The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health): An Underused Resource for Developmental Science

Citation

Harris, Kathleen Mullan & Halpern, Carolyn Tucker (2022). The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health): An Underused Resource for Developmental Science. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology.

Abstract

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) represents a data treasure for developmental psychologists working in both adolescent and life-span development. Add Health is a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 adolescents in grades 7?12 in 1994?1995, who were followed for 25 years into early midlife over five interview waves. The innovative multilevel design collected direct measures of the social contexts of adolescent life and tracked developmental outcomes in health, health behaviors, cognition, achievement, and relationships over time. Biological data appropriate to the developmental stages of the cohort and relevant biosocial processes were integrated into the longitudinal waves of data collection. This review describes Add Health's design and data contents and highlights illustrative Add Health articles that examine developmental processes and outcomes in the areas of mental health, health behavior, cognition, and relationships. We conclude with new opportunities for developmental analyses and suggest future areas of research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, Volume 4 is December 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-120920-042217

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Annual Review of Developmental Psychology

Author(s)

Harris, Kathleen Mullan
Halpern, Carolyn Tucker

Year Published

2022

ISSN/ISBN

2640-7922

DOI

10.1146/annurev-devpsych-120920-042217

Reference ID

9777