The Current Population Survey (CPS) is the primary source of labor force data in the United States; the panel component of the CPS provides an excellent opportunity for studying short-run change in areas such as labor force participation and poverty. The Census Bureau's recommended procedures for linking CPS data occasionally yield a collection of matched observations that appears-based on demographic information-to represent different people rather than a single person across CPS files. We describe our methodology for assigning a unique identifier to records that share Census Bureau identifiers and have demographic characteristics that are consistent across observations. The identifier eliminates a currently-recommended step when working with linked CPS data-checking to ensure that records with a shared identifier look like the same individual based on age, sex, and race-and provides researchers a common starting point for analyzing validated CPS panel data. This identifier extends previous efforts at IPUMS CPS to create unique identifiers for leveraging the panel aspect of the CPS and are available from IPUMS CPS.

Purpose: To evaluate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between controlling parental feeding practices in adolescence (i.e., restrictive feeding and pressure-to-eat [PE]) and intuitive eating (IE) in adolescence and emerging adulthood; and explore child gender and parental concern about child weight as moderators. Methods: The sample included participants (N = 1,383) from the population-based EAT 2010–2018 study who provided data in adolescence (14.4 ± 2.0 years) and emerging adulthood (22.0 ± 2.0 years) and had at least one caregiver complete surveys in adolescence. Generalized estimating equations evaluated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between restrictive feeding and PE in adolescence and IE in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Interactions with gender and parental concern over child weight in adolescence were explored. Results: Restrictive feeding was cross-sectionally associated with lower IE in adolescence (b = −0.04), though evidence of moderation by parental weight concern indicated this association was only observed in the context of low parental weight concern. Greater PE was associated with lower adolescent IE among boys but higher IE among girls. Longitudinally, the association between PE in adolescence and IE in emerging adulthood differed by parental weight concern; greater PE predicted higher emerging adult IE at high parental weight concern, but lower IE at low parental weight concern. Discussion: Controlling feeding practices in adolescence displayed differential associations with child IE in adolescence and emerging adulthood based on child gender and parental concern over child weight. Notably, PE was associated with greater IE among adolescent girls but lower IE among boys. Results suggest that parental feeding is a valuable intervention target.

The Current Population Survey (CPS) has been the nation's primary source of information about employment and unemployment for decades. The data are widely used by social scientists and policy makers to study labor force participation, poverty, and other high-priority topics. An underutilized feature of the CPS is its short-run panel component. This paper discusses the unique challenges encountered when linking basic monthly data as well as when linking the March basic monthly data to the Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement in the 1976-1988 period. We describe strategies to address linking obstacles and document linkage rates.

Background: Parents have a role in shaping the eating behaviors of young children and the intergenerational transmission of eating attitudes. However, little is known regarding how parental intuitive eating practices are related to characteristics of home food and meal environments. Objective: To investigate the relationship between parental intuitive eating and the home food and meal environment. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of survey data collected online and by mail in 2015–2016 as part of the Project EAT cohort study. Participants and Setting: Participants from 750 unique households (470 mothers, 280 fathers) were surveyed in young adulthood (Mean [M] age = 31.4 years, Standard Deviation [SD] = 1.5). Baseline enrollment of participants in the population-based Project EAT study was conducted in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, schools. Main Outcome Measures: Intuitive eating was assessed via self-report. Statistical Analyses: Modified Poisson regression models were conducted, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Results: Among mothers, higher intuitive eating scores were associated with greater likelihood of usually having fruits and vegetables in the home (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.03) and with lower likelihood of usually having salty snacks and soda pop in the home (PR = 0.91). Higher intuitive eating scores were also associated with greater likelihood of usually serving fruits and vegetables at dinner among mothers (PR = 1.07). Among both mothers (PR = 1.08) and fathers (PR = 1.07), higher intuitive eating scores were associated with greater likelihood of usually having enough time and energy to prepare meals. Conclusions: Intuitive eating practices in parents are associated with specific home food environment characteristics. Extending the understanding of these relationships in longitudinal data has the potential to inform the directionality of influences and may help to identify targets for intervention.

Objective: Sociocultural theories hold that family and peer weight-related teasing increases the risk for unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) by negatively impacting body image. Although much cross-sectional support exists for these pathways, longitudinal data are lacking. This study tested the longitudinal relationships among peer and family teasing (occurrence and perceived impact) in early adolescence, body satisfaction in late adolescence, and UWCBs in young adulthood among a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population. Method: Data were drawn from three waves of Project EAT over a 15-year period (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults), and included responses from 1,902 young adults (57% female). Results: Among female participants, a mediated indirect pathway emerged with family weight-related teasing predicting increased engagement in UWCBs in early adulthood via poorer body image in late adolescence. In contrast, peer teasing did not predict body image or UWCBs. Among boys, the mediated indirect pathways were not significant. However, poor body image in late adolescent males predicted higher likelihood of engaging in UCWBs in early adulthood. Discussion: These findings support the long-term impact of family weight-related teasing on greater risk for UWCBs among girls and young women, and poor body image as a mechanism accounting for this relationship. Moreover, the results highlight the poor body image among adolescent boys as a factor for increased risk of engaging in UWCBs in early adulthood. Pending replication in current cohorts, health promotion and prevention involving family members of early adolescents that address family weight teasing and body image are needed.

Measuring change over time in areas such as family structure, employment, income, and poverty is of great interest to social scientists. The panel component of the Current Population Survey (CPS) affords the opportunity to observe short-term change in these areas. The Annual Social and Economic supplement (ASEC), with its wealth of information on income, health insurance coverage, benefits receipt, and many other topics, is a particularly popular resource for this purpose. However, commonly used methods for linking CPS ASEC files do not address how to link the ASEC oversample records across years, leading to smaller linked sample sizes and unreliable estimates for certain subpopulations. In this research note, we describe how to link individuals from the ASEC oversamples in the 2005-2020 data and the increase in sample size researchers can achieve by doing so. Finally, we illustrate the importance of including oversample records by examining poverty transitions over time.