mrepo:topics:lifeevents [MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL]

Questions about adverse life events were asked at ages 36 (1982), 43 (1989), 53 (1999) and 60-64 (2006-10) years. Items are not identical at all ages, but variously refer to:

serious illness
divorce or separation
death or injury of a relation, friend or close contact
problems with relations or friends
experience of burglary or robbery
crises or disappointments at work, and
crises or disappointments with family or close contacts

At ages 36 and 43 years (but not since) follow-up questions asked about reactions to the events, and whether these events had changed the lives of survey members.

A list of the questions and variable names for the life events sections can be seen below. In 1982, the questions were mostly phrased in terms of events happening to 'friends or relatives'. This was adapted in successive years, hence why there are not many direct equivalent variables across all four collections.

Several other 1982 life events variables are present, they can be found on Skylark by searching for 'year and category' (1982 and category 'social support or life events').

Life Events Questions	1982	1989	1999	2006-10
Have you had an accident or received an injury that has affected you for a month or more in the last 12 months?		AC89	ac	AC09
Have you had any serious difficulties with any of your children, because of their health or behavior or for other reasons in the last 12 months?		CHDF89	chdf	CHDF09
Have you had any serious disagreements with your spouse/partner or felt betrayed or disappointed by them in the last 12 months?		DSSP89	dssp	DSSP09
Have you moved house in the last 12 months?		HOUM89	hou2	HOU209
Did you move away from the area where most of your friends lived?		HOUMA89	houm	HOUM09
Have you developed, or found out that you have a serious illness or disability in the last 12 months?		ILL89	ill	ILL09
Have you lost your job or thought you would soon lose your job in the last 12 months?		LJOB89	ljob	LJOB09
Have you fallen out or had a serious disagreement with a friend or relative (other than your spouse/partner or children) or someone you know well or felt betrayed by them in the last 12 months?		RDIS89	rdis	RDIS09
Has a friend or relative (other than your spouse/partner or children) or someone you know well died in the last 12 months?	RELDI82	RELD89	reld	RELD09
Has a friend or relative (other than your spouse/partner or children) or someone you know well had a serious accident or illness or received a serious injury in the last 12 months?	RELI82 / RELH82	RELIL89	relil	RELIL09
Have you lost contact with a close friend or relative (other than your spouse/partner or children) for any other reason in the last 12 months?		RLOS89	rlos	RLOS09
Have you been assaulted, robbed or been a victim of attempted robbery in the last 12 months?	ROBB82	ROB89	rob	ROB09
Have your spouse/partner had a serious accident or illness, or received a serious injury, or been assaulted in the last 12 months?		SPAC89	SPAC3	SPAC09
Have your spouse/partner had any other crises or serious disappointments in their work in the last 12 months?		SPCR89	spcr	SPCR09
Have your spouse/partner lost their job or thought they would soon lose their job in the last 12 months?		SPLJ89	splj	SPLJ09
Have you had any other serious upsets or disappointments in the last 12 months?	UPSET82	UPS89	ups	UPS09
Have you had any other crises or serious disappointments in your work or career in general in the last 12 months?	WKCR82	WKC89	wkc	WKC09

A summary of these events at ages 36 and 43 years can be found in Hatch et al. (2009). These authors categorise life events as family and economic stressors vs. interpersonal relationship stressors, with reference to total number of events (0, 1, 2, 3 or 4+), and whether there was life change (no stressors, stressors with no change, stressors with change).

Obtaining the standard life events variables

As the life events variables are largely independent of each other, it has not been possible to select a standard basket.
If you are interested in an aspect of this topic, an appropriate keyword search (based on the question text) on Skylark should give the results you need.
For example, search for 'robbery', 'moved house' or 'serious disagreement'.

Life Events

Obtaining the standard life events variables