NSCH and NSCH-LC Content: Topics by Age Group

Summary of select survey topics by age group: Download PDF (PDF)

Content crosswalk

Topics covered in the 2018/2019 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) and the 2024 NSCH Longitudinal Cohort (NSCH-LC) follow-up survey, shown by the child's age group in years at the time of each survey.

    • 2018/2019 NSCH
    • 2024 NSCH-LC

Health

  Age Group (Years)
Topic 0-3 4-5 6-11 12-17 18-23
General health ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Special health care needs (SHCN) ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○  
Deafness or problems with hearing ● ● ● ●  
Blindness ● ● ● ●  
Condition of teeth ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Anxiety ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Depression ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Behavioral or conduct problems ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Developmental delay ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Intellectual and learning disability ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Other health conditions ● ● ● ●  
Conditions’ effect on daily activities ● ● ● ●  
Preterm birth ● ●      
Birthweight ● ●      
Body-mass index (BMI)     ● ○ ● ○  
Hearing loss   ○ ○ ○ ○
Mental and emotional health   ○ ○ ○ ○
Disability or SHCN requiring caregiver support         ○
Suicide attempt         ○
Substance use         ○

Health care services

  Age Group (Years)
Topic 0-3 4-5 6-11 12-17 18-23
Preventive medical and dental visits ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Medical home ● ● ● ●  
Personal doctor or nurse ● ● ● ●  
Usual source of health care ● ● ● ●  
Coordinated system of care ● ● ● ●  
Specialist health care ● ● ● ●  
Oral health care ● ● ● ●  
Mental health treatment* ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Emergency room visit ● ● ● ●  
Health insurance* ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Unmet health care needs ● ● ●    
Early Intervention ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Speech therapy ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Developmental screening ● ●      
Planning for transition to adult health care       ●  
Transition to adult health care         ○
Health devices   ○ ○ ○ ○

Schooling and health-related activities/behaviors

  Age Group (Years)
Topic 0-3 4-5 6-11 12-17 18-23
Sleep behaviors ● ● ● ●  
Flourishing ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○  
Breastfeeding and formula ● ●      
Child care ● ● ○ ○ ○  
Screen time ● ● ○ ○ ○  
School readiness ● ● ○      
Missed school days     ● ○ ● ○  
Extracurricular activities     ● ●  
Physical activity     ● ○ ● ○  
Bullying     ● ○ ● ○  
School performance     ○ ○ ○
Post-secondary school or employment*         ○

Family and household

  Age Group (Years)
Topic 0-3 4-5 6-11 12-17 18-23
Number of moves ● ● ● ●  
Family resilience ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○  
Food sufficiency ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Public assistance ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Adverse childhood experiences ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Parenting supports ● ● ● ●  
Smoking in household ● ● ● ●  
Neighborhood characteristics ● ● ● ●  
Parent/caregiver physical health ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Parent/caregiver mental and emotional health* ● ● ○ ● ○ ● ○ ○
Parent-child activities ● ● ○      
Parent-child communication     ● ○ ● ○ ○
Parent/caregiver aggravation     ● ●  
Housing instability   ○ ○ ○ ○

The COVID-19 Pandemic (NSCH-LC only)

  Age Group (Years)
Topic 0-3 4-5 6-11 12-17 18-23
Child's COVID infection   ○ ○ ○ ○
Child's Long COVID   ○ ○ ○ ○
Child's hospitalization due to COVID   ○ ○ ○ ○
Child's COVID vaccination   ○ ○ ○ ○
Parent/caregiver COVID infection   ○ ○ ○ ○
Parent/caregiver Long COVID   ○ ○ ○  
Parent/caregiver COVID vaccination   ○ ○ ○  
Parent/caregiver hospitalization due to COVID   ○ ○ ○ ○
Parent/caregiver death from COVID   ○ ○ ○ ○
Difficulty getting health care   ○ ○ ○ ○
Impact on learning   ○ ○ ○ ○
Remote learning and school closures   ○ ○ ○ ○

* For selected topics, the NSCH-LC also collected information about experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic among children and young adults ages 4–23.

Date Last Reviewed: