DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38424
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: Archival Version

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.
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: 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.
description: Respondents were asked about how they feel about leisure, leisure activities, how much they spend in leisure, what they value in life, and about life experiences which had impacted their outlook on life whether positively or negatively.
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
ScaleCarpenter's (1989) Valuing Leisure Scale Participants' Assessment
of Life Structure were measured with: Carpenter's (1988) measure derived from the work of
Levinson, et. al. (1978). Important life events were measured with: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 from the United States and Canada.
description: mail questionnaireFor additional information on the Change and Continuity in Midlife study, please visit the ASOLDA website.NOTE: 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.