Midlife in the United States
MIDUS (Midlife in the U.S.) is a national sample of continental U.S. residents, aged 25 to 74, who were first interviewed in 1995-96. The original study was conceived by a multidisciplinary team of investigators interested in the influence of psychological and social factors on health, broadly defined, as people age from early adulthood to later life. MIDUS is a collaborative, interdisciplinary investigation of patterns, predictors, and consequences of midlife development in the areas of physical health, psychological well-being, and social responsibility. The scientific scope of the study was extended by adding comprehensive biological assessments on a subsample of respondents. In its longitudinal extension, MIDUS thus became a forum for investigating health as an integrative process, which involved combining the behavioral and social sciences together with bio-medically oriented research.