The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is a unique resource with a wealth of rich longitudinal data. Furthermore, ALSPAC is one of the few longitudinal cohorts with repeated assessments of self report psychiatric traits, along with a host of early exposures and later outcomes. As such, ALSPAC is a vital tool for exploring the longitudinal nature of psychiatric traits, their antecedents and later consequences.

Examining the nature of psychiatric disorders such as depression is complex and often requires advanced statistical methods to untangle complex associations and underlying mechanisms. Currently, there are few open access datasets with enough detail available for researchers to learn these complex statistical methods. As such, many researchers are forced to use datasets that do not capture the complexity of traits such as depression, and this could hinder the ability to make further progress in uncovering diseases like depression.

Given the sensitivity of the ALSPAC study, it is not appropriate to release full versions of the data. However, it is possible to simulate parts of the ALSPAC data to give the same properties, without the risk of disclosure and identification of participants.

Simulating ALSPAC data that matches the original properties of the data would provide an excellent resource for teaching purposes as well as providing an introduction to researchers wanting to use the original ALSPAC study.