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South London Child Development Study (SLCDS)
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Sample details

The SLCDS aims to identify the environmental predictors of women’s physical and mental health in pregnancy and the first year postpartum, and investigate whether the mother’s perinatal illness increased the children’s risk for cognitive, emotional, and behavioural problems. In 1986, around 250 pregnant women were recruited from two antenatal clinics in South London, England, United Kingdom, and participated in a baseline assessment between 14 and 20 weeks of pregnancy. A subset of almost 180 women was assessed again during pregnancy at 36 weeks, and twice during the first year postpartum, at 3 and 12 months. Children's birth measurements were collected. Parents and their children were followed up at 4, 11, 16, and 25 years.

Study design
Cohort - primary caregiver and child, Cohort - birth, Cohort

Number of participants at first data collection

179 (children)

71 (fathers)

252 (mothers)

Age at first data collection

Birth (children)

Varied (fathers)

Varied (mothers)

Participant year of birth

No information available (children)

Varied (fathers)

Varied (mothers)

Participant sex
All

Representative sample at baseline?
No

Sample features

Children and young people
Community-based sample
Newborns, infants and babies
Parents
Pregnant people
Dataset details
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Countries

England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Year of first data collection

1986

Primary Institutions

Cardiff University (Academic, United Kingdom)

Duke University (Academic, United States of America)

King's College London (KCL) (Academic, United Kingdom)

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (Academic, United Kingdom)

University of Bristol (Academic, United Kingdom)

Links

doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.156620

Funders

Medical Research Council (MRC) (Research council, United Kingdom)

National Health Service (NHS) (Healthcare/Medical, United Kingdom)

Psychiatry Research Trust (Research, United Kingdom)

Ongoing?
Yes

Data types collected

mentalHealthData
dataLinkage
Quantitative data collection
  • Audio or visual recordings (e.g. of child behaviour, facial expressions)
  • Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
  • Interview – face-to-face
  • Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
  • Secondary data
  • Self-completed questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
Qualitative data collection
  • None
Neuroimaging data collection
  • None
Linked or secondary data
  • Education data
  • Healthcare data
Features

Engagement

  • None
  • Keywords

    Abuse and neglect
    Antisocial behaviour
    Biological samples/biospecimens
    Birth records and measurement
    Cognition
    Marriage
    Mental health
    Pregnancy
    Psychology and psychopathology
    Sociodemographics
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