Investigating change across time in prevalence or association: the challenges of cross-study comparative research and possible solutions

Bann, David; Wright, Liam; Goisis, Alice; Hardy, Rebecca; Johnson, William; Maddock, Jane; McElroy, Eoin; Moulton, Vanessa; Patalay, Praveetha; Scholes, Shaun; Silverwood, Richard; Ploubidis, George B.; O’Neill, Darragh

doi:10.1007/s44155-022-00021-1

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 103 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Details for specific studies selected can be found in Supplementary Study quality was assessed using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS: [27]; see also [28,29]). Modifications to the quality assessment were to ensure quality assessment was aligned to cohort comparison study design (see [30]) and also to time trends research. In particular, comparability of study cohorts and measures were included as key domains in our quality assessment (Supplementary Table 3).…”

Section: Literature Search Strategy and Quality Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining long-term trends in adolescent emotional problems: what we know from population-based studies

Armitage,

Collishaw,

Sellers

2024

Discov Soc Sci Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past four decades, rates of emotional problems in adolescents have increased in many countries, and outcomes for those with mental health problems have worsened. In this review we explore existing population-based studies to evaluate possible explanations for these trends. We include population-based studies that examine both trends in adolescent emotional problems, as well as risk or protective factors previously hypothesised to be associated with trends in youth depression and anxiety. The available evidence on risk or protective factors trends related to family life, young people’s health behaviours and lifestyle, school environment, peer relationships, as well as poverty. Studies reviewed suggest that trends in emotional problems are associated with increases in parental emotional problems, youth weight-control behaviours and eating disorders, school-related stress, as well as a rise in family poverty and social inequality in the 21st Century. One of the biggest changes in young people’s lives over the last few decades has been the rise of digital media to access information and interact with others, but implications for trends in mental health remain unclear. Other trends are likely to have mitigated against even steeper increases in youth emotional problems, for example improvements in youth substance use and a possible long-term reduction in child maltreatment. Epidemiological studies of unselected cohorts testing explanations for secular trends in mental health are scarce and an urgent priority for future research. Such studies will need to prioritise collection of comparable data in repeated population cohorts. Improving young people’s mental health is a major societal challenge, but considerably more needs to be done to understand the connections between social change and trends in youth mental health.

show abstract

Section: Literature Search Strategy and Quality Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining long-term trends in adolescent emotional problems: what we know from population-based studies

Armitage,

Collishaw,

Sellers

2024

Discov Soc Sci Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Comparisons between the cohorts should be made cautiously because of differences in question scope and wording. We identified some of the challenges of cross-study comparisons and suggested methods for dealing with these based on published guidance [40]. For example, we established percentage cost differences between groups and genders to facilitate intercohort comparisons.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of mental health status during adolescence on primary care costs in adulthood across three British cohorts

King

Gronholm

Knapp

et al. 2023

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose This study examines the association between mental health problems in adolescence and general practice (GP) costs during adulthood up to age 50 in the UK. Methods We conducted secondary analyses of three British birth cohorts (individuals born in single weeks in 1946, 1958 and 1970). Data for the three cohorts were analysed separately. All respondents who participated in the cohort studies were included. Adolescent mental health status was assessed in each cohort using the Rutter scale (or, for one cohort, a forerunner of that scale) completed in interviews with parents and teachers when cohort members were aged around 16. Presence and severity of conduct and emotional problems were modelled as independent variables in two-part regression models in which the dependent variable was costs of GP services from data collection sweeps up to mid-adulthood. All analyses were adjusted for covariates (cognitive ability, mother's education, housing tenure, father's social class and childhood physical disability). Results Adolescent conduct and emotional problems, particularly when coexisting, were associated with relatively high GP costs in adulthood up to age 50. Associations were generally stronger in females than males. Conclusion Associations between adolescent mental health problems and annual GP cost were evident decades later, to age 50, suggesting that there could be significant future savings to healthcare budgets if rates of adolescent conduct and emotional problems could be reduced. Trial registration Not applicable.

show abstract

New frontiers for Biosocial Birth Cohort Research: interdisciplinary approaches to exposure, harmonisation and collaboration

Gibbon,

Roberts,

Hardy

et al. 2024

Wellcome Open Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this Open Letter we bring together researchers from the Biosocial Birth Cohort Research (BBCR) network to reflect on interdisciplinary research and methods within birth cohorts and to draw attention to social science approaches to this field, which we argue are underutilized. A more comprehensive and consistent integration of social science approaches would expand the scope and value of research with birth cohorts. We critically engage three specific areas of birth cohort research that provide significant opportunities for exchange across disciplines; how exposure is defined and measured in birth cohorts, the harmonisation of data within and between birth cohorts and the broader experience of interdisciplinary collaboration in birth cohorts and birth cohort research. By reflecting on these three areas, we highlight the need for more in-depth dialogue between life and social sciences in the design of birth cohorts, the measures that are used, and the research made possible. We argue that improving the methodological tools for measuring social and biological exposures, incorporating the complexity of participant experience, and ensuring that longitudinal studies are recognised by a wider range of disciplines are essential for collaborative biosocial research with the goal of mitigating health disparities in global and public health.

show abstract

Investigating change across time in prevalence or association: the challenges of cross-study comparative research and possible solutions

Cited by 4 publications

References 103 publications

Explaining long-term trends in adolescent emotional problems: what we know from population-based studies

Explaining long-term trends in adolescent emotional problems: what we know from population-based studies

Effects of mental health status during adolescence on primary care costs in adulthood across three British cohorts

New frontiers for Biosocial Birth Cohort Research: interdisciplinary approaches to exposure, harmonisation and collaboration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About