Frequently Asked Questions
Here are questions other respondents have asked about…
What is Add Health?
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health also known as Add Health is a one-of-a-kind study. You may recall, you and your child(ren) were first interviewed for the Add Health Study in the 1994/1995 school year when they were in middle or high school. Add Health is the only nationally representative health study in the country that has followed its participants from adolescence to adulthood. Add Health is one of the key studies that provides important information about the nation’s health. Your continued participation will help researchers expand this valuable source of data across multiple generations and learn how life experiences and relationships influence the health and wellbeing of parents and their children over time.
You can call us toll-free at 877-475-7051 to check the legitimacy of the study or to find additional information. We can also share contact information for the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and their Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is responsible for regulating this research study and making sure it is ethical.
Please visit the Add Health Parent Study website for more information.
If you have any questions about your rights as a study participant, please contact RTI’s Office of Research Protections toll-free at 877-475-7051.
Contact
Using contact information on file, you were identified as the parent or parent figure of a child selected to take part in the first Add Health Study during the 1994/1995 school year. As long as we confirm we are speaking to the correct person, you do not need to remember the previous interview to take part in the current Add Health Parent Study.
To update your contact information, you may call the Add Health Parent Study team (toll free) at 877-475-7051, email AHPS@rti.org, or follow the steps below to use the website.
- Go to the Add Health Parent Study website.
- Select the ‘Contact Us’ tab from the menu at the top of the page.
- Scroll down on the ‘Contact Us’ page and press the ‘Contact Update Form’ button.
- Enter your up-to-date contact information.
It is important that we update your contact information because you are an original Add Health parent, and we don’t want to lose touch with you. Unlike other studies, we cannot replace you with another parent if we lose track of you. We are asking all Add Health parents who were selected to participate in the current Parent Study to update their contact information so we can contact you when the study begins.
The Interview Process
It should take about 2 hours to complete the in-person interview, consisting of a survey, health and mental assessments, and DNA collection. Additionally, a Family Health History form (FHH) will be given to you after completing the in-person interview. You can fill out the FHH form at a time that is easy for you and return it to us using the prepaid return envelope.
We’ll ask about your relationships and obligations, your physical and emotional health, your family, health-related behaviors, memory and cognition, employment and retirement, and wealth and assets.
As a research participant, your participation is voluntary, your answers will be kept confidential, and you can refuse to answer any question you are not comfortable answering.
About the Interview
Yes, you will receive compensation as a thank you for completing different parts of the study. We appreciate your contribution to this important research.
While we aren’t able to share individual results from the study, we want you to know that your participation is incredibly valuable in helping us understand health and well-being. The research focuses on identifying broader patterns rather than personal results, which allows us to make meaningful contributions to science and public health. By participating, you’re playing a vital role in shaping what we learn, and we’re excited to use this knowledge to advance future studies.
Who We Are
A field interviewer from the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International will be interviewing you. RTI assists the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with completing interviews for the Add Health Parent Study. RTI is an independent, non-profit institute that provides research, development, and technical services to government and commercial clients worldwide. The company is located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and is affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Add Health Parent Study is a collaborative effort between the University North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and Columbia University. Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International has been contracted to complete the Parent Study interviews. This study is being funded by a research grant from the National Institute of Aging. For more information on the Parent Study team, you can visit the Add Health Parent Study website at Who We Are – Add Health Parent Study (unc.edu)
Participation
No, participation in every part of the Parent Study is your choice. Whether or not you choose to participate will have no negative impacts on you or your child. You can stop participating at any point during the study.
You should not participate in the study if you are currently incarcerated, if you are currently residing outside the United States, or if your child(ren) is not an Add health Study Participant.
To reach out to the Parent Study team with questions and to update your contact information, please visit the Contact Us page.

