Colorado Adoption Project, 1976-2002

The Colorado Adoption Project (CAP), begun in 1976, is a longitudinal adoption study that examines genetic and environmental influence on behavioral development. Investigators employed a "full" adoption design by collecting data from the adoptive and biological parents, the adoptees and matched control parents and their children. The entire data set includes measures from predominantly white parents, siblings, and focal children (probands) spanning over a thirty-year period, and now Dataverse has acquired additional NICHD funded data up to the year 30 assessment of the project. <br /><br />

Children were given standardized tests of mental and motor development, communication, personality, and temperament. Additional assessments included home observations, information on the physical environment, demographics, the child's birth and the Family Environment Scale. These measures were completed in the homes of the families when the children were 1, 2, 3 and 4 years old. At ages 5 and 6, the parents were surveyed by mail and phone about temperament, health, development of their child and again completed the Family Environment Scale. Cognitive assessments were given at home or in the lab at assessment years 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 16, 21 and 30. Telephone cognitive assessments were givens at ages 9, 10, and 14 . Survey and questionnaire data were collected approximately annually between ages 9 to 16, and again at ages 21 and 30. <br /><br />

The Dataverse holdings include data from the first 16 yearly waves of the study (ages 1-16), as well as data from the year 21 and 30 waves of the study. Proband and sibling data are included in all waves. Parent data and coded video data from the first 3 waves of the study (i.e., years 1, 2, and 3) are also available.