Abstract
In 2012-2013, the MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher study recruited a sample of 508 Milwaukee African American adults, aged 25 to 64, designed to replenish the original MIDUS Milwaukee 1 survey that was designed to increase the number of racial minorities in 2005. The MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher survey employed the same comprehensive assessments (demographic, psycho-social, and physical and mental health) as those on the existing MIDUS sample, with additional questions about the effect of the Great Recession in 2008-09.
In 2023-2024, the second wave of survey data was collected from 327 longitudinal Refresher Milwaukee participants, including the questions (1) repeated from the Refresher 1, (2) new impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic replacing the questions related to the Great Recession in the Refresher 1, and (3) the additional questions in selected areas (e.g., AD8, IADL, family history of dementia). This new longitudinal MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee data allow examination of period effects on health and well-being related to the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing the pre-pandemic MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee 1 data with the post-pandemic MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee 2 data. Further, the longitudinal MIDUS Refresher datasets (wave 1 and wave 2) allow investigation of the two major macro-level historic events, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, on health and well-being.