Proposal summaries
B273 - An ESRC Centre An examination of the impact of family socio-economic status on outcomes in late childhood and adolescence - 01/11/2005
To chart the relationship of these outcomes with socio-economic status of the family of origin of a large population
based sample of young people currently living in the UK.
To understand the complementarities between different aspects of children's and adolescent's lives at one point of time
and across time, examining lives from birth to adolescence.
To study the pathways by which socio-economic status of parents affects outcomes for their children. These pathways
include the role of peer groups, friendships and neighbourhoods; schools; psychological motivations; parental mental
health; family (mal)functioning and parental behaviours early in children's lives.
To compare the development of current adolescents in the UK with their US counterparts and those in the UK of earlier
generations.
To undertake methodological innovation in the analysis of large scale survey data, including the estimation of nonnested
hierarchial data; the analysis of the impact of missing data and the use of imputation techniques; and the
exploration of the use of biomedical, including genetic, information as instruments for observed outcomes in early/middle
childhood.
To disseminate our research to the academic community in a wide range of disciplines; to inform policy makers and aid
the development of information based policy in the fields of child and adolescent development, family, educational and
neighbourhood policy; and to achieve a step change in the usage of the unique Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and
Children (ALSPAC) data resource within the social science community in the UK and overseas.
B268 - The environmental determinants of refractive error - 01/11/2005
To test already postulated relationships between the environmental exposures and refractive error development in the ALSPAC cohort, using existing data (non-cycloplegic autorefraction
To obtain axial length measurements on the ALSPAC cohort of childrenat the age of 15 and use these data to confirm/modify the results from phase
To carry out cross cohort comparisons with another cohort study that is dedicated to the development of myopia (the Singapore Cohort study Of Risk factors for MyopiA- SCORM) and has comparable, wide-ranging data.
B267 - Wellcome Advanced Training Fellowship - 01/11/2005
(No outline received).
B271 - ALSPAC and cannabis use and mental health - 01/10/2005
(No outline received).
B269 - Recurrence of postpartum depression - 01/10/2005
(No outline received).
B221 - The prevalence associations and impact of developmental co-ordination disorder within ALSPAC - 01/10/2005
Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is an under recognised cause of major disability in childhood. Due to a lack of robust epidemiological evidence there is a lack of awareness of how DCD affects children and limited evidence to support existing intervention strategies.
The aim of this study is to enhance the evidence base regarding the potential impact of DCD on the lives of children in order to inform recommendations for service provision, leading to the development of targeted multidisciplinary interventions to reduce physical, psychological and social disability. The proposed "Complex Intervention" will be based on a systematic review of the literature, a quantitative analysis of a large existing dataset, and a qualitative investigation of the experience of a group of adolescents with DCD and their parents.
B262 - Alcohol consumption and the outcomes of pregnancy - 01/10/2005
(No outline received).
B446 - Systematic genotyping in central appetite-regulatory pathways for association with childhood obesity risk - 16/09/2005
No outline received
B256 - The origins and outcomes of persisting phonological impairment - 01/09/2005
* To establish prevalence figures for SI at ages 5 and 8 years.
* To identify factors that are predictive of SI at ages 5 and 8 years.
* To describe the profiles of children with SI at 5 and 8 years in terms of language skills,
behaviour, self esteem and the impact on the child's education and social relations
* To investigate the existence and nature of subgroups of speech problems.
B264 - Pathways to cannabis use and from cannabis use to harm amongst young people - 01/09/2005
Specific aims of this project are to:
1. Fully exploit data already collected in ALSPAC to investigate trajectories to use of cannabis and other drugs in late adolescence and early adulthood and adverse psychological, educational and social outcomes associated with these pathways.
2. Collect new data on ALSPAC children in late adolescence and early adulthood so that the resource has data on the whole of childhood - from before birth to the onset of adulthood allowing investigation of effects of exposures both cumulatively and during critical time periods, such as pregnancy, infancy, puberty and adolescence, on outcomes measured in late adolescence and around the onset of adulthood.
3. Obtain consent for and establish mechanisms of linkage between individual ALSPAC study participants and routine sources of data on educational, social and health outcomes that may be influenced by exposure to cannabis and other drugs.
The project will realise these aims through meeting the following objectives:
* Objective 1:To obtain detailed and objective measurement of frequency, quantity, route of administration, form of drug used and dependence on cannabis and other drugs through a clinic based assessment at age 17 (including collection of biological samples) and a postal questionnaire at age 19
* Objective 2: To measure psychotic like symptoms in a clinic based assessment at age 17 and a postal questionnaire at age 19.
* Objective 3: To measure involvement in antisocial and other risky behaviour, sibling drug use, social position and labour market participation through a postal questionnaire at age 19.
* Objective 4: To develop the methodology necessary to allow individual linkage to routine health and social outcome data and to extend linkage already established (with parental consent) to educational outcome data to these other data sources after obtaining individual consent at an age 17 clinic.
* Objective 5: To examine direct associations between currently established candidate polymorphisms and candidate polymorphisms that emerge during the lifetime of the project on trajectories and level of cannabis use, and to use such polymorphisms as unconfounded measures of cannabis intake to look at associations between cannabis use and related harm.
* Objective 6: To examine possible gene-environment interactions involving such genotypes in relation to the outcomes considered in this project.
* Objective 7: To use ALSPAC data already collected along with data collected as described above to clarify causal pathways to onset and progression of cannabis use, to use of other drugs and to the adverse outcomes associated with such use, attributable risks of key causal exposures and most promising targets for effective intervention.
* Objective 8: To establish a resource that will allow consideration of these questions in relation to adverse health and social outcomes apparent beyond the lifetime of the project.
B261 - Diet in relation to increasing body fatness in childhood - 01/09/2005
Childhood obesity is a major problem in westernised countries. It strongly tracks with adult obesity, a major modifiable risk factor for cancer. Higher levels of body fatness are associated with Westernised life styles of which diet is a potentially modifiable component. Studies that have concentrated on nutrient-obesity associations have often failed to show consistent relationships. The study of dietary patterns over time may be more informative, as foods or nutrients are not eaten in isolation.
This project will use data collected by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a large prospective cohort study. Dietary information has been collected on several occasions throughout childhood using food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) and using 3-day diet diaries at 10 and 13 years of age. Dietary patterns assessed by principal components analysis and cluster analysis will be considered as the primary exposures. Total body fatness and lean tissue mass have been assessed at 9, 11, 13 and 15 years of age by Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA). We will investigate the relationships between dietary patterns throughout childhood and the fatness of the children, with particular focus on the children who increase in fatness between 9 and 15 years.
B259 - Reducing emotional distress in adolescence the role of the school in influencing vulnerability and resilience - 01/09/2005
The proposed study is part of a wider application to the MRC for a postdoctoral Special Research Training Fellowship in Health Services and Health of the Public Research. The overall theme of the application is the causes of emotional distress in early to mid adolescence and the support needs of those who experience this, with a particular focus on the school context, in terms of risk factors and potential avenues of support. The aim of this particular study is to assess incidence and school-related risk factors for deliberate self-harm in 14-15 year olds in ALSPAC. The young people in the sample have already been asked during their clinic interviews at age 11 about episodes of self-harm and suicidal thoughts (frequency, timing and nature of episodes). The children were asked the following questions: (a) "Have you thought of killing yourself?" (b) "Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?" (c) "Have you ever made plans to kill yourself?" (d) "Have you actually tried to kill yourself?". I propose to build on this data, by including several questions in the questionnaires to be sent out to the ALSPAC teenagers at age 14-15 years.
B257 - Socioeconomic patterning of cognitive function in children - 01/09/2005
Background. Cognitive function and intelligence quotient (IQ) have been related with adult mortality in some but not all studies. IQ was not related to coronary heart disease or stroke after the age of 651 and childhood IQ was not related to mortality in women2. Adjustment for socioeconomic circumstances partly explains this association3. Furthermore, childhood cognitive ability could determine school performance and thus, influence later socioeconomic position. Research in this area is limited and ASLPAC offers a unique opportunity to investigate whether cognitive function is already socially patterned at a young age.
Objective. The objective of this project is to investigate whether cognitive function in childhood is socially distributed, using different aspects of cognitive function and different measures of socioeconomic position.
Main variables for this project. We will need variables measuring cognitive function (e.g. McArthur Communicative Development Inventory at 20 months, Pre-School Language Scales (PLS-3), McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities at 36 months, etc.), family background details, and the primary carer's verbal functioning (Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale), are and individual socioeconomic position indicators, socio demographic characteristics and school characteristics.
Statistical analysis. We will assess the social patterning of cognitive function in the children, with particular attention to using different indicators of life course socioeconomic position to describe this distribution. We will conduct multiple regression analysis. Sensitivity analyses will be carried out to explore the degree to which misclassification of both exposures and confounders could influence the observed effect estimates.
References.
1. Hart CL, Taylor MD, Smith GD, et al. Childhood IQ and cardiovascular disease in adulthood: prospective observational study linking the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies. Soc Sci Med 2004;59:2131-8.
2. Kuh D, Richards M, Hardy R, Butterworth S, Wadsworth ME. Childhood cognitive ability and deaths up until middle age: a post-war birth cohort study. Int J Epidemiol 2004;33:408-13.
3. Huisman M, Kunst AE, Mackenbach JP. Intelligence and socioeconomic inequalities in health. Lancet 2005;366:807-8.
B254 - Assessment of future ovarian reserve in childhood - 01/08/2005
(No outline received).
B410 - Early determinants of dietary salt intake The association of sodium intake in infancy with blood pressure in later life Maternal iron status during pregnancy and offspring blood pressure - 01/08/2005
This is a proposal for analysis of the ALSPAC data - and has 5 different research questions:
1.Does dietary sodium intake track from infancy through to age 7? In particular is
dietary sodium intake in the first year of life strongly associated with intake at age
7?
2.Is dietary sodium intake at age 7 greater among children who have experienced
diarrhoea, vomiting and/or dehydration in the first year of life than those who have
not experienced these illnesses? Is there an association between the number of
episodes of diarrhoea/vomiting/dehydration and dietary sodium intake at age 7?
3.Is infant feeding (ever breast fed and duration of breast feeding) related to dietary
sodium intake at age 7?
4.Is birth weight related to dietary sodium intake at age 7?
5.Is childhood socioeconomic position related to dietary sodium intake at age 7?
B253 - Profiling children who stutter - 01/07/2005
Stuttering is a disabling condition that can have adverse effects on a child's life in school, and on young adults' occupational choice. Many children experience disruptions to their fluency in their preschool years. However, research has not been able to predict which children are likely to go on to be fluent and which children will go on to stuttering.
Using a study with large numbers, a wealth of data about children's development and unique speech data provides an opportunity to investigate this question. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children recruited 14000 mothers during their pregnancy. The children were born in 1991/2 and the study has followed them as they have grown up, with questionnaires and assessments. Samples of the children's speech will be analysed to establish which children show stuttered speech. The study will then investigate developmental histories, educational successes and social behaviours to compare children who outgrow their stuttering with those who do not. Identifying which factor predict recovery can inform how therapists select which children need early intervention and also shape the development of therapy approaches and techniques that are needed to help prevent stuttering and its adverse effects.
B248 - The role of parental illness beliefs and behaviour in the epidemiology of fatigue in adolescence - 01/06/2005
(No outline received).
B246 - Genetics of obesity - 01/06/2005
The present proposal seeks support for a consortium arrangement between the University of Western Australia (Australia) and the University of Bristol (UK) toconduct genetic epidemiological analyses of a unique prospective longitudinal birth cohort in order to evaluate the etiological pathways underlying the childhood precursors of T2D - obesity and metabolic factors such as IR and GI. Whilst the principal consortium members include Australian and British researchers, collaborative arrangements have also been arranged at an "as required" basis with researchers from McGill University, University of Leicester, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and the NIDDK.
As a result of these arrangements, there is a substantial foreign component present in this proposal. As described in the Research Plan, the ALSPAC group at Bristol University will contribute their epidemiological expertise and the rich ALSPAC cohort resource, the group at the University of Western Australia will contribute their expertise in genetic epidemiology and informatics, and the groups at McGill University/Genome Quebec Innovation Center and Oxford will contribute their expertise and knowledge of high-throughput genotyping.
Over the preceding 12 months, UWA (Palmer) has coordinated the formation of the new consortium between Bristol and Perth. This role arose out collaborations and interactions between these two groups, and because of the self-evident synergies and mutually complementary skills and knowledge. Dr Palmer spent a 4 month sabbatical as a Leverhulme Trust visiting Professor with the ASLPAC group in 2005, and Dr Ness will be visiting Perth later in 2006.
The prime rationale for the involvement of the senior collaborators at Oxford (McCarthy), Cambridge (Wareham) and the NIDDK (Knowler) is their capacity to provide DNA samples from well-phenotyped studies for replication of positive signals from this study. As set out in the Research Plan, our ability to confirm positive signals by replication in multiple independent datasets is an essential part of strategy (although funding for the replication comes from each group and non-NIH sources, and no funds for this part of the project are requested in this application). In addition to supplying replication samples, these senior collaborators also provide intimate knowledge of their samples and the phenotypic characteristics relevant to T2D in their respective populations, along with specific clinical, epidemiological and genetic expertise related to T2D.
The analytic team from Bristol (Green), Oxford (Cardon), Leicester (Burton) and Perth (Palmer) represent an experienced team of senior statistical geneticists and mathematicians who collectively have a substantial amount of experience in the applied analysis of complex datasets and in methods development in biostatistics. These senior investigators and collaborators have complementary experience and interests, and a long history of collaboration and interaction on a number of projects. Current collaborations include an ongoing activity and obesity study undertaken by Dr Ness and Dr Wareham, whilst Professor Smith, Professor Burton, Dr Ness and Professor Palmer are involved in the ALSPAC programme. Based on the relevant expertise of these investigators and the high standard of current and past collaborative efforts, we believe that this is an ideal team to guide the analysis of large amounts of SNP data in the complex ALSPAC datasets.
To maximize efficiency, the project will utilize a centralized high-throughput genotyping approach. For this purpose, the Genome Quebec Innovation Centre (Montreal, Canada) has been closely involved with the development of this proposal. In addition, Dr Hudson has a long-term interest in the genetics of T2D and obesity and close collaborative links to a number of senior investigators and collaborators involved in this proposal. This made the Innovation Centre the logical partners in the development of this proposal. As their contribution to the HapMap demonstrates, the Innovation Center remains at the forefront of efforts to develop high-throughput genotyping and related analysis tools, and the commitment of their expertise and technological capacity to this project is a valuable component of our plans. All equipment and maintenance costs are covered by internal Innovation Center funds. The consequence is a cost price that is below that available from any comparable commercial or academic source. In addition to their commitment to genotyping of the ALSPAC resource, the Innovation Center will also support the genotyping and resequencing needs of our replication and follow-up studies (for which funding is not sought in this application). Finally, existing strong 3-way links between Tom Hudson's group at the Genome Quebec Innovation Center, George Davies-Smith's group at Bristol University, and Lyle Palmer's group at the University of Western Australia will facilitate information exchange between the 3 groups, enabling us to maximize the efficiency of the project. Prof Hudson will be a Visiting Professor with Prof Palmer's group in Perth in August 2006.
B244 - Does maternal exposure to polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons cause intrauterine restriction An investigation of interactions between maternal smoking in pregnancy - 01/05/2005
(No outline received).
B243 - Correlates and antecedents of receptive non-verbal skill - 01/05/2005
(No outline received).