MIDUS: Midlife in the U.S. National Study of Health and Well-Being

CLIENT

UW Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health

DESCRIPTION

In 2025, the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) National Study of Health and Well-Being started its fourth wave of longitudinal data collection of its national sample, contacting over 4,000 adults between the ages of 55 and 105 who had been MIDUS participants for nearly 30 years. The primary objective of the MIDUS study is to identify the major biomedical, psychological, and social factors that allow some people to achieve good health, psychological well-being, and social responsibility during the journey through middle life on into the later years. MIDUS 4 includes additional questions about the COVID-19 pandemic to investigate its effect on health and well-being. MIDUS 4 protocols include a 45-minute telephone interview, a 100-page mail questionnaire, and a 35-minute cognitive interview via telephone.

The MIDUS 4 includes a random oversample of 500 African American participants conducted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with protocols that include a 2-hour in-person interview, a 50-page questionnaire, and a 35-minute cognitive interview.

PROJECT DIRECTOR

Karen Zoladz and Kerryann DiLoreto

DATE IN FIELD

MIDUS 2: January 2004 – September 2006
MIDUS 3: May 2013 – November 2014
MIDUS 3 Recontact: June 2017 – February 2018
Midus Retention Early Warning: September 2018 – March 2020

MIDUS Refresher 1: November 2011 – October 2014
MIDUS Refresher 2: November 2022 – December 2024

MIDUS 4: January 2024 – December 2026

STUDY WEBSITE

midus.wisc.edu