Country: United States

Study Design: Observational cohort with repeated measurements over time

Participant age range: Adults aged 50 and above

Number of participants at baseline: 12,000–14,000 for psychosocial measures

Year of initial enrollment: 2006 / 2008

Number of data collection waves: 6

Measures of well-being:

• Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional)

• Flourishing (multidimensional)

• Optimism

• Positive affect

• Purpose / meaning in life / ikigai

• Life satisfaction

• Mastery

• Subjective happiness

• Social support / integration / cohesion

• Social capital

• Prosocial behavior or attitudes

• Personal growth or self-acceptance

Quantity of well-being measures (e.g., number of constructs, number of times of well-being was assessed:  High

Quality of well-being measures (e.g., were measures reliable and valid in the study population): High

Measures of physical health: 

• Self-rated / questionnaire-based health

• Self-reported medical and medication history

• Measured anthropometrics, e.g., weight

• Biomarkers

• Genetics

• Linked medical records

Access information: This dataset is available to all researchers. Researchers are not required to submit an application to access this data. There are no fees required to access this dataset.

Notable Citation: Kim E, Delaney S, Tay L, Chen Y, Diener E & VanderWeele T. (2021). Life satisfaction and subsequent physical, behavioral, and psychosocial health in older adults. The Milbank Quarterly, 99(1), 209-239.