Harvard Study of Adult Development (HSAD)
HSAD is a study of two groups of men over the adult lifespan, tracking major domains of mental and physical health, social functioning, and work life. The two groups of participants include: The Grant Study, composed of 268 Harvard graduates from the classes of 1939-1944 (also known as the 'College cohort'); and the Glueck Study group, made up of 456 men who grew up in the inner-city neighborhoods of Boston (also known as the 'Inner City cohort'). After starting with 724 male participants, the study incorporated the spouses of the original men and more than 1,300 descendants of the initial group (the second generation of the Study of Adult Development).
Study design
Cohort
Number of participants at first data collection
724 (participants)
Age at first data collection
17 - 21 years (the Grant Study cohort)
12 - 16 years (the Glueck Study cohort)
Participant year of birth
Varied (the Grant Study cohort)
Varied (the Glueck Study cohort)
Participant sex
Male
Representative sample at baseline?
No
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
1938 (the Grant Study cohort)
1940 (the Glueck Study cohort)
Primary Institutions
Harvard Medical School (HMS)
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)
Links
maelstrom-research.org/study/hsad
massgeneral.org/psychiatry/research/laboratory-of-adult-development
Profile paper DOI
Not available
Funders
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Audio or visual recordings (e.g. of child behaviour, facial expressions)
- Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
- Interview – face-to-face
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Self-report questionnaire – online
- Self-report questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- Interviews or focus groups
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- None
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
