Who Participates? Accounting for Longitudinal Retention in the MIDUS National Study of Health and Well-Being

Abstract

Objectives-This article uses data from MIDUS (Midlife in the United States), a national study of Americans (N = 7,108), to investigate factors that predict longitudinal retention. With its extensive age range (25-75 at Time 1) and long-term design (9-to 10-year survey interval), MIDUS is useful for investigating common sociodemographic and health predictors of continuing participation.Method-The authors conducted logistic regression analyses of baseline sociodemographic and health variables predicting retention. Select interaction terms examined the interplay between targeted variables.Results-Consistent with prior research, higher retention rates were found among Whites, females, and married individuals as well as those with better health and more education. Interaction analyses further clarified that (a) health status better predicted retention among older compared to younger respondents and among women compared to men, (b) marital status better predicted retention among Whites compared to non-Whites and among women compared to men, and (c) economic status better predicted retention among those with poorer functional health status.Discussion-The authors' analyses clarify that longitudinal retention varied depending on respondents' sociodemographic characteristics and their health status. The unique contribution of this article is that factors predicting nonparticipation can be offset by, or compensated for, other factors. Keywords aging; longitudinal retention; demographics; healthWho is likely to participate in the second wave of a large, national health study? Despite variation in samples, research design, and mode of assessment, prior studies have shown evidence of differentiated probabilities of response (or nonresponse) due to selective sociodemographic and health characteristics (Fitzgerald, Gottschalk, & Moffitt, 1998; Kapteyn, Michaud, Smith, & van Soest, 2006;Lindenberger et al., 1999). We draw on this work to examine predictors of longitudinal retention in the second wave of the MIDUS (Midlife in the United States) national survey. We highlight longitudinal retention rather than attrition because studies focused on attrition and/or nonresponse tend to be concerned with bias and related methodological adjustments (e.g., sample weights based on various assumptions about nonresponders compared to responders). The emphasis on retention, in contrast, addresses characteristics of the Time-2 respondents on whom subsequent longitudinal findings will be Corresponding Author: Barry T. Radler, PhD, 2245 Medical Science Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300, University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, bradler@wisc.edu. Declaration of Conflicts of InterestThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Aging Health. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 April 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript generated. Such information underscores the importance...

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