NLS Listening Sessions Handout - Health Environment

Thank you again for your willingness to contribute to our listening session, which is part of an effort to
plan for a potential NLSY26 cohort. We have provided a few topics and background information to
help get your thoughts flowing before your session.
Example questions to help you brainstorm before attending the listening session
• What are the aspects of health and environment that are essential to capture from adolescents to
enable life-course research? Why?
• What health and environment trends should the new NLSY26 cohort reflect on?
• What types of sampling and methodology should the potential NLSY26 cohort consider when
collecting health and environment data?
• What datasets do you currently use for your physical health, environment, and climate research
and why?
Past content and feedback BLS has already received from other stakeholders for a new youth
cohort
1. What has been collected by the NLSY79 and NLSY97 in the past on physical health, environment, and
climate?
• Health problems that restrict or prohibit
• Respondent characteristics including
ability to work
health and weight, asthma, heart
medication, childhood health, head
• Overall health and chronic health
injury
problems
• Source of health insurance
• Preventative health care
• Sleep
• Physical activity and exercise
• Cognitive capabilities
2. General themes from outreach that BLS conducted with Federal agencies & departments.
• Measuring perceived ethnicity
• Measures of brain development and coordination
• Sexual orientation and gender identity measures
• Need to take COVID context into consideration
• Growth of parent opioid use may be important to consider
• Disability and accommodations by employer and school
• Source of health insurance for 18-26 year olds
• Eligibility for and applications to public assistance programs
• Immediate effects of occupational safety events
• Long-term effects of work among teens and young adults
• Experiences of homelessness, unstable housing
• Contextual factors about neighborhood/community-school graduation rate/school quality,
community safety/violence, arrest rates, distressed businesses, home ownership rates/home values
o Subjective measures of neighborhood quality
• Environmental toxin exposure