About the NSCH-LC Survey

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About the NSCH-LC Survey

What is the National Survey of Children’s Health – Longitudinal Cohort (NSCH-LC)?

The NSCH-LC is a national survey that focuses on the physical and emotional health of children and young adults ages 3 to 24 in the United States. The NSCH-LC collects information related to the health and well-being of children and young adults, including access to and use of health care, family interactions, mental health, school and after-school experiences, and family economic circumstances.

Why is the National Survey of Children’s Health – Longitudinal Cohort important?

The NSCH-LC is designed to measure the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, young adults, and their families. The results of the NSCH-LC will help inform the development of federal policies and programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of children and young adults. For more information about this survey or about health and well-being of children and young adults, click here .

What kinds of questions does the survey ask?

Survey topics include:

Health care
Family interactions and characteristics
Physical and mental health status
School and after-school experiences
Family economic circumstances

Why does the National Survey of Children’s Health – Longitudinal Cohort ask such detailed questions?

Detailed information is collected because many of the child and young adult health challenges faced by families, communities, and states are complicated. In addition, these detailed questions are aimed at obtaining a better understanding and measurement of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted children, young adults, and their families.

How are data collected?

Participants can answer survey questions online, by mail, or over the phone. Participants first complete a screener questionnaire NSCH-LCS to determine if their address represents an occupied residence, and if there are eligible children or young adults ages 3-24 that have lived with the respondent or another adult in the household since 2018.

Eligible households are then asked to complete a topical questionnaire containing detailed questions about one of these children or young adults. Households receive one of the three age-specific topical questionnaires based on the age of the sampled person:

· NSCH-LC1 for children aged 3-5 years,

· NSCH-LC2_3 for children aged 6-17 years, or

· NSCH-LC4 for young adults aged 18-24 years.

For more information about the survey design see our Technical Documentation Page.

Where can I find copies of the questionnaire?

Census publishes informational versions of the paper questionnaires at the start of data collection. Questionnaires are located on our Questionnaire Page.

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How often are data collected and released?

The NSCH-LC data collection period will be from winter 2023 through spring 2024. Publicly available datasets are expected to be released in spring 2025.

What type of data is available?

Census publishes the data in both STATA and SAS files. The data will be located on our Data Page as of spring 2025.

Is there a way to navigate or search for specific data variables?

Yes, the NSCH-LC codebook will be available in spring 2025 and can help users find specific data and identifies changes over time.

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