.7 percent of the American population was 65 years old or over; an increase from the last few years and a figure which is expected to reach 22.8 percent by 2050. This is a significant increase from 1950, when only eight percent of the population was 65 or over. A rapidly aging population In recent years, the aging population of the United States has come into focus as a cause for concern, as the nature of work and retirement is expected to change to keep up. If a population is expected to live longer than the generations before, the economy will have to change as well to fulfill the needs of the citizens. In addition, the birth rate in the U.S. has been falling over the last 20 years, meaning that there are not as many young people to replace the individuals leaving the workforce. The future population It’s not only the American population that is aging -- the global population is, too. By 2025, the median age of the global workforce is expected to be 39.6 years, up from 33.8 years in 1990. Additionally, it is projected that there will be over three million people worldwide aged 100 years and over by 2050.

The 2008 Conversion Recontact Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, is a follow-up to the 2007 "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey." One of the most striking findings from the Landscape Survey was the large number of people who have left their childhood faith. The Landscape Survey found that more than one in four American adults (28%) have changed their religious affiliation from that in which they were raised. This number includes people who have changed from one major religious tradition to another, for instance, from Protestantism to Catholicism or from Judaism to no religion. If change within religious traditions is included (e.g., from one Protestant denominational family to another), the survey found that roughly 44% of Americans now profess a religious affiliation different from that in which they were raised.

The Conversion Recontact Survey is designed to offer a fuller picture of this churn within American religion, with a special focus on the reasons that people change religious affiliation. The Conversion Recontact Survey is based on follow-up interviews with Landscape Survey respondents, including those from the largest segments of the population that have changed religious affiliation as well as those who still belong to the religious faith in which they were raised. Interviews were conducted by telephone with a nationally representative sample of 2,867 adults living in continental United States telephone households. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI). Interviews were conducted on landline telephones in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source (PDS), LLC from Oct. 3 to Nov. 7, 2008. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. A full report on the survey's findings, "Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.," is available on the Pew Forum's "http://www.pewforum.org/2009/04/27/faith-in-flux/" Target="_blank">website.

Adjusted regression estimates for the changes in sleep and exercise behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Characteristics of the Study Sample (N = 2,146,384).

In 2023, Michigan had the second-highest Arab American population in the United States, with a total of 208,566. In that same year, there were just over 2.22 million people of Arabian ancestry living in the United States.

This is the 21st annual survey in this series that explores changes in important values, behaviors, and lifestyle orientations of contemporary American youth. Two general types of tasks may be distinguished. The first is to provide a systematic and accurate description of the youth population of interest in a given year, and to quantify the direction and rate of change occurring over time. The second task, more analytic than descriptive, involves the explanation of the relationships and trends observed. Each year, a large, nationally representative sample of high school seniors in the United States is asked to respond to approximately 100 drug-use and demographic questions as well as to an average of 200 additional questions on a variety of subjects, including attitudes toward government, social institutions, race relations, changing roles for women, educational aspirations, occupational aims, and marital and family plans. The students are randomly assigned 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.

These files contain the information necessary to replicate the results of Albouy et al. (2016). Please start with ReadMe.pdf.