DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38297
title: Harmonizing Two NICHD-funded Datasets to Study Youths' Behavioral Health, United States, 1986-2016
title: Archival Version

description: The primary purpose of this project was to harmonize a scale of behavioral health, the Behavior Problems Index (BPI), within and across two publicly-available datasets, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79) and the Child Development Supplements of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS). Each of the original studies followed children longitudinally and their mothers completed the BPI about their behaviors, generally when the children were ages 4 to 14. The analysis generated Stata-formatted datasets which include the children's ages, genders, race/ethnicities; their mothers' age, highest grade completed, and region and urbanicity of residence; their family size, income, income-to-needs ratio, and poverty status; and the BPI item responses and study-created BPI summary scores. Researchers used naming conventions and recodings to conceptually harmonize these variables. For researchers who want to review and modify the codings, the archive includes the Stata code that was used to create the analysis datasets as well as the "raw" data that was extracted from the NLSY79 and PSID-CDS websites. Researchers also analytically harmonized the BPI scale scores using psychometric models. Here, they provide Mplus code that was used to test for measurement invariance and to run the alignment model to link scores as well as R code using user-written harmony package to read the alignment model output. Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
description: The primary purpose of this project was to harmonize a scale of behavioral health, the Behavior Problems Index (BPI), within and across two publicly-available datasets, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79) and the Child Development Supplements of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS).
description: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79) and the Child Development Supplements of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS) maintain their own websites with details about study design.
description: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79) and the Child Development Supplements of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS) are based on complex sampling designs and have sampling weights. The archived analysis data files include sampling weights.
description: Response Rates: For the original National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79), response rates were 77% to 97% across waves. Response rates were high for mothers' completion of the Behavior Problems Index (BPI) among eligible children (about 95% in the first round in 1986). For the Child Development Supplements of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS), response rates for general participation was 88% for the 1997 cohort and 77% for the 2014 cohort.
description: Presence of Common Scales: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79) and the Child Development Supplements of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS) each included many scales. The primary scale of focus in this project is the Behavior Problems Index (Peterson and Zill, 1986; Zill, 1990).
description: The original National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79) was a multi-stage, stratified random national sample. Sampling weights are available in the public-use datasets to adjust for minority oversamples and year-to-year attrition. There are mother and child specific weights. Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were counties and independent cities. PSUs were stratified prior to sampling based on 9 Census divisions and 2 urban/rural classes. The initial Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) combined two independent samples: a cross-sectional, national sample (based on stratified multistage selection of the civilian noninstitutional population of the U.S.) and a national sample of low-income families. The cross-section sample was an equal probability sample of households in the 48 coterminous states designed to yield about 3,000 completed interviews. The second sample was selected from the Census Bureau's Survey of Economic Opportunity (SEO) using unequal selection probabilities. Starting in 1990, a fresh sample of Latino households was added. Individuals are followed when they leave originally sampled households. Sampling weights adjust for unequal selection probabilities and attrition. A cluster and stratum variable are provided to adjust for PSU/Strata.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Merged Data DS2: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Merged Data DS3: Group A Data DS4: Group B Data DS5: Group C Data DS6: Group D Data DS7: Group E Data DS8: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Group Data DS9: Panel Survey of Income Dynamics Group Data DS10: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Child and Young Adult Survey BPI Data DS11: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Child and Young Adult Survey BPI Recode Data DS12: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Child and Young Adult Survey: Demographic Data DS13: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Demographic Data DS14: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Income and Poverty Data DS15: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Income Data DS16: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1986 Poverty and Income Data DS17: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1987 Poverty and Income Data DS18: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1988 Poverty and Income Data DS19: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1989 Poverty and Income Data DS20: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1990 Poverty and Income Data DS21: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1991 Poverty and Income Data DS22: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1992 Poverty Income Data DS23: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1993 Poverty Income Data DS24: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1994 Poverty Income Data DS25: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1996 Poverty Income Data DS26: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 1998 Poverty Income Data DS27: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2000 Poverty and Income Data DS28: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2002 Poverty and Income Data DS29: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2004 Poverty and Income Data DS30: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2006 Poverty and Income Data DS31: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2008 Poverty and Income Data DS32: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2010 Poverty and Income Data DS33: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2012 Poverty and Income Data DS34: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2014 Poverty and Income Data DS35: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: 2016 Poverty and Income Data DS36: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Child and Young Adult Survey Race Data DS37: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Race Data DS38: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Child and Young Adult Survey Weight Data DS39: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997: Child and Adult Survey Raw Merged Data DS40: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Primary Caregiver Interview 1997 Data DS41: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Primary Caregiver Interview 2002 Data DS42: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Primary Caregiver Interview 2007 Data DS43: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Primary Caregiver Interview 2014 Data DS44: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Data DS45: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Map Data DS46: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Child Development Supplement Map 2014 Data DS47: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Family and Individual Data DS48: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Raw Merged Data DS49: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Raw Merged 1997 Data DS50: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Raw Merged 2002 Data DS51: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Raw and Merged 2007 Data DS52: Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Raw and Merged 2014 Data
description: Mothers with children aged 4-14.
description: face-to-face interview; telephone interviewNational Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children and Young Adults 1979 (NLSY79) and the Child Development Supplements of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS) maintain their own websites with details about study design.