Welcome to our news and blogs. Here you’ll find the latest developments and insights from across our four longitudinal studies.
Researchers tracking the experiences of the millennial generation can now explore a wider range of health-related questions, thanks to a pioneering new agreement which enables secure onward sharing of NHS Digital data linked to Next Steps via the UK Data Service.
The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) has secured funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), to further its investigation into the immediate and longer term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people in Britain.
Celebrating 50 years of the 1970 British Cohort Study – During the Age 16 Sweep study members were given a 4-day dietary diary to complete. Analysed alongside dietary data from later sweeps, this information may help us to understand adult eating patterns, and health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes.
CLS is seeking input on the first draft questionnaire of the Age 31 Sweep of Next Steps, a longitudinal cohort study following 16,000 people born in England in 1989-1990.
The Age 10 Sweep included measures of height, weight, head circumference, blood pressure, pulse, vision and hearing. Most of these measures were then repeated at age 16 and several were repeated in the Age 46 Sweep. This allows researchers to study trajectories of health from childhood into adulthood and how these are affected by other circumstances and behaviours throughout life.
How much does one’s family background influence their midlife wellbeing? And, what effect does technology engagement have on teenage sleep? What is the psychological impact of having to work part-time when full-time jobs are not available? And, how important is cognitive ability in helping people climb the social ladder?
New activity monitor data from the Age 46 Biomedical Sweep of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) are now available for researchers to download from the UK Data Service.
Teenage mothers and men who become fathers by their early 20s are at greater risk of developing conditions such as heart disease and diabetes in middle age, compared to those who delay parenthood, according to a UCL-led study.
Are boys more sensitive to the state of the local job market when choosing their GCSE subjects? And why are migrant and ethnic minority mothers at increased risk of mental ill health? Researchers have been using CLS study data to tackle these and other key questions.
Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are five times more likely to be depressed, and almost six times more likely to have self-harmed in the past year, compared to their heterosexual peers.
Harmonised data from the 1946, 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts on childhood environment and experiences are now available to the global research community via the UK Data Service.
Adolescents who use social media for at least five hours a day are more likely than their peers to go to sleep late and have trouble waking during the school week.
Ryan Bradshaw
Senior Communications Officer
Phone: 020 7612 6516
Email: r.bradshaw@ucl.ac.uk