Data Resources for Behavioral and Social Research on Aging

NIA supports a variety of longitudinal studies, data harmonization projects, archives, and repositories to facilitate research on aging in the behavioral and social sciences. Data from these studies are available to qualified researchers, subject only to restrictions to protect participant privacy. With advice from the extramural research community, periodic reports, including input from the National Advisory Council on Aging (NACA), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and ad hoc expert review panels, BSR has developed a portfolio of data projects to meet evolving scientific priorities.

In particular, NIA convened a Committee on Data Infrastructure in 2015, which conducted an assessment of the BSR portfolio of data infrastructure investments to meet the scientific needs of the social and behavioral research community to further understand the aging process and aging outcomes in the coming decade. A full report is available.

The National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA) at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) offers access to a broad range of datasets relevant to gerontological research. The Gateway to Global Aging Data is a platform for population survey data and metadata on aging around the world. This site offers a digital library of survey questions, a search engine for finding comparable questions across surveys, and harmonized variables for cross-country analysis. NIA's Global Aging page highlights how researchers can use the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) International Family of Studies as well as additional projects that use the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) studies in their research.

The NIA Data LINKAGE Program supports the linking of NIA-funded study data with existing datasets from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other sources and provides a secure, cloud-based environment to support data sharing and accessibility.

Resources Funded or Co-Funded by NIA

The resources below represent major longitudinal studies and data platforms funded or co-funded by NIA that support research on aging, health, and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) across diverse populations and contexts.

Health and Retirement Study (HRS)

The Health and Retirement Study is a nationally representative longitudinal panel of more than 20,000 U.S. adults aged 50 and older, with new birth cohorts added every six years. HRS provides extensive economic, health, cognitive, and biomarker data that support foundational research on aging trajectories, retirement, and AD/ADRD. The HRS is also the basis for the International Family of Health and Aging Studies, a series of population-representative studies with harmonized measures that permit cross-national analyses, including of cognition via the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) (see below).

Understanding America Study (UAS)

The Understanding America Study is a nationally representative, web-based panel of more than 15,000 adults aged 18 and older that fields frequent “real time” short surveys. This design allows researchers to examine short-term changes in attitudes, behaviors, and health relevant to aging and population health.

Midlife in the United States (MIDUS)

Midlife in the United States is a national longitudinal study designed to examine behavioral, psychological, and social factors shaping health and well-being from midlife into older adulthood. Its depth in psychosocial measures, biomarkers, genomics, and neuroscience makes MIDUS a unique resource for studying pathways linking midlife experiences to later-life health and cognitive outcomes.

National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and National Study of Caregiving (NSOC)

The National Health and Aging Trends Study is an annual study of a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older, while the National Study of Caregiving surveys family and unpaid caregivers linked to NHATS participants. Together, these linked studies uniquely capture both care recipient and caregiver perspectives to inform research on disability, care dynamics, and quality of life in later life.

National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP)

The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project is a longitudinal, nationally representative study of community-dwelling adults aged 50 and older focused on social relationships and health. NSHAP is especially valuable for research on how social connections, intimacy, and social environments influence aging and well-being.

Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)

The Panel Study of Income Dynamics is a nationally representative, multigenerational household study that began in 1968 and now includes approximately 25,000 individuals across 11,000 families. As the longest-running longitudinal household survey in the world, PSID supports life course and intergenerational research on economic conditions, health, and aging.

National Dementia Workforce Study (NDWS)

The National Dementia Workforce Study is a coordinated set of nationally representative longitudinal surveys that provides the first comprehensive data on the U.S. dementia care workforce across clinical, residential, assisted living, and home health settings.

Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (Dunedin)

The Dunedin Study is an ongoing longitudinal birth cohort study of individuals born in 1972–1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand and followed regularly from birth into midlife. Its repeated, comprehensive assessments support research on how early-life factors shape aging, health, and cognitive outcomes across the life course.

International Family of Health and Aging Studies

A coordinated family of international studies, including the U.S. Health and Retirement Study , harmonizes data to support cross-national research on aging and health. These studies enable comparative analyses of aging trajectories across a variety of social, economic, and policy contexts worldwide.
Participating studies include:

Harmonized Cognitive Aging Protocol (HCAP)

A major new resource for the study of cognitive aging across contexts is data from the Harmonized Cognitive Aging Protocol (HCAP). Originally collected in a subset of HRS participants, HCAP has evolved into a set of harmonized assessments linked to nationally or regionally representative samples of older people. HCAP batteries greatly expand the possibilities for research on normal cognitive aging, cognitive impairment, and dementia in a variety of populations to inform US health. HCAP data from 12 countries including the US, England, India, Mexico, and 5 European countries are available, and HCAP studies in 8 additional countries are underway.

Participating studies include:

Educational Cohorts

NIA supports several population-representative educational cohort studies that began in school settings and often leverage school-based sampling. Together, these studies offer rich opportunities to examine how education and other social factors impact health, health disparities, and cognitive aging, including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), over the life course.

Add Health

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) follows a nationally representative cohort of more than 20,000 individuals first surveyed as adolescents in grades 7-12 during the 1994-95 school year. With six waves of data collection extending into adulthood, Add Health uniquely links social, behavioral, and biological factors from adolescence to midlife health outcomes.

EdSHARe

The Educational Studies for Health Aging Research (EdSHARe) brings together two nationally representative cohorts, High School and Beyond and the National Longitudinal Study of 1972 , to support comparative research on education, cognition, and aging. These cohorts include harmonized measures of high school experiences and early-life conditions across birth cohorts born roughly a decade apart.

  • High School and Beyond (HSB)
    High School and Beyond began with approximately 25,000 high school sophomores and seniors surveyed in 1980 and has followed participants into their early 60s. The study offers extensive data on cognitive function, AD/ADRD biomarkers, pharmacy records, and the oral microbiome, enabling integrated life course research on brain health.
  • National Longitudinal Study of 1972 (NLS-72)
    NLS-72 is a nationally representative sample of 14,489 individuals first surveyed as high school seniors in 1972. A new data collection at age 70 includes cognitive assessments, blood-based biomarkers, and brain imaging, strengthening the study’s value for late-life cognition and dementia research.

Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) follows more than 10,000 individuals who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957, along with selected siblings and spouses. Its long follow-up and deep family data support research on early life factors, social and economic experiences, and aging, with recent waves adding detailed AD/ADRD measures and biomarkers into the 9th decade of life.

Project Talent

Project Talent began in 1960 as a nationally representative study of more than 377,000 students from over 1,300 U.S. high schools. Through the NIA-funded Project Talent Aging Study and linkages to Medicare data, the study supports research on how adolescent abilities and experiences relate to health and aging outcomes decades later.

National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1979 (NLSY-79)

The National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1979 (NLSY-79) follows a nationally representative cohort of 12,686 individuals born between 1957 and 1964. With repeated interviews from adolescence into later adulthood and harmonized cognitive measures aligned with the Health and Retirement Study, NLSY-79 supports research on education, work, and cognitive aging across the adult life course.

More information

For further information on these or other resources supported by NIA/BSR, please contact the BSR Office of Data Resources and Analytics .

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