Longitudinal datasets contain information collected repeatedly over time about a group of people. Research designs that use longitudinal data allow for the examination of patterns of change across time and the influence of earlier life circumstances on later outcomes. Longitudinal research can also provide insight into causal mechanisms and processes that are beyond the scope of cross-sectional studies and can be a powerful resource to accelerate mental health research.

In the map view, the datasets are arranged by location across the globe.

Move around the map and zoom in and out to explore the wealth of datasets in different regions.

Click on icons to see the details of the datasets in each country or all the sites within the datasets spanning across multiple nations.

We showcase a number types of data that contribute to making datasets promising for transformative mental health research, including mental health, qualitative and neuroimaging data.

We chose these data types through a Theory of Change process with researchers, stakeholders and lived experience experts from around the world. You can learn more the Theory of Change process in our report here: https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/MQ-Lived-Experience-Report.pdf

We are working hard on adding other types of data to the Atlas, including biological, cognitive and genetic data, soon!

The Atlas does not provide access to data, and each dataset on the Atlas has its own data access policies and procedures. To learn more about how to access the data from each dataset, head to the yellow ‘Data access’ tab on each dataset page.

To reference the Atlas, please use:

Atlas of Longitudinal Datasets. (2024). Atlas of Longitudinal Datasets. [online] Available at: [ LINK ]. Accessed on [date]

To be included on the Atlas, a dataset needs to have collected data from the same group of individuals over multiple time points. We have identified over 3,000 datasets, which we are continuing to add to the Atlas. At this stage, we have prioritised:

• Large datasets with 2,000 participants
• Datasets with over 1,000 participants from low- and middle-income countries
• Datasets that include mental health data

If you can’t find the dataset you are looking for, we may be working on adding it soon. If you think you know a study that meets our criteria, but is not listed, please get in touch! Email us at atlas.longitudinaldatasets@kcl.ac.uk

We include datasets that have collected data about the same group of individuals over multiple time points.

• This includes cohort studies, household panel studies, community panel studies, biobanks and registries of routinely collected data.

We have identified over 3,000 longitudinal datasets and continue to add datasets to the Atlas. At this stage, we have prioritised:

• Large datasets with over 2,000 participants
• Datasets from low- and middle-income countries
• Datasets that have collected mental health data

What about clinical trials? Clinical trials are not the focus of this project, and we are not considering datasets with intervention and control groups at this time. Large datasets evaluating population-wide interventions with repeated assessment and without control groups are within the scope of this project.

What about repeated cross-sectional datasets? As we are focussing on datasets that follow the same group of individuals over time, repeated cross-sectional datasets are not within the scope of this project.