AID:A 2023

The focus of AID:A 2023 is on topics related to the upbringing and psychosocial adjustment of children, adolescents, young adults, and the well-being in families in general. In order to make comparisons over time, AID:A 2023 has a similar thematic lens as the previous AID:A surveys. An emphasis is put on different social trends, such as all-day care for schoolchildren (in German: Ganztagschule), non-formal education, the transition from school to work, work-family balance and conflicts between those life domains, the organization of leisure time and friendships, the integration of immigrant families, and also the complexity of family structures (separated families, stepfamilies, patchwork families, and so called rainbow families). At the same time, new thematic foci are introduced, such as long-term effects of the Corona pandemic or the increasing digitalization of family life, of education, and work.

The topics and survey questions in AID:A 2023 were in large parts operationalized in a way that allows comparisons across different age groups in order to be able to examine individual and societal developmental processes. In addition, the multi-actor survey design in AID:A makes it possible to contrast and compare household members' views on different topics (e.g., when both parents and children report on a respective topic).

Core themes across different age groups include ratings on:

• Life satisfaction
• Fear of the future
• Physical and mental health
• Family climate
• Leisure activities
• Friendships
• Education and work 
• Media use
• Demographics

Because children, adolescents, and young adults have to master different age-graded developmental tasks that also depend on their involvement in different institutional contexts (e.g., daycare, school, vocational training or studies, job), parts of the survey program are adapted to specific age groups.

• For children aged 0 to 11 years, parents answer questions about the childcare situation, leisure activities, media use, health and, if the child is already in school, also about school-related issues. For adolescents ages 12 to 17 years, parents answer a reduced set of questions (e.g., on shared leisure time and school involvement).
• From the age of 5 onward, each member of the family is interviewed individually. Children aged 5- to 8-years are asked about their relationship to the other family members, their friends, and their experiences in daycare or school. 9- to 11-year-old children are additionally asked questions about school satisfaction and their emerging autonomy from the parental home.
• The questionnaire for 12- to 17-year-olds includes topics, such as education, media use, their involvement in hobbies and social clubs, the use of the welfare state services and cultural offerings, first romantic but also bullying experiences. Questions about education and employment are also added with increasing age.
• From the age of 16 onward, adolescents and young adults are also asked about political participation, and from the age of 18 onward about their educational and employment history.
• Parents answer a separate set of questions about their role as parents, work-family balance and conflict between those life domains, their own well-being, and their financial and partnership situation.
• Adults who also provide information about the household as a whole are asked about various aspects of family life, such as family relationships, finances, and the living situation of household members.

AID:A 2023 uses a mixed-mode design. Parallel to the 2019 core main survey, initial contacts with the refreshment sample in AID:A 2023 will take place via personal interviews (CAPI). Additionally, alternative interview modes via telephone (CATI) and online interview (CAWI), as well as CASI (computer assisted self interview), will be offered to increase the overall participation rate.

The target sample includes individuals in the age range from birth to age 32, like in AID:A 2019. For the second core survey  AID:A 2023, all individuals who gave consent to participate again after the first core survey in 2019 will be re-contacted, and a refreshment sample in that age range will be drawn as well. If other individuals in the targeted age range also lie in a respective household (e.g., siblings or the adolescents' own children), they will also be approached to participate in the survey.

Furthermore, the parents of minors are interviewed, if they live in the same  household. If the parents of minors are separated, the adults living in the household who take on the parental role for the minor (e.g., stepparents or new partners of the biological parents) are also interviewed. Additionally, parents who moved out will also be contacted in the case of a parental separation in panel households.

The interviews are estimated to take place from March to August 2023 in about 7,000 households nationwide and will be conducted by professional interviewers from the infas Institute. It is expected that about 13,000 children, adolescents, and young adults in addition to about 8,000 mothers and fathers of minors will participate.

After preparation by the AID:A data management, the AID:A data can be requested by scientists from university and non-university research institutions as a scientific use file from the DJI Research Data Center.

Use of the data requires a data usage agreement, which can be applied for via the DJI Research Data Center.

Without a data usage agreement, basic descriptive statistics can be viewed via the DJI Research Data Center after processing.

Information for respondents in AID:A 2023 can be found here.