Midlife in the United States (MIDUS): Psychological Experiences Follow-Up Study, 1998

The Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) data collection was a collaborative, interdisciplinary investigation of patterns, predictors, and consequences of midlife development in the areas of physical health, psychological well-being, and social responsibility. This component of the first MIDUS data collection was designed to understand popular metaphors of personal turmoil and change, such as the "midlife crisis," the "change of life," the "empty nest syndrome," and more. The primary objective of the Psychological Experiences Study was to explore how adults perceive psychological change in their lives. The study used questions derived from John Clausen's definition of "turning points" and other sources to collect data on self-perceived psychological changes involving work, important relationships, views about the self and dreams, beliefs about the midlife crisis, and recent major life events and transitions. This study was a random telephone follow-up of 724 respondents of the original MIDUS random-digit-dial sample. Part 1 of this collection consists of the quantitative data obtained from the telephone interviews. Part 2 includes the open-ended responses to selected questions from the telephone interviews.

美国中年发展（MIDUS）数据收集项目是一项跨学科的合作研究，旨在探究中年发展在身心健康、心理福祉和社会责任感等领域的模式、预测因素及其后果。该数据收集的第一部分旨在深入理解个人动荡与变化的流行隐喻，例如‘中年危机’、‘人生转折’、‘空巢综合症’等。心理体验研究的主要目标在于探究成年人对其生活中心理变化的认知。研究采用了约翰·克劳森关于‘转折点’的定义以及其他来源的问题，以收集涉及工作、重要人际关系、自我认知与梦想、对中年危机的信念以及近期重大生活事件和转变的自我感知心理变化的资料。该研究是对原始MIDUS随机拨号样本中724位受访者的随机电话追踪调查。本收集的第一部分包括通过电话访谈获得的定量数据。第二部分则包含了对电话访谈中选定问题的开放式回答。