MEMO 114 From: Avshalom Caspi Date: 10/17/94 Purpose: Avshalom Caspi's memo of 12/92 describing the scales for the personality items on the WLS 92-94 followup. (5-factor model of personality structure, cognition assessment, alcohol, depression, self evaluations and social comparisons, similarity, closeness, and contact), and menopause. The expanded version of the mail-out questionnaire now includes the following categories of assessment; (1) new measures of personality functioning, (2) expanded physical health assessments, (3) expanded mental health assessments, and (4) a new battery of items designed to examine the menopausal experience and its relation to occupational and family life of middle-aged women. Personality scales in the WLS: item loadings on the Five-Factor Model of Personality structure Instructions for scale (big5e big5a big5c big5n big5o) construction: recode all items without a *. Add the items. All items with a # appear on both the phone and mail surveys. VARIABLE NAME 1992 Q#: PHONE INTVW 1992 Q#: MAIL SURVEY VARIABLE DESCRIPTION big5e 309 312j*# 17a 17d* 17f 17j*# extraversion 17t* 17v (hi score) big5a 310p 314b*# 17b*# 17o* 17p 17w* agreeableness 17y 17bb (hi score) big5c 311* 314j*# 17c 17h 17l* 17q* conscientiousness 17u 17cc*# (hi score) big5n 310j# 314p* 17i 17m* 17r# 17x* neuroticism 17z (hi score) big5o 310b 312p*# 17e* 17g*# 17k 17n openness to 17s* 17aa experience(hi score) Note: all the original items should be kept on tape and available for use in their original form. Cognition assessment in the WLS: item loadings on the WAIS Similarities subtest Instructions for scale (waissim) construction: Add the items. VARIABLE NAME 1992 Q# VARIABLE DESCRIPTION waissim 314t 316 316f 316m 316s wechsler adult intelligence 318 318f 318m scales: similarities subtest items (hi score is better performance) Note: all the original items should be kept on tape and available for use in their original form. Each item is scores 0, 1, or 2 following the scoring instructions provided in the Weschler Adult Intelligent Scale-Revised Manual. Alcohol Questions Instructions for scale (alcsymp) construction: Add the items. VARIABLE NAME 1992 Q # VARIABLE DESCRIPTION alcever 874 have you ever drunk alcohol beverages alcdays 874f # days drunk alcohol in last month alcavg 874m # drinks on average day alcbinge 874s 5 or more drinks in past month alcsymp 876 876f 876m 876s (878 symptoms of alcohol problems eq 1 and 878a eq 1) (hi score is more problems) alcgrow 878f did R grow up with problem drinker alclive 878s Has R lived with problem drinker Depression Questions Instructions for scale (depsymp) construction: Add the items. VARIABLE NAME 1992 Q # VARIABLE DESCRIPTION depever 866f ever been depressed depcause 866m depression associated with alcohol, drugs, or illness depworst 868/868m/868s age at worst period of depression depsymp 870a 870b 870c 870d 870e symptoms experienced during worst 870f 870g period of depression (hi score is more depression) depnum 872e number lifetime periods of depression depdurat 873/873b average length of period of depression depfirst 871m/871p (if depnum eq age at first depression 1, depfirst = depworst) deplast 873m (if depnum eq 1, age at last depression deplast = depfirst) depbetw1 872f feel ok between periods of depression depbetw2 872g function well between periods of depression How Am I Doing? Self evaluations and social comparisons among members of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study VARIABLE NAME 1992 Q # VARIABLE DESCRIPTION educimp 412s How important to you is education workimp 414 How important to you is work moneyimp 414f How important to you is financial situation educsuc 416s How successful have you been in education worksuc 418 How successful have you been in work moneysuc 418f How successful have you been financially educpar 484f education comparison with same-sex parent workpar 484m work comparison with same-sex parent moneypar 484s financial comparison with same-sex parent educchd 358m education comparison with select child workchd 360 work comparison with select child moneychd 361 financial comparison with select child educsib 424s education comparison with select sib worksib 426 work comparison with select sib moneysib 426f financial comparison with select sib educfrd 462m education comparison with mutual friend workfrd 462s work comparison with mutual friend moneyfrd 464 financial comparison with mutual friend Perceived similarity, perceived closeness, and frequency of contact with family and mutual friend VARIABLE NAME 1992 Q # VARIABLE DESCRIPTION simspous 76h similarity of life views: with spouse simmom 470b similarity of life views: with mom simdad 476a/476b similarity of life view: with dad simchd 350g similarity of life views: with child simsib 410t similarity of life views: with sib clospous 76i closeness with spouse closmom 470f closeness with mom closdad 476f closeness with dad closchd 350m closeness with child clossib 412 closeness with select sib closfrd 462f closeness with mutual friend seemom 466f frequency of contact: with mom (last 12 mo) seedad 472f frequency of contact: with dad (last 12 mo) seechd 346m frequency of contact: with select child (last 12 mo) seefrd 460c frequency of contact: with mutual friend (last 12 mo) frd5yrs 462d contact with mutual friend in last 5 yrs seesib 408 frequency of contact: with select sib (last 12 mo) WLS Supplemental Proposal Mail-Out Supplement Caspi & Ryff The original proposal included plans for a four page mail-out questionnaire. In the process of compiling items for the phone interview and the mail-out questionnaire, it became apparent that a more lengthy mail-out survey is necessary to (1) achieve the stated goals of the original proposal, (2) provide a more comprehensive assessment of mental and physical health in mid-life and to connect variations therein to social structural and economic factors, and (3) establish connections between the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and other ongoing and proposed surveys of adult life. The expanded version of the mail-out questionnaire now includes the following categories of assessment; (1) new measures of personality functioning, (2) expanded physical health assessments, (3) expanded mental health assessments, and (4) a new battery of items designed to examine the menopausal experience and its relation to occupational and family life of middle-aged women. These domains of assessment are described in detail below. (1) Personality Functioning Source: John, O. (1991) Big Five Inventory (BFI-54). Institute of Personality Assessment and Research, University of California, Berkeley. Description: This instrument is a relatively short instrument that assesses the Five-Factor Model of Personality dimensions (see John, 1990), or the Big Five. The Extraversion (vs. Social Inhibition) scale captures gregarious, energetic, and expressive features of behavior. The Agreeableness (vs. Antagonism) scale reflects essentially prosocial characteristics, describing the person who is empathic and makes an effort to establish positive relationships with others. The Conscientiousness (vs. Lack of Direction) scale captures the multiple elements of persistence and impulse control in task and achievement settings. The Neuroticism (vs. Emotional Stability) scale reflects multiple elements of negative emotionality, such as nervous tension, fearfulness, and brittleness under stress. The Openness to Experience scale refers to persons who are imaginative, curious, creative, and susceptible to absorbing experience. Research by McCrae and Costa (1990) at NIA suggests that the five-factor model can yield a replicable and comprehensive representation of the major dimensions of personality in adulthood. By assessing the Big Five, we will be in a unique position to conduct the largest personality assessment of midlife adults; to replicate earlier work on the factorial structure of personality using a more heterogeneous sample, and to link variations in personality functioning to social structure across the life course. It should be noted that the WLS has long been viewed as a data-set unique in its linkage of personality and social structural factors. With recent advances in personality assessment, it is now possible to use state-of-the-art instruments to gather comprehensive information about enduring personality traits and examine their relations to life course trajectories of occupational attainment. Hypotheses and Planned Studies: 1. Personality and Work. How are early career aspirations and achievement orientations linked to personality variations in adulthood? To what extent do these personality profiles explain variance in occupational trajectories? For example, we hypothesize that early aspirations and achievements are related to adult Conscientiousness and variations in this trait should be related, in turn, to individual productivity in the workplace? Is Openness to Experience related to occupations characterized by relative autonomy? Is disagreeableness linked to erratic work life histories? 2. Personality and Models of Sibling Similarity. We will be able to extend earlier WLS research on sibling similarity on educational and occupational attainments to examine sibling similarity in psychological functioning. Behavior genetic studies and studies of siblings suggest that in terms of their personality functioning siblings may be no more alike than persons selected at random from the population, and that experiences shared by siblings have little influence on their personality similarity (Plomin & Daniels, 1987). However, previous studies of sibling similarity have not actually measured shared environmental experiences. Rather, shared environmental variation has been estimated in various model-fitting tests. In the proposed analyses we will be able to assess shared environmental experiences and examine variations in adult sibling personality similarity. 3. Personality, Intelligence, and Social Attainment. One of the unresolved questions in adult personality research is the relation between various dimensions of personality (e.g., Openness to Experience), intelligence, and social structure variables. Some have suggested that Openness to Experience is defined by characteristics such as imaginative, curious, and aesthetically sensitive. Others have argued that Openness is defined primarily by "intellectual" characteristics such as intelligent, insightful, and sophisticated. Finally, some researchers have claimed that Openness does not really measure a broad dimension of personality, but instead reflects general intelligence, social class, and education. The proposed research will provide an opportunity to examine whether we are dealing with overlapping vs. distinct individual-difference constructs and to examine their unique relations to social structural factors. For example: 1. Is Openness separate from objectively measured intelligence? If Openness to Experience reflects more than intellectual ability, we should be able to identify this factor even when individual differences in the ability domain are taken into account (John , Caspi, Robins, Moffitt, & Stouthamer- Loeber, in preparation). We can accomplish this analysis in the WLS because intelligence data were collected while the respondents were seniors in high school and will be gathered again in the present assessment through the administration of the WAIS Similarities subtest over the phone. 2. Does Openness capture an enduring orientation to the world or does it simply mirror differences in social background characteristics? We have hypothesized that although Openness to Experience should not be influenced by social background in childhood, Openness should influence attainment in adulthood because persons who score high on this factor actively seek out educational opportunities and challenging work experiences. Here then is a possible case in which individual differences do not correlate with characteristics in one's family of origin but do correlate with those characteristics in one's family of destination (Caspi et al., 1992). With the longitudinal WLS, we will be able to test this hypothesis. (2) Physical Health Assessments Source Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. (1978). Multidimensional Functional Assessment: The OARS methodology. Durham, NC: Duke University. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. National Survey of Family and Households. Description: In the original proposal we planned to assess current physical health using the OARS (Duke University, 1978) schedule of common illnesses and global ratings of subjective health status. We have now added (1) a symptoms checklist which assesses the frequency of and discomfort associated with 22 distinct symptoms, (2) measures of functional capacities, (3) assessments of fatigue or sleeping problems, (4) use of prescriptions, and (4) ratings of perceived decline and improvements in various categories of physical condition (e.g. eyesight, body shape, hearing). Hypotheses and Planned Studies: 1. Baseline Data. A primary objective of the expanded physical health assessment is to provide baseline data for future follow-ups as the sample members enter old age. These data, matched with future assessments, will enable researchers to better understand and predict profiles of health maintenance or deterioration through the latter part of the life course. The critical baseline data will be provided by assessments of the incidence of disease and chronic conditions as well as by measures of functional capacity. 2. Links between Occupational Conditions and Physical Health. A second objective for the expanded physical health assessment is to explore the ways in which different occupational conditions may affect physical functioning. For example, do adults in stressful managerial positions report increased physical symptomatology? Are patterns of upward mobility associated with perceived health problems, fatigue, and use of prescription drugs? Is the perceived decline in physical health over time linked to particular occupations? (3) Mental Health Assessments Source: MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. National Survey of Family and Households Pearlin, L., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1978, 19, 2-21. Radloff, L. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385- 401. Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965. Ryff, C. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Exploration of the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081. Veroff, J., Douvan, E., & Kulka, R.A. (1981). The inner American: A self portrait from 1956 to 1976. New York: Basic Books. Whitehall study of British Civil Servants Description: In the original proposal, the mental health assessment was confined to measures of psychological well-being (Ryff, 1989), single-item global assessments of happiness and life satisfaction, and the measurement of depression through the CES-D (Radloff, 1977). We have now expanded the battery to include: (1) assessments of alcohol use, (2) assessments of life-time prevalence of depression, and (3) measures of self-efficacy and self-esteem. Questions about the frequency of alcohol use will be conducted over the phone. This assessment will be complemented by questions,culled from the National Survey of Families and Households and the SMAST, measuring problems with alcohol. The life-time prevalence of depression will be assessed over the phone using items from Ronald Kessler's Co-morbidity Study. The measures of psychological well-being, self-efficacy, and self-esteem are traditionally administered as self-report inventories. As such, they are included in the mail-out questionnaire. Hypotheses and Planned Studies: The original proposal (Appendix H: "How Am I Doing: Explorations of Psychological Well-being?") included detailed hypotheses (pp. 6-10) about the relations between individual achievements and psychological health as mediated by social and temporal comparison processes across the life course. The added measures detailed above will strengthen the research in three ways. (1) An expanded range of outcome measures will provide a more detailed portrait linking the effects of educational and occupational attainment to psychological functioning. (2) We will now be able to connect the WLS findings to other national and international studies of psychosocial functioning as it relates to social structural conditions, particularly economic status. (3) The addition of life-time prevalence assessments of depression is critical for it will enable us to control for social-selection effects in analyzing the influence of work life variables on psychological functioning midlife. (4) As with the physical health assessments, this expanded range of mental health assessments will provide comprehensive baseline data as WLS respondents enter old age. (4) The Menopausal Experience Source: New items prepared by Alice Rossi for MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. Description: Most prior menopausal research has obtained limited assessments of the menopausal transition. Needed are assessments of (1) the perimenopausal period, (2) menopause itself, and (3) the postmenopausal experience. The items contained in 2 pages of the mail-out questionnaire are designed to determine the women's current menopausal status, as well as assess their menstrual history, their feelings and attitudes about the menopausal experience, and their physical symptomatology. Hypotheses and Planned Studies: Any comprehensive study of physical and psychological functioning of women at midlife must attend to the bio-social transition of menopause. This is deeply neglected area of research. The WLS offers and important design feature: We will examine the effects of variations in menopausal status in a heterogeneous single-age cohort. Questions of interest include: (1) the relations between the menopausal experience and psychological functioning; (2) the effects of variations in the menopausal experience on women's occupational pursuits at midlife; (3) the relations between the menopausal experience and family life in adulthood. (5) Methodological Studies With the above supplements, the WLS design will incorporate parallel versions of the same constructs in both the telephone interview and the mail-out questionnaire. Three key domains of assessments, personality, psychological well-being, and depression, will be obtained in both formats. In addition to the parallel forms, select items in each domain will be repeated in both formats. This will allow us to compare the assessment of these constructs via different methods, to assess their reliability and validity. References John, O., Caspi, A., Robins, R.W., Moffitt, T.E., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. Developmental explorations of the five-factor model of personality structure. Manuscript in preparation. John, O. (1990). The Big Five factor taxonomy: Dimensions of personality in the natural language and questionnaires. In L.A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality theory and research. New Your: Guilford. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P.T. (1990). Personality in adulthood. New York: Guilford. Plomin, R., & Daniels, D. (1987). Why are children in the same family so different from one another. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 10, 1 - 59.