2020 Articles
A multi-level developmental approach towards understanding adolescent mental health and behaviour: rationale, design and methods of the LIFECOURSE study in Iceland
Purpose: Identifying and understanding modifiable risk and protective factors that can inform early detection and intervention to prevent adolescent emotional problems and harmful behaviours is among the most pressing modern-day public health challenges. This paper describes the rationale, objectives, methods, and anticipated outcomes of the LIFECOURSE study, a multi-level, bio-psychosocial prospective study designed to advance our understanding of factors that shape adolescent mental health and behaviour.
Methods: Conducted by the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis at Reykjavik University, LIFECOURSE is a longitudinal population-based developmental study of Icelandic adolescents born in 2004. The study utilizes a comprehensive multi-informant assessment of individual, societal and biological factors measured across the lifespan. Data assembly and collection were conducted from 2016-2020 and utilize both retrospective and prospective data sources: (a) retrospective registry data assembled from seven national databases, (b) prospectively collected social surveys and (c) biomarker samples.
Results: Of the 3914 eligible adolescents, 60.8% (n = 2378) provided informed parental consent and student assent to participate in the study, with approximately half of the participants being female (n = 1175, 49.4%) and the majority being born in the capital area (n = 1455; 61.2%). The coverage of available data from the national databases and participation in the social surveys ranged from 81.7 to 100%.
Conclusions: Major gaps remain in our knowledge of how individual, societal and biological factors across the lifespan-from early life to adolescence-interact and shape the risk for emotional problems and harmful behaviours during adolescence. The LIFECOURSE study was designed to address this knowledge gap.
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Halldorsdottir et al. LIFECOURSE Study Methods - Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2020.pdf application/pdf 284 KB Download File
Also Published In
- Title
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01995-6
More About This Work
- Academic Units
- Health and Behavior Studies
- Published Here
- March 2, 2021