DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38424.v1
title: Change and Continuity in Midlife: A 10-Year Panel Study of Values, Leisure, Life Structure, and Life Events, United States and Canada, 1987-1996
title: Version 1

description: This study was a 10-year panel study of middle-aged men and women. Through yearly surveys it examined change and continuity of individuals' values, perceptions of leisure, and life structure and the association of these perceptions with life experiences. Data collection occurred from 1987 through 1996 with an initial sample size of 84 middle-aged adults, primarily of Euro-American descent. Respondents represented three different generations within the broad span of years considered part of middle age: those born shortly before or during the Great Depression and in the later years of middle age (aged 47 to 60) at the start of the study, those born shortly before or during World War II; and those born in the early years of the post-World War II baby boom. Twenty-two of the participants were in committed relationships with another person in the study, and 6 of these 11 relationships involved same-sex partnerships. The most extensive analyses and methodological details are in Carpenter and Stockard (2020). A decade of change and continuity in midlife. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
description: The purpose of this study was to examine the change and continuity of individuals' values, perceptions of leisure, and life structure and the association of these perceptions with life experiences.
description: Response Rates: Over the 10 years the yearly response rate was over 85 percent. Sixty-eight of the 84 respondents completed a survey each year.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Life values were measured with Kahle's (1983) List of Values. Leisure views were measured with Crandall and Slivken's (1980) Leisure Attitude Scale, Ellis and Witt's (1984) Measure of Perceived Freedom in Leisure Scale, and Carpenter's (1989) Valuing Leisure Scale. Participants' assessment of life structure used Carpenter's (1988) measure derived from the work of Levinson, et. al. (1978). Important life events were measured with the Life Experiences Survey (Sarason, et al., 1978) and included an item to measure perceived control of life events. Carpenter, G. (1997). A longitudinal investigation of mid-life men who hold leisure in higher regard than work. Society and Leisure, 20(1), pp. 189-211. Carpenter, G. (1988). The relationship between valuing leisure and change during middle adulthood. In D. Gill (Ed.), Abstracts of Research Papers, Reston, VA: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, p. 192. Carpenter, G. (1989). Life change during middle adulthood and valuing leisure. World Leisure and Recreation. 31(1), pp. 29-31. Carpenter, G. and Stockard, J. (2020). A decade of change and continuity in midlife.Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Crandall, R. & Slivken, K. (1980). Leisure attitudes and their measurement. In S. E. Iso-Ahola (Ed.), Social psychological perspectives on leisure and recreation (pp. 261-284). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. Ellis, G. D. & Witt, P. A. (1984). The measurement of perceived freedom in leisure.Journal of Leisure Research16, pp. 110-123. Kahle, L. R. (1983). (Ed.). Social values and social change: Adaptation to life in America.NY: Praeger. Levinson, D. J. (1978). The seasons of a man's life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Sarason, I., Johnson, J., & Siegel, J. (1978). Assessing the impact of life changes: Development of the life experiences survey. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, pp. 932-946.
description: Convenience sample, solicited for long-term participation.
description: Datasets: DS1: Change and Continuity in Midlife: A 10-Year Panel Study of Values, Leisure, Life Structure, and Life Events, United States and Canada, 1987-1996
description: Middle Aged Adults in the US and Canada.
description: mail questionnaire