Centre for Longitudinal Studies -1970 British Cohort Study-Mortality

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at University College London (UCL) requires access to NHS England data to support the following research programme:

1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)

The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) originated in the late 1960s, when there was a great deal of concern amongst doctors and others about the number of babies born with abnormalities, or dying very early in life. It was decided to compare those mothers and babies who had problems, with those who did not in order to see what could be done about this issue. The simplest way to do this was to study all the babies born in one week. With the help of doctors, midwives, and health authorities throughout England, Wales and Scotland, this study was carried out in 1970.

Information was collected on the family background of the mother, the pregnancy and labour, and about the baby at birth and in the first week of the baby’s life. Almost 17,500 babies were studied.

It was not for another 5 years that it was decided that it would be worthwhile trying to find the families from the original birth survey to see what had happened to the babies since 1970 – how healthy they were, how they were getting on at school, and so on. This second survey was carried out in 1975. Since then there have been seven other major surveys, attempting to trace all those born in the week of the original 1970 survey – in 1980, 1986, 1996, 1999/2000, 2004/5, 2008 2012, 2016. The Age 50 survey commenced in January 2020 where it was paused due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but re-commenced in early 2021. Subsequent sweeps* of the study will likely take place every five years.

CLS have access to NHS England data for the purpose of updating participant contact details and mortality information held on CLS systems and for the purpose of contacting participants and maximise involvement in future sweeps conducted within this study.

Identifiable Civil Registration Mortality and Demographics are requested in support of the following aims:

• Update participant's details on the CLS database with a view to 1) preventing seeking contact with those who have died and potentially causing distress to friends and relatives, and 2) preventing study resources from being wasted trying to contact individuals who have since emigrated outside of the UK.

• Understand the Mortality outcomes of the BCS70 cohort and investigate how individual behaviours and social or economic determinations of health behaviours such as drug and alcohol use, sexual health, diet and exercise may have influenced outcomes.

• Support further research within the CLS

• Support further research outside the CLS via sub licencing arrangements

The CLS has previously received data for the purposes of updating the study’s database to prevent contact with those who have died or emigrated only. The CLS now requests to use this data for research purposes, and to sublicence this data via the UKDS.

The requested data will be minimised as follows:

• Data is limited to the 15,976 individuals included in the 1970 British Cohort Study (BSC70).

Where data is being shared within the CLS, or is being shared outside the CLS to support further research the data will be minimised on a project by project basis, this minimisation will be evaluated by the CLS Data Access Committee (DAC). The date of death will be de-identified as month and year, cause of death (ICD-10 codes) may be de-identified by truncation where needed.

UCL is the data controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the data will only be processed for the purpose described above.

The lawful basis for processing personal data under the UK GDPR is Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;

The lawful basis for processing special category data under UK GDPR is Article 9(2)(j) processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes. CLS sought permission from the Confidentiality Advisory Group and obtained S251 approval to trace participants and to use their mortality data for research.

The funding is provided by the Economic and Social Research Council.

The University of Essex is a processor acting under the instructions of UCL. The University of Essex hosts the UKDS, their role is limited to storing the linked pseudonymised data and facilitating access to third-party researchers who have the necessary approvals and contractual measures in place required to access the data.

Only substantive employees whose role supports the provision of the UKDS as a service are permitted to process the data. Should any researchers from the University of Essex wish to use the data deposited within the UKDS for research purposes they will be required to apply for access as per the process described in the ‘Sublicensing’ section below.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a processor acting under the instructions of UCL. AWS’ role is limited to secure backup of data stored in UCL’s Data Safe Haven.

UCL uses offsite data centre services provided by VIRTUS data centre. VIRTUS does not have access to the data.

****Sharing Data Within the CLS****

CLS researchers may request access to the pseudonymised mortality dataset disseminated under this Agreement for research purposes.

CLS researchers requesting access to the data must submit a CLS Data Access Application Form. The form requires that they provide general information about the project including its title, aims and data required. Applicants are required to demonstrate how the project provides a measurable benefit in the provision of health and social care in England.

Should the request be approved the following restrictions apply:

Access will be restricted to CLS researchers who meet the following requirements:

i. The researcher must be substantively employed in the CLS by UCL;

ii. The researcher must be registered with the UKDS;

iii. The researcher must have completed NHS England’s Data Security Awareness course;

iv. The researcher must have submitted a project proposal for review by the CLS Data Access Committee (DAC) and the CLS DAC must have approved the access request;

v. Once, approved, the researcher will sign a licence agreement with CLS and will then be granted access to the relevant subset of data via the UCL Data Safe Haven (DSH

Current proposed projects intend to:

- Document and monitor socio-economic, demographic and other inequalities in cause-specific mortality over time

- Understand the joint progress of morbidity and mortality and to what extend healthy life expectancy keeps pace.

- Investigate the links between mental health and cause specific mortality

- Investigate the links between early life circumstances, childhood characteristics and cause specific mortality.

****Sharing Data via the UKDS – Sublicensing ****

Non-CLS researchers may request access to a pseudonymised subset of the mortality data disseminated under this Agreement for research purposes. All access is via the UK Data Service (UKDS).

The process of accessing data, and the licence type under which data is accessed varies depending on the disclosivity of the data, the sensitivity of the data and the potential consequences of the misuse of data. Research data have been classified into ‘Tiers’ depending on how disclosive, sensitive and risky individual data items are. Full details of how the CLS classify data can be found in the ‘CLS Data Classification Policy’

https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CLS_Data_Classification_Policy-1.pdf

** UKDS Special safeguarded data (Tier 1b)**

Special safeguarded data (Tier 1b) have a medium level of potential disclosure risk and/or sensitivity. Examples of mortality fields that fall within tier 1b include the fact of death and the month and year of death (mm/yyyy).

Tier 1b data is accessed via a UKDS Special Licence. A UKDS Special Licence may be granted to successful applicants based within the UK.

The process for access to Tier 1b data is as follows:

1. The researcher registers with the UKDS and signs the UKDS End User Licence Agreement.

2. Applicant submits and signs the UKDS Special Licence application form.

3. By signing the Special Licence application form the researcher agrees with the terms in the UKDS Research Data Handling and Security Guide for Users (https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/app/uploads/cd171-researchdatahandling.pdf)

4. The UKDS Data Access team screens the application to ensure it is properly completed.

5. The UKDS Data Access team sends the application form to CLS for approval by the Data Access Committee (CLS DAC). The CLS DAC have delegated to the CLS Research Data Management (RDM)* team the capability to evaluate and approve Special Licence data access requests. However, the RDM will seek advice and guidance from the Committee where novel issues arise.

6. A member of the CLS RDM team will assess the application on behalf of the CLS DAC and decide to approve it or request further information. The assessment is done against the CLS DAC assessment criteria set out in the CLS DAC Terms of Reference (https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CLS_DAC_Terms_of_Reference.pdf). Should an application be rejected, a researcher can apply again with a revised application.

7. The CLS RDM team will inform UKDS that the project has been approved.

8. Special Licence-approved applications are reported at the next CLS DAC.

9. UKDS will inform the researcher that their project was approved and make the data available to them.

10. The researcher downloads the Special Licence data into their institutional server. Researchers must abide by the conditions laid out in the UKDS ‘Research Data Handling and Security Guide for Users’, which includes details of the individual and institutional penalties that are enforceable in the event of a breach of the conditions. They can only merge these data with CLS highly de-identified non-disclosive research data, which are also subject to UKDS Data Sharing Agreement terms and conditions.

*RDM follow the DAC Terms of Reference i.e. they are reviewing against the same criteria

**UKDS Controlled data (Tier 2)**

Controlled data (Tier 2) have a high level of potential disclosure risk (for example exact dates, detailed geographical indicators) and/or high sensitivity. Examples of mortality fields that fall within tier 2 include date of death (dd/mm/yyyy) and cause of death including clinical codes for the cause of death.

Tier 2 data is accessed via the UKDS SecureLab, which is the UKDS’ Trusted Research Environment (TRE). The UKDS SecureLab supports UK-based research projects only.

The process for access to Tier 2 data is as follows:

i. The researcher submits an application, including the UKDS 'Accredited Researcher application form', the 'Research proposal' and the “UCL Licence Agreement” to the UKDS.

ii. The UKDS Data Access team screens the application to ensure it is properly completed. Once it is, they forward the application to the CLS.

iii. The CLS Research Data Management (RDM) managers check the Organisational Information Governance and security assurance evidence provided in the “UCL Licence Agreement” and either requests further evidence to support the request or submits the application for CLS DAC approval.

iv. The CLS DAC assesses both project documents (UKDS project proposal and the “UCL Licence Agreement”) and decides whether to approve it, not approve it, or they require further information. CLS DAC considerations include an assessment of the expected benefits to health care, adult social care or the promotion of health. Should an application be rejected, a researcher can apply again with a revised application.

v. If the CLS DAC approves the project:

a. CLS RDM team informs UKDS that the project has been approved.

b. The CLS authorised representative signs the “UCL License agreement” and sends it back to the UKDS to be forwarded to the researcher.

vi. UKDS informs the researcher that their project was approved; sends them a countersigned copy of the “UCL Licence Agreement”

vii. UKDS makes the data available to the researcher via theUKDS SecureLab account via Multi Factor Authentication. ,

viii. The data will be provided to the researcher via their own UKDS SecureLab project folder, which will contain only the data that the researcher needs to see for their project. The research-linked data provided to researchers are pseudonymised and de-identified, and will never contain identifiable information such as name, address, date of birth, NHS or NI number.

ix. The researcher accessing the data via the UKDS SecureLab will not be able to download any data into their own institutional server. Once the researcher has finished their research, the UKDS will delete the data folder with the tailored dataset for the specific project.

x. Strict disclosure control checks are carried out by the UKDS before any research outputs, e.g. publication, can be extracted from the UKDS SecureLab account.

xi. CLS DAC will publish the information about any data dissemination on the CLS website, including the name of the organisation to which data was provided, purpose (summary of the project) and what data was released. (NB: If CLS DAC does not approve the project, no data will be disseminated). https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/data-access-training/data-access/

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 50 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2023 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

-Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

-Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

-Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood,

-Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Participants will also be asked to complete an online dietary questionnaire. As mentioned above this rich dataset will be shared with the wider research community for research.

Outputs for the mortality data:

database update-The notifications of deaths and embarkations will ensure CLS doesn't waste resources sending invitations to those who have moved away. It will also prevent CLS from contacting those who have died.

Research- The pseudonymised data which will be used for research. Below is a list with some of the research that CLS intends to do using mortality data for research.

1. Document and monitor socio-economic, demographic and other inequalities in cause-specific mortality over time/across generations.

2. Understand the joint progress of morbidity and mortality and to what extent healthy life expectancy keeps pace with total life expectancy.

3. Investigate the links between mental health and cause specific mortality.

4. Investigate the links between early life circumstances, childhood characteristics/behaviour and cause-specific mortality

The Age 46 survey data is now deposited at the UK Data Archive for researchers to use.

This was a main output in the previous versions of this DSA. The Age 46 Sweep involved many data collection elements, including a full range of bio-measures administered by a nurse. The inclusion of objective measures of health will allow researchers to assess the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. Many of the measures were included in our other study the NCDS age 44 biomedical sweep, which will allow for cross-cohort comparisons.

A full list of the data collection elements is provided below:

45-minute core interview – topics covered include: relationships, children, parents, place of residence, economic activity, income, qualifications and training, physical and mental health, smoking, drinking, exercise

Cognitive assessments – immediate and delayed word recall, letter cancellation and animal-naming tasks

Paper self-completion questionnaire – topics covered include physical health, mental health and well-being, physical activity, and leisure activities

Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body-fat, waist/hip circumference)

Blood pressure measurement

Grip strength assessment

Balance assessment

Blood sample collection

Activity monitor

Online dietary diary

The CLS have already achieved demonstrable benefits using research and other data including adding outputs to the existing body of evidence that influences research and decision making. These demonstrable benefits have been listed in the above section and include the following:

- adding to the existing body of evidence supporting various scientific publications;

- research evidence used for government briefing papers;

- attracting media coverage to the wider issues surrounding the research.

The following gives an overview of the study and purposes from historic disseminations.

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at University College London (UCL) requires access to NHS England data for the purpose of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70).

The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) originated in the late 1960s, when there was a great deal of concern amongst doctors and others about the number of babies born with abnormalities, or dying very early in life. It was decided to compare those mothers and babies who had problems, with those who did not in order to see what could be done about this issue. The simplest way to do this was to study all the babies born in one week. With the help of doctors, midwives, and health authorities throughout England, Wales and Scotland, this study was carried out in 1970.

Information was collected on the family background of the mother, the pregnancy and labour, and about the baby at birth and in the first week of the baby’s life. Almost 17,500 babies were studied.

It was not for another 5 years that it was decided that it would be worthwhile trying to find the families from the original birth survey to see what had happened to the babies since 1970 – how healthy they were, how they were getting on at school, and so on. This second survey was carried out in 1975. Since then there have been seven other major surveys, attempting to trace all those born in the week of the original 1970 survey – in 1980, 1986, 1996, 1999/2000, 2004/5, 2008 2012, 2016. The Age 50 survey commenced in January 2020 where it was paused due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but re-commenced in early 2021. Subsequent sweeps* of the study will likely take place every five years.

CLS have access to NHS England data for the purpose of updating participant contact details and mortality information held on CLS systems and for the purpose of contacting participants and maximise involvement in future sweeps conducted within this study.

CLS have previously received record level, identifiable data linked to the cohort from the following datasets.

- MRIS – Cause of Death Report

- MRIS - List Cleaning Report

- MRIS - Members and Postings Report

- MRIS – Cohort Event Notification Report

- MRIS – Flagging Current Status Report

-

MRIS reports were disbanded in 2020 and CLS received the replacement data sets;

-Demographics (CLS now receive Demographics data via DARS-NIC-129836-D5F3W)

- Civil Registrations of Deaths

The lawful basis for processing personal data under the UK GDPR is Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;

The lawful basis for processing special category data under UK GDPR is Article 9(2)(j) processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes. In addition, for ethical reasons and under the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality, UCL sought permission from cohort members to access and link their routine health records to their survey data, and to the onward sharing of this linked data in pseudonymised form (via a secure setting with appropriate safeguards).

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are the funder for this study. The funder will have no ability to suppress or otherwise limit the publication of findings.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a processor acting under the instructions of UCL. AWS’ role is limited to secure backup of data stored in UCL’s Data Safe Haven.

UCL uses offsite data centre services provided by VIRTUS data centre. VIRTUS does not have access to the data.

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 50 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2023 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

-Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

-Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

-Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood,

-Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Participants will also be asked to complete an online dietary questionnaire. As mentioned above this rich dataset will be shared with the wider research community for research.

Outputs for the mortality data:

database update-The notifications of deaths and embarkations will ensure CLS doesn't waste resources sending invitations to those who have moved away. It will also prevent CLS from contacting those who have died.

Research- The pseudonymised data which will be used for research. Below is a list with some of the research that CLS intends to do using mortality data for research.

1. Document and monitor socio-economic, demographic and other inequalities in cause-specific mortality over time/across generations.

2. Understand the joint progress of morbidity and mortality and to what extent healthy life expectancy keeps pace with total life expectancy.

3. Investigate the links between mental health and cause specific mortality.

4. Investigate the links between early life circumstances, childhood characteristics/behaviour and cause-specific mortality

The Age 46 survey data is now deposited at the UK Data Archive for researchers to use.

This was a main output in the previous versions of this DSA. The Age 46 Sweep involved many data collection elements, including a full range of bio-measures administered by a nurse. The inclusion of objective measures of health will allow researchers to assess the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. Many of the measures were included in our other study the NCDS age 44 biomedical sweep, which will allow for cross-cohort comparisons.

A full list of the data collection elements is provided below:

45-minute core interview – topics covered include: relationships, children, parents, place of residence, economic activity, income, qualifications and training, physical and mental health, smoking, drinking, exercise

Cognitive assessments – immediate and delayed word recall, letter cancellation and animal-naming tasks

Paper self-completion questionnaire – topics covered include physical health, mental health and well-being, physical activity, and leisure activities

Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body-fat, waist/hip circumference)

Blood pressure measurement

Grip strength assessment

Balance assessment

Blood sample collection

Activity monitor

Online dietary diary

The CLS have already achieved demonstrable benefits using research and other data including adding outputs to the existing body of evidence that influences research and decision making. These demonstrable benefits have been listed in the above section and include the following:

- adding to the existing body of evidence supporting various scientific publications;

- research evidence used for government briefing papers;

- attracting media coverage to the wider issues surrounding the research.

This Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) permits University College London to retain data that was supplied under previous iterations of this DSA. The DSA does not permit any other processing of the data.

The following gives an overview of the study and purposes from historic disseminations.

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at University College London (UCL) requires access to NHS England data for the purpose of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70).

The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) originated in the late 1960s, when there was a great deal of concern amongst doctors and others about the number of babies born with abnormalities, or dying very early in life. It was decided to compare those mothers and babies who had problems, with those who did not in order to see what could be done about this issue. The simplest way to do this was to study all the babies born in one week. With the help of doctors, midwives, and health authorities throughout England, Wales and Scotland, this study was carried out in 1970.

Information was collected on the family background of the mother, the pregnancy and labour, and about the baby at birth and in the first week of the baby’s life. Almost 17,500 babies were studied.

It was not for another 5 years that it was decided that it would be worthwhile trying to find the families from the original birth survey to see what had happened to the babies since 1970 – how healthy they were, how they were getting on at school, and so on. This second survey was carried out in 1975. Since then there have been seven other major surveys, attempting to trace all those born in the week of the original 1970 survey – in 1980, 1986, 1996, 1999/2000, 2004/5, 2008 2012, 2016. The Age 50 survey commenced in January 2020 where it was paused due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but re-commenced in early 2021. Subsequent sweeps* of the study will likely take place every five years.

CLS have access to NHS England data for the purpose of updating participant contact details and mortality information held on CLS systems and for the purpose of contacting participants and maximise involvement in future sweeps conducted within this study.

CLS have previously received record level, identifiable data linked to the cohort from the following datasets.

- MRIS – Cause of Death Report

- MRIS - List Cleaning Report

- MRIS - Members and Postings Report

- MRIS – Cohort Event Notification Report

- MRIS – Flagging Current Status Report

-

MRIS reports were disbanded in 2020 and CLS received the replacement data sets;

-Demographics (CLS now receive Demographics data via DARS-NIC-129836-D5F3W)

- Civil Registrations of Deaths

The lawful basis for processing personal data under the UK GDPR is Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;

The lawful basis for processing special category data under UK GDPR is Article 9(2)(j) processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes. In addition, for ethical reasons and under the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality, UCL sought permission from cohort members to access and link their routine health records to their survey data, and to the onward sharing of this linked data in pseudonymised form (via a secure setting with appropriate safeguards).

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are the funder for this study. The funder will have no ability to suppress or otherwise limit the publication of findings.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a processor acting under the instructions of UCL. AWS’ role is limited to secure backup of data stored in UCL’s Data Safe Haven.

UCL uses offsite data centre services provided by VIRTUS data centre. VIRTUS does not have access to the data.

This Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) permits University College London to retain data that was supplied under previous iterations of this DSA. The DSA does not permit any other processing of the data. Therefore there will be no additional outputs under this DSA

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 50 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2023 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

-Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

-Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

-Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood,

-Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Participants will also be asked to complete an online dietary questionnaire. As mentioned above this rich dataset will be shared with the wider research community for research.

Outputs for the mortality data:

database update-The notifications of deaths and embarkations will ensure CLS doesn't waste resources sending invitations to those who have moved away. It will also prevent CLS from contacting those who have died.

Research- The pseudonymised data which will be used for research. Below is a list with some of the research that CLS intends to do using mortality data for research.

1. Document and monitor socio-economic, demographic and other inequalities in cause-specific mortality over time/across generations.

2. Understand the joint progress of morbidity and mortality and to what extent healthy life expectancy keeps pace with total life expectancy.

3. Investigate the links between mental health and cause specific mortality.

4. Investigate the links between early life circumstances, childhood characteristics/behaviour and cause-specific mortality

The Age 46 survey data is now deposited at the UK Data Archive for researchers to use . A link to the data is provided here. https//beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8547#!/details . This was a main output in the previous versions of this DSA. The Age 46 Sweep involved many data collection elements, including a full range of bio-measures administered by a nurse. The inclusion of objective measures of health will allow researchers to assess the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. Many of the measures were included in our other study the NCDS age 44 biomedical sweep, which will allow for cross-cohort comparisons.

A full list of the data collection elements is provided below:

45-minute core interview – topics covered include: relationships, children, parents, place of residence, economic activity, income, qualifications and training, physical and mental health, smoking, drinking, exercise

Cognitive assessments – immediate and delayed word recall, letter cancellation and animal-naming tasks

Paper self-completion questionnaire – topics covered include physical health, mental health and well-being, physical activity, and leisure activities

Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body-fat, waist/hip circumference)

Blood pressure measurement

Grip strength assessment

Balance assessment

Blood sample collection

Activity monitor

Online dietary diary

Currently there have been no direct benefits to this study from processing the data under this for research as it is the first time CLS is requesting permission to use mortality data for research.

The CLS have already achieved demonstrable benefits using research and other data including adding outputs to the existing body of evidence that influences research and decision making. These demonstrable benefits have been listed in the above section and include the following:

- adding to the existing body of evidence supporting various scientific publications;

- research evidence used for government briefing papers;

- attracting media coverage to the wider issues surrounding the research.

This Data Sharing Agreement permits the retention and no further processing of the data provided under previous iterations of this Agreement. No new data flows between NHS Digital and University College London (UCL) will take place under this Agreement. . The following describes the purposes for which data was supplied under previous versions of this Agreement.

The British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS) is one of Britain’s world renowned national longitudinal birth cohort studies. It follows a large sample of individuals born over a limited period of time (all those born in one week in 1970) through the course of their lives, charting the effects of events and circumstances in early life on outcomes and achievements later on. They show how histories of health, wealth, education, family and employment are interwoven for individuals and vary between them.

The study is run by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the University of London, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Since 1970 there have been nine attempts to gather information from the whole cohort. Over time, the scope of enquiry has broadened from a medical focus at birth, to encompass physical and educational development at the age of five, physical, educational and social development at the ages of ten and sixteen, and then to include economic development and other wider factors at ages 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42. The most recent survey was Age 46 and future sweeps surveys will take place roughly every 5 years. The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study members as possible especially during interim periods between surveys.

The study has its origins in the British Births Survey in which information was gathered about almost 17,500 babies. The original study focused on the circumstances and outcomes of birth but since then the study has broadened in scope to map all aspects of health, education, social and economic development. The current survey will provide an updated picture of the circumstances and experiences of those born in the early seventies in England, Scotland and Wales and will help develop an understanding of their progress into the latter period of their lives.

The most recent Age 46 survey began in July 2016 and was scheduled to run until July 2018. As of the beginning of February 2018, data had been collected from just over 6,000 participants and by completion it was projected that approximately 8,500 will have taken part. The Age 46 Survey had a particular focus on health and was conducted by interviewers and registered nurses. The survey involved an interview, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure assessment, measures of physical functioning (grip strength and balance assessments) and the collection of blood samples (for immediate analysis of cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin, storage for future analysis and future DNA extraction). In addition, participants were asked to wear a device which measured physical activity levels for 7 days and to complete an online questionnaire about their diet. The objective measures of health had been funded by the Medical Research Council and the British Heart Foundation.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood, Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Aim

The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study participants as possible. Therefore, CLS are seeking permission to be supplied with updated addresses for the study members whose whereabouts are currently unknown. CLS believe that a substantial number of these individuals would be willing to participate in the Age 50 survey if they could be contacted. Previous efforts to re-establish contact for the BCS70 cohort study have been very successful using this route.

CLS wish to access NHS Digital data for the purpose of updating participant demographic data held on CLS systems for the purpose of contacting participants and maximise involvement in future sweeps conducted within this study. CLS also requests access to mortality data included within the reports outlined below to be used in the process of contacting participants involved in previous sweeps.

Data Summary

CLS are requesting access to record level, identifiable data linked to the cohort from the following Medical Research reports:

MRIS – Cause of Death Report

MRIS - List Cleaning Report

MRIS Members and Postings Report

MRIS – Cohort Event Notification Report

MRIS – Flagging Current Status Report

Under previous versions of this agreement, CLS has benefited from the use of NHS Digital data to assist with maximising participation in Age Surveys. Therefore, a further wave of list cleaning exercises was requested, i.e. this agreement, to try and find updated addresses for those who are found during fieldwork to have moved from the address held. This will further boost the number who can be contacted and invited to participate. Multiple list cleans have been requested for the purpose of tracing address details of participants over the period leading up to the Age 50 survey. Distribution of study materials, annual courtesy letters and pilot studies planned for the 2019-2020 period would benefit from the most up to date contact information for participants, thus an additional list clean is required.

UCL’s legal bases for processing the data under General Data Protection Regulation is bases under Article 6(1)(e) ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ & Article 9(2)(j) ‘processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject’.

Aggregated data with small numbers suppressed will be made available to the research community in late 2019, forming an invaluable resource for health research. Researchers will be able to use the rich life-history data collected over the duration of the study’s life in conjunction with the data collected in the BCS70 Age 46 survey to examine the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. It is then planned that the measures conducted will be repeated in future sweeps of the study, which will allow for research which deepens the understanding of changes in health which occur with ageing. No patient identifiable data is made available for research.

The cohort currently held by NHS Digital, totalling roughly 15,976, was calculated as an adaptation of the original participant population, excluding study members in Scotland. Of the roughly 15,976 individuals invited to participate in the BCS70 Age 50 Survey, CLS predict that researchers will have difficulty contacting a small proportion of this population for the purposes of distributing study material and invitations for participating in Age Surveys. Preparations for the previous Age Survey (46) highlighted a group of study members where contact has been lost between researchers and the study member due to out-of-date address information. These are not individuals which have informed CLS that they wish to withdraw from the study, the researchers have simply lost touch with them as they have moved home and not informed CLS. This application for the MRIS list cleaning report is for the members of the cohort lost to follow up only.

CLS have commissioned Copyprint UK Limited to distribute mailings to all participants including regular messages regarding Age Surveys and to maintain contact with the study. These tasks serve the purpose of ensuring maximum participation in each of the Age Surveys planned throughout the study. Copyprint will have access to participant demographic information and contact details in order to fulfil their obligation. This includes data which has been supplied to Copyprint directly from NHS Digital's dissemination and data which has been 'washed' through being updated by the data subject directly. Copyprint are not permitted to use the data for any other purpose.

University College London (UCL) are the sole Data Controller for this Agreement. All Data Processors party to this agreement are acting upon the instruction of the controller.

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 50 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2023 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

-Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

-Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

-Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood,

-Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Participants will also be asked to complete an online dietary questionnaire.

As mentioned above this rich dataset will be shared with the wider research community for research.

Outputs for the mortality data:

database update-The notifications of deaths and embarkations will ensure CLS doesn't waste resources sending invitations to those who have moved away. It will also prevent CLS from contacting those who have died.

Research- The pseudonymised data which will be used for research.Below is a list with some of the research that CLS intends to do using mortality data for research.

1. Document and monitor socio-economic, demographic and other inequalities in cause-specific mortality over time/across generations.

2. Understand the joint progress of morbidity and mortality and to what extent healthy life expectancy keeps pace with total life expectancy.

3. Investigate the links between mental health and cause specific mortality.

4. Investigate the links between early life circumstances, childhood characteristics/behaviour and cause-specific mortality.

The Age 46 survey data is now deposited at the UK Data Archive for researchers to use . A link to the data is provided here. https//beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8547#!/details . This was a main out put in the previous versions of this DSA.

The Age 46 Sweep involved many data collection elements, including a full range of bio-measures administered by a nurse. The inclusion of objective measures of health will allow researchers to assess the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. Many of the measures were included in our other study the NCDS age 44 biomedical sweep, which will allow for cross-cohort comparisons.

A full list of the data collection elements is provided below:

45-minute core interview – topics covered include: relationships, children, parents, place of residence, economic activity, income, qualifications and training, physical and mental health, smoking, drinking, exercise

Cognitive assessments – immediate and delayed word recall, letter cancellation and animal-naming tasks

Paper self-completion questionnaire – topics covered include physical health, mental health and well-being, physical activity, and leisure activities

Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body-fat, waist/hip circumference)

Blood pressure measurement

Grip strength assessment

Balance assessment

Blood sample collection

Activity monitor

Online dietary diary

Currently there have been no direct benefits to this study from processing the data under this for research as it is the first time CLS is requesting permission to use mortality data for research.

The CLS have already achieved demonstrable benefits using research and other data including adding outputs to the existing body of evidence that influences research and decision making. These demonstrable benefits have been listed in the above section and include the following:

- adding to the existing body of evidence supporting various scientific publications;

- research evidence used for government briefing papers;

- attracting media coverage to the wider issues surrounding the research.

Background

The British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS) is one of Britain’s world renowned national longitudinal birth cohort studies. It follows a large sample of individuals born over a limited period of time (all those born in one week in 1970) through the course of their lives, charting the effects of events and circumstances in early life on outcomes and achievements later on. They show how histories of health, wealth, education, family and employment are interwoven for individuals and vary between them.

The study is run by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the University of London, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Since 1970 there have been nine attempts to gather information from the whole cohort. Over time, the scope of enquiry has broadened from a medical focus at birth, to encompass physical and educational development at the age of five, physical, educational and social development at the ages of ten and sixteen, and then to include economic development and other wider factors at ages 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42. The most recent survey was Age 46 and future sweeps surveys will take place roughly every 5 years. The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study members as possible especially during interim periods between surveys.

The study has its origins in the British Births Survey in which information was gathered about almost 17,500 babies. The original study focused on the circumstances and outcomes of birth but since then the study has broadened in scope to map all aspects of health, education, social and economic development. The current survey will provide an updated picture of the circumstances and experiences of those born in the early seventies in England, Scotland and Wales and will help develop an understanding of their progress into the latter period of their lives.

The most recent Age 46 survey began in July 2016 and was scheduled to run until July 2018. As of the beginning of February 2018, data had been collected from just over 6,000 participants and by completion it was projected that approximately 8,500 will have taken part. The Age 46 Survey had a particular focus on health and was conducted by interviewers and registered nurses. The survey involved an interview, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure assessment, measures of physical functioning (grip strength and balance assessments) and the collection of blood samples (for immediate analysis of cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin, storage for future analysis and future DNA extraction). In addition, participants were asked to wear a device which measured physical activity levels for 7 days and to complete an online questionnaire about their diet. The objective measures of health had been funded by the Medical Research Council and the British Heart Foundation.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood, Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Aim

The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study participants as possible. Therefore, CLS are seeking permission to be supplied with updated addresses for the study members whose whereabouts are currently unknown. CLS believe that a substantial number of these individuals would be willing to participate in the Age 50 survey if they could be contacted. Previous efforts to re-establish contact for the BCS70 cohort study have been very successful using this route.

CLS wish to access NHS Digital data for the purpose of updating participant demographic data held on CLS systems for the purpose of contacting participants and maximise involvement in future sweeps conducted within this study. CLS also requests access to mortality data included within the reports outlined below to be used in the process of contacting participants involved in previous sweeps.

Data Summary

CLS are requesting access to record level, identifiable data linked to the cohort from the following Medical Research reports:

MRIS – Cause of Death Report

MRIS - List Cleaning Report

MRIS Members and Postings Report

MRIS – Cohort Event Notification Report

MRIS – Flagging Current Status Report

Under previous versions of this agreement, CLS has benefited from the use of NHS Digital data to assist with maximising participation in Age Surveys. Therefore, a further wave of list cleaning exercises was requested, i.e. this agreement, to try and find updated addresses for those who are found during fieldwork to have moved from the address held. This will further boost the number who can be contacted and invited to participate. Multiple list cleans have been requested for the purpose of tracing address details of participants over the period leading up to the Age 50 survey. Distribution of study materials, annual courtesy letters and pilot studies planned for the 2019-2020 period would benefit from the most up to date contact information for participants, thus an additional list clean is required.

UCL’s legal bases for processing the data under General Data Protection Regulation is bases under Article 6(1)(e) ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ & Article 9(2)(j) ‘processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject’.

Aggregated data with small numbers suppressed will be made available to the research community in late 2019, forming an invaluable resource for health research. Researchers will be able to use the rich life-history data collected over the duration of the study’s life in conjunction with the data collected in the BCS70 Age 46 survey to examine the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. It is then planned that the measures conducted will be repeated in future sweeps of the study, which will allow for research which deepens the understanding of changes in health which occur with ageing. No patient identifiable data is made available for research.

The cohort currently held by NHS Digital, totalling roughly 15,976, was calculated as an adaptation of the original participant population, excluding study members in Scotland. Of the roughly 15,976 individuals invited to participate in the BCS70 Age 50 Survey, CLS predict that researchers will have difficulty contacting a small proportion of this population for the purposes of distributing study material and invitations for participating in Age Surveys. Preparations for the previous Age Survey (46) highlighted a group of study members where contact has been lost between researchers and the study member due to out-of-date address information. These are not individuals which have informed CLS that they wish to withdraw from the study, the researchers have simply lost touch with them as they have moved home and not informed CLS. This application for the MRIS list cleaning report is for the members of the cohort lost to follow up only.

CLS have commissioned Copyprint UK Limited to distribute mailings to all participants including regular messages regarding Age Surveys and to maintain contact with the study. These tasks serve the purpose of ensuring maximum participation in each of the Age Surveys planned throughout the study. Copyprint will have access to participant demographic information and contact details in order to fulfil their obligation. This includes data which has been supplied to Copyprint directly from NHS Digital's dissemination and data which has been 'washed' through being updated by the data subject directly. Copyprint are not permitted to use the data for any other purpose.

University College London (UCL) are the sole Data Controller for this agreement. All Data Processors party to this agreement are acting upon the instruction of the controller.

***AMENDMENT***

This amendment in to add additional data processors who would be appointed to carry out upcoming fieldwork interviews. CLS have contracted an external supplier NatCen Social Research (the trading name of the National Centre for Social Research) to carry out the individual study members' interviews. NatCen was commissioned to run interviews with study members for the Age 50 Survey which commenced in January 2020. Fieldwork had to be paused due to the COVID19 pandemic and it is hoped that fieldwork will restart in January 2021 . NatCen have also contracted an additional Data Processor, Kantar Public, to assist with these tasks.

Kantar Public was also contracted to conduct two surveys which will explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different aspects of life. These two surveys follow an initial survey conducted by CLS in May 2020. The first of the surveys to be completed by Kantar was conducted in September/October 2020 and participants could only take part online. The second will commence in January 2021 and will provide those unable to take part online with an opportunity to take part via telephone.

The age 50 sweep started in January 2020 and then had to be paused due to COVID19 pandemic.

In may 2020 CLS conducted a COVID19 survey (Wave 1) which explored the impact of COVID19 pandemic on different aspects of life. Kantar Public was contracted to conduct another two surveys. The first of the surveys (Wave 2) to be completed by Kantar was conducted in September/October 2020 and participants could only take part online. The second will commence in January 2021 (Wave3) and will provide those unable to take part online with an opportunity to take part via telephone.

In wave 1, The aim of the survey was to collect insights into the lives of study participants including their physical and mental health and wellbeing, family and relationships, education, work, and finances during the lockdown. The questions focused mainly on how participants’ lives had changed from just before the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 up until their response to the survey during the height of the lockdown restrictions in May 2020. This Wave 1 data is now available from the UKDS website- https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8658

The aim of Wave 2 survey is to capture how participants’ lives have changed from Wave 1 (collected at the height of the lockdown restrictions in May 2020) until late Summer/Early Autumn 2020. The topic areas mirror closely those for Wave 1, with additional questions about:

~ Health care

~ Financial transfers

~ Life events

~ Children’s schooling in summer and autumn term

The full Wave 2 questionnaire is available here:

https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/UCL-Centre-for-Longitudinal-Studies-COVID-19-Online-Survey-Questionnaire-Wave-2-Sept-2020.pdf

Once the data is available and ready, Wave 2 and 3 data will also be made available for researchers to use via the UKDS.

The Age 46 Sweep involved many data collection elements, including a full range of bio-measures administered by a nurse. The inclusion of objective measures of health will allow researchers to assess the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. Many of the measures were included in our other study the NCDS age 44 biomedical sweep, which will allow for cross-cohort comparisons.

A full list of the data collection elements is provided below:

45-minute core interview – topics covered include: relationships, children, parents, place of residence, economic activity, income, qualifications and training, physical and mental health, smoking, drinking, exercise

Cognitive assessments – immediate and delayed word recall, letter cancellation and animal-naming tasks

Paper self-completion questionnaire – topics covered include physical health, mental health and well-being, physical activity, and leisure activities

Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body-fat, waist/hip circumference)

Blood pressure measurement

Grip strength assessment

Balance assessment

Blood sample collection

Activity monitor

Online dietary diary

The data will be available for researchers to access via the UK Data Service from October 2019, providing an important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking,

diet, exercise), cognitive function.

Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood,

Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Participants will also be asked to complete an online dietary questionnaire.

The data will be available for researchers to access via the UK Data Service from early 2023.

Outputs for the List Clean:

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 50 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2023 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

The addresses previously obtained from NHS Digital were used to invite study members to take part in the BCS70 Age 46 survey and they will be used to invite study members to take part in the future sweep age 50 taking place in 2020. The previous application requested an extension to the current agreement to keep the data we currently hold and to carry out another 2 list cleans in preparation for age 50, and to receive notifications of deaths and embarkations biannually.

There have been hundreds of published journal articles, books, chapters, reports or conference presentations based on data from the 1970 British Cohort Study.

Below are some examples of existing publications using BCS70 data benefiting public health:

• TAYLOR, B and WADSWORTH, J. (1987) Maternal smoking during pregnancy and lower respiratory tract illness in early life. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 62(8), 786-791.

IMPACT: Research from BCS70 has contributed to the understanding of the effects of maternal smoking on child health.

SUMMARY: In a national study of 12,743 children maternal, but not paternal, smoking was confirmed as having a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis and admission to hospital for lower respiratory tract illness during the first five years of life. Reported rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases were found to be as high in children born to mothers who stopped smoking during pregnancy as in those whose mothers smoked continuously both during and after pregnancy. Rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases in children whose mothers started smoking only postnatally were no higher than in those whose mothers remained non-smokers. Postnatal smoking seemed to exert a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis, but less than smoking during pregnancy. These findings suggest that maternal smoking influences the incidence of respiratory illnesses in children mainly through a congenital effect, and only to a lesser extent through passive exposure after birth.

• MARMOT, M and BELL, R. (2016) Social inequalities in health: a proper concern of epidemiology. Annals of Epidemiology, 26(4), 238-240.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted an interrogated socio-economic inequalities in health.

Abstract: Social inequalities are a proper concern of epidemiology. Epidemiological thinking and modes of analysis are central, but epidemiological research is one among many areas of study that provide the evidence for understanding the causes of social inequalities in health and what can be done to reduce them. Understanding the causes of health inequalities requires insights from social, behavioural and biological sciences, and a chain of reasoning that examines how the accumulation of positive and negative influences over the life course leads to health inequalities in adult life. Evidence that the social gradient in health can be reduced should make us optimistic that reducing health inequalities is a realistic goal for all societies.

• PLOUBIDIS, G.B, SULLIVAN, A, BROWN, M and GOODMAN, A. (2017) Psychological Distress in Mid-Life: Evidence from the 1958 and 1970 British Birth Cohorts. Psychological Medicine, 47(2), 291-303.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted the growing problem of depression in the UK.

Abstract: This paper addresses the levels of psychological distress experienced at age 42 years by men and women born in 1958 and 1970. Comparing these cohorts born 12 years apart, we ask whether psychological distress has increased, and, if so, whether this increase can be explained by differences in their childhood conditions. Data were utilized from two well-known population-based birth cohorts, the National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. Latent variable models and causal mediation methods were employed. After establishing the measurement equivalence of psychological distress in the two cohorts we found that men and women born in 1970 reported higher levels of psychological distress compared with those born in 1958. These differences were more pronounced in men (b = 0.314, 95% confidence interval 0.252–0.375), with the magnitude of the effect being twice as strong compared with women (b = 0.147, 95% confidence interval 0.076–0.218). The effect of all hypothesized early-life mediators in explaining these differences was modest. Our findings have implications for public health policy, indicating a higher average level of psychological distress among a cohort born in 1970 compared with a generation born 12 years earlier. Due to increases in life expectancy, more recently born cohorts are expected to live longer, which implies – if such differences persist – that they are likely to spend more years with mental health-related morbidity compared with earlier-born cohorts.

• V.P. Mateia, A.I. Mihăilescub, L.V. Diaconescuc, T. Purnichid, R. Grigorașe, O. Popa-Veleac (2018) Depression in young adults diagnosed with cancer – an analysis of the outcomes of 1970 British Cohort Study.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of the risk of depression in young patients diagnosed with cancer.

Summary

The study found that the risk of depression is higher at people with onset of cancer before 30. The study did not identify an increased risk for depression by socioeconomic status. Instead, they suggest the importance of active screening and treatment of depression at young patients with cancer.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399918303088?via%3Dihub

BANN, D, JOHNSON, W, LI, L, KUH, D and HARDY, R. (2018) Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent body-mass index, weight, and height from 1953 to 2015: an analysis of four longitudinal, observational, British birth cohort studies. Lancet Public Health, 3(4), e194-e203.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood body-mass index (BMI) have been documented in high-income countries, how they have changed over time, how inequalities in the composite parts (ie, weight and height) of BMI have changed, and whether inequalities differ in magnitude across the outcome distribution. The study investigated how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent weight, height, and BMI have changed over time in Britain.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468266718300458?via%3Dihub

CHENG, H and FURNHAM, A. (2018) Teenage locus of control, psychological distress, educational qualifications and occupational prestige as well as sex are independent predictors of adult binge drinking. Alcohol, advance online access, 1 Sept 2018.

IMPACT : Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how various psychological and socio-demographic factors in childhood and adulthood that relate to alcohol intake and binge drinking at age 42 years.

abstract:

Data were drawn from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), The analytic sample comprised 5267 cohort members with data on parental social class at birth, cognitive ability at age 10, locus of control at age 16, psychological distress at age 30, educational qualifications at age 34, and current occupation and alcohol consumption at age 42 years. Results showed that sex (male), lower parental social class, adolescent external locus of control, psychological distress, lower scores on childhood intelligence, lower educational qualifications and less professional occupations were all significantly and positively associated with binge drinking in adulthood. Both psychological and social factors influence adult excessive alcohol consumption. Adolescent locus of control beliefs had a modest but significant effect on adult binge drinking 26 years later.

detailed information can be found here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0741832916301677?via%3Dihub

For more information about published work using this study access cls.ucl.ac.uk

*** Amendment

Henderson, M., Fitzsimons, E., Ploubidis, G., Richards, M., and Patalay, P. (2020) Mental health during lockdown: evidence from four generations - Initial findings from the COVID-19 Survey in Five National Longitudinal Studies. London: UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.

IMPACT: Research on the impact of COVID 19 highlighted the large mental health differences across generations, with young people, specially women aged 19 and 30, at the greatest risk of depression, anxiety, loneliness and low life satisfaction.

Looking at change is a key benefit of a longitudinal study. CLS researchers found that young women (aged 30) showed the biggest increase in mental health problems since they were previously assessed some years before compared to middle-aged (aged 50) and older adults (aged 62). While this change in mental health will reflect change that may naturally occur at this stage of life, as well as change attributable to the pandemic, this finding chimes with other studies which have also shown that young women have experienced the largest increase in mental health problems due to COVID-19.

Detailed information about the study can be found via the link below.

https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Mental-health-during-lockdown-%E2%80%93-initial-findings-from-COVID-19-survey-1.pdf

Background

The British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS) is one of Britain’s world renowned national longitudinal birth cohort studies. It follows a large sample of individuals born over a limited period of time (all those born in one week in 1970) through the course of their lives, charting the effects of events and circumstances in early life on outcomes and achievements later on. They show how histories of health, wealth, education, family and employment are interwoven for individuals and vary between them.

The study is run by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the University of London, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Since 1970 there have been nine attempts to gather information from the whole cohort. Over time, the scope of enquiry has broadened from a medical focus at birth, to encompass physical and educational development at the age of five, physical, educational and social development at the ages of ten and sixteen, and then to include economic development and other wider factors at ages 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42. The most recent survey was Age 46 and future sweeps surveys will take place roughly every 5 years. The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study members as possible especially during interim periods between surveys.

The study has its origins in the British Births Survey in which information was gathered about almost 17,500 babies. The original study focused on the circumstances and outcomes of birth but since then the study has broadened in scope to map all aspects of health, education, social and economic development. The current survey will provide an updated picture of the circumstances and experiences of those born in the early seventies in England, Scotland and Wales and will help develop an understanding of their progress into the latter period of their lives.

The most recent Age 46 survey began in July 2016 and was scheduled to run until July 2018. As of the beginning of February 2018, data had been collected from just over 6,000 participants and by completion it was projected that approximately 8,500 will have taken part. The Age 46 Survey had a particular focus on health and was conducted by interviewers and registered nurses. The survey involved an interview, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure assessment, measures of physical functioning (grip strength and balance assessments) and the collection of blood samples (for immediate analysis of cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin, storage for future analysis and future DNA extraction). In addition, participants were asked to wear a device which measured physical activity levels for 7 days and to complete an online questionnaire about their diet. The objective measures of health had been funded by the Medical Research Council and the British Heart Foundation.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood, Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Aim

The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study participants as possible. Therefore, CLS are seeking permission to be supplied with updated addresses for the study members whose whereabouts are currently unknown. CLS believe that a substantial number of these individuals would be willing to participate in the Age 50 survey if they could be contacted. Previous efforts to re-establish contact for the BCS70 cohort study have been very successful using this route.

CLS wish to access NHS Digital data for the purpose of updating participant demographic data held on CLS systems for the purpose of contacting participants and maximise involvement in future sweeps conducted within this study. CLS also requests access to mortality data included within the reports outlined below to be used in the process of contacting participants involved in previous sweeps.

Data Summary

CLS are requesting access to record level, identifiable data linked to the cohort from the following Medical Research reports:

MRIS – Cause of Death Report

MRIS - List Cleaning Report

MRIS Members and Postings Report

MRIS – Cohort Event Notification Report

MRIS – Flagging Current Status Report

Under previous versions of this agreement, CLS has benefited from the use of NHS Digital data to assist with maximising participation in Age Surveys. Therefore, a further wave of list cleaning exercises was requested, i.e. this agreement, to try and find updated addresses for those who are found during fieldwork to have moved from the address held. This will further boost the number who can be contacted and invited to participate. Multiple list cleans have been requested for the purpose of tracing address details of participants over the period leading up to the Age 50 survey. Distribution of study materials, annual courtesy letters and pilot studies planned for the 2019-2020 period would benefit from the most up to date contact information for participants, thus an additional list clean is required.

UCL’s legal bases for processing the data under General Data Protection Regulation is bases under Article 6(1)(e) ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ & Article 9(2)(j) ‘processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject’.

Aggregated data with small numbers suppressed will be made available to the research community in late 2019, forming an invaluable resource for health research. Researchers will be able to use the rich life-history data collected over the duration of the study’s life in conjunction with the data collected in the BCS70 Age 46 survey to examine the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. It is then planned that the measures conducted will be repeated in future sweeps of the study, which will allow for research which deepens the understanding of changes in health which occur with ageing. No patient identifiable data is made available for research.

The cohort currently held by NHS Digital, totalling roughly 15,976, was calculated as an adaptation of the original participant population, excluding study members in Scotland. Of the roughly 15,976 individuals invited to participate in the BCS70 Age 50 Survey, CLS predict that researchers will have difficulty contacting a small proportion of this population for the purposes of distributing study material and invitations for participating in Age Surveys. Preparations for the previous Age Survey (46) highlighted a group of study members where contact has been lost between researchers and the study member due to out-of-date address information. These are not individuals which have informed CLS that they wish to withdraw from the study, the researchers have simply lost touch with them as they have moved home and not informed CLS. This application for the MRIS list cleaning report is for the members of the cohort lost to follow up only.

CLS have commissioned Copyprint UK Limited to distribute mailings to all participants including regular messages regarding Age Surveys and to maintain contact with the study. These tasks serve the purpose of ensuring maximum participation in each of the Age Surveys planned throughout the study. Copyprint will have access to participant demographic information and contact details in order to fulfil their obligation. This includes data which has been supplied to Copyprint directly from NHS Digital's dissemination and data which has been 'washed' through being updated by the data subject directly. Copyprint are not permitted to use the data for any other purpose.

University College London (UCL) are the sole Data Controller for this agreement. All Data Processors party to this agreement are acting upon the instruction of the controller.

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 50 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2023 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

CLS has previously made outputs from the study available for researchers via the UK Data Service. This data is presented as aggregated with small numbers suppressed and consists of data collated during Age Surveys by interviewers. Outputs will not include data provided by NHS Digital.

The Age 46 Sweep involved many data collection elements which contribute to outputs, a full list of which is provided below:

• 45-minute core interview – topics covered include: relationships, children, parents, place of residence, economic activity, income, qualifications and training, physical and mental health, smoking, drinking, exercise

• Cognitive assessments – immediate and delayed word recall, letter cancellation and animal-naming tasks

• Paper self-completion questionnaire – topics covered include physical health, mental health and well-being, physical activity, and leisure activities

• Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body-fat, waist/hip circumference)

• Blood pressure measurement

• Grip strength assessment

• Balance assessment

• Blood sample collection

• Activity monitor

• Online dietary diary

Data from the Age 46 Sweep will be made available for researchers to access via the UK Data Service from October 2019, providing an important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care.

• The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will collect data on different factors of participant functioning and socio-economic factors:

• Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking,

• diet, exercise), cognitive function.

• Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

• Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood,

• Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

The data will be used to produce outputs at the same level as produced from the Age 46 Sweep and will be available for researchers to access via the UK Data Service from early 2023.

The BCS70 study has seen interest from a large number of research groups, where CLS outputs have been referenced in research publications addressing a large scope of areas within health and social care. A list of the publications referencing the study can be found at the link below:

https://www.bibliography.cls.ucl.ac.uk/Bibliography.aspx?sitesectionid=647&sitesectiontitle=Bibliography

Outputs for the use of NHS Digital data:

The addresses previously obtained from NHS Digital were used to invite study members to take part in the BCS70 Age 46 survey and they will be used to invite study members to take part in the future sweep age 50 taking place in 2020. The previous application requested an extension to the current agreement to keep the data we currently hold and to carry out another 2 list cleans in preparation for age 50, and to receive notifications of deaths and embarkations biannually.

The expected outcome of processing this data is a more accurate database of participant demographics information, available to CLS and the appointed Data Processors in identifiable form in order to effectively contact participants and maximise the participant rate in regular surveys.

There have been hundreds of published journal articles, books, chapters, reports or conference presentations based on data from the 1970 British Cohort Study.

Below are some examples of existing publications using BCS70 data benefiting public health:

• TAYLOR, B and WADSWORTH, J. (1987) Maternal smoking during pregnancy and lower respiratory tract illness in early life. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 62(8), 786-791.

IMPACT: Research from BCS70 has contributed to the understanding of the effects of maternal smoking on child health.

SUMMARY: In a national study of 12,743 children maternal, but not paternal, smoking was confirmed as having a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis and admission to hospital for lower respiratory tract illness during the first five years of life. Reported rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases were found to be as high in children born to mothers who stopped smoking during pregnancy as in those whose mothers smoked continuously both during and after pregnancy. Rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases in children whose mothers started smoking only postnatally were no higher than in those whose mothers remained non-smokers. Postnatal smoking seemed to exert a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis, but less than smoking during pregnancy. These findings suggest that maternal smoking influences the incidence of respiratory illnesses in children mainly through a congenital effect, and only to a lesser extent through passive exposure after birth.

• MARMOT, M and BELL, R. (2016) Social inequalities in health: a proper concern of epidemiology. Annals of Epidemiology, 26(4), 238-240.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted an interrogated socio-economic inequalities in health.

Abstract: Social inequalities are a proper concern of epidemiology. Epidemiological thinking and modes of analysis are central, but epidemiological research is one among many areas of study that provide the evidence for understanding the causes of social inequalities in health and what can be done to reduce them. Understanding the causes of health inequalities requires insights from social, behavioural and biological sciences, and a chain of reasoning that examines how the accumulation of positive and negative influences over the life course leads to health inequalities in adult life. Evidence that the social gradient in health can be reduced should make us optimistic that reducing health inequalities is a realistic goal for all societies.

• PLOUBIDIS, G.B, SULLIVAN, A, BROWN, M and GOODMAN, A. (2017) Psychological Distress in Mid-Life: Evidence from the 1958 and 1970 British Birth Cohorts. Psychological Medicine, 47(2), 291-303.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted the growing problem of depression in the UK.

Abstract: This paper addresses the levels of psychological distress experienced at age 42 years by men and women born in 1958 and 1970. Comparing these cohorts born 12 years apart, we ask whether psychological distress has increased, and, if so, whether this increase can be explained by differences in their childhood conditions. Data were utilized from two well-known population-based birth cohorts, the National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. Latent variable models and causal mediation methods were employed. After establishing the measurement equivalence of psychological distress in the two cohorts we found that men and women born in 1970 reported higher levels of psychological distress compared with those born in 1958. These differences were more pronounced in men (b = 0.314, 95% confidence interval 0.252–0.375), with the magnitude of the effect being twice as strong compared with women (b = 0.147, 95% confidence interval 0.076–0.218). The effect of all hypothesized early-life mediators in explaining these differences was modest. Our findings have implications for public health policy, indicating a higher average level of psychological distress among a cohort born in 1970 compared with a generation born 12 years earlier. Due to increases in life expectancy, more recently born cohorts are expected to live longer, which implies – if such differences persist – that they are likely to spend more years with mental health-related morbidity compared with earlier-born cohorts.

• V.P. Mateia, A.I. Mihăilescub, L.V. Diaconescuc, T. Purnichid, R. Grigorașe, O. Popa-Veleac (2018) Depression in young adults diagnosed with cancer – an analysis of the outcomes of 1970 British Cohort Study.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of the risk of depression in young patients diagnosed with cancer.

Summary

The study found that the risk of depression is higher at people with onset of cancer before 30. The study did not identify an increased risk for depression by socioeconomic status. Instead, they suggest the importance of active screening and treatment of depression at young patients with cancer.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399918303088?via%3Dihub

BANN, D, JOHNSON, W, LI, L, KUH, D and HARDY, R. (2018) Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent body-mass index, weight, and height from 1953 to 2015: an analysis of four longitudinal, observational, British birth cohort studies. Lancet Public Health, 3(4), e194-e203.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood body-mass index (BMI) have been documented in high-income countries, how they have changed over time, how inequalities in the composite parts (ie, weight and height) of BMI have changed, and whether inequalities differ in magnitude across the outcome distribution. The study investigated how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent weight, height, and BMI have changed over time in Britain.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468266718300458?via%3Dihub

CHENG, H and FURNHAM, A. (2018) Teenage locus of control, psychological distress, educational qualifications and occupational prestige as well as sex are independent predictors of adult binge drinking. Alcohol, advance online access, 1 Sept 2018.

IMPACT : Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how various psychological and socio-demographic factors in childhood and adulthood that relate to alcohol intake and binge drinking at age 42 years.

abstract:

Data were drawn from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), The analytic sample comprised 5267 cohort members with data on parental social class at birth, cognitive ability at age 10, locus of control at age 16, psychological distress at age 30, educational qualifications at age 34, and current occupation and alcohol consumption at age 42 years. Results showed that sex (male), lower parental social class, adolescent external locus of control, psychological distress, lower scores on childhood intelligence, lower educational qualifications and less professional occupations were all significantly and positively associated with binge drinking in adulthood. Both psychological and social factors influence adult excessive alcohol consumption. Adolescent locus of control beliefs had a modest but significant effect on adult binge drinking 26 years later.

detailed information can be found here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0741832916301677?via%3Dihub

For more information about published work using this study access cls.ucl.ac.uk

Background

The British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS) is one of Britain’s world renowned national longitudinal birth cohort studies. It follows a large sample of individuals born over a limited period of time (all those born in one week in 1970) through the course of their lives, charting the effects of events and circumstances in early life on outcomes and achievements later on. They show how histories of health, wealth, education, family and employment are interwoven for individuals and vary between them.

The study is run by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the University of London, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Since 1970 there have been nine attempts to gather information from the whole cohort. Over time, the scope of enquiry has broadened from a medical focus at birth, to encompass physical and educational development at the age of five, physical, educational and social development at the ages of ten and sixteen, and then to include economic development and other wider factors at ages 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42. The most recent survey was Age 46 and future sweeps surveys will take place roughly every 5 years. The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study members as possible especially during interim periods between surveys.

The study has its origins in the British Births Survey in which information was gathered about almost 17,500 babies. The original study focused on the circumstances and outcomes of birth but since then the study has broadened in scope to map all aspects of health, education, social and economic development. The current survey will provide an updated picture of the circumstances and experiences of those born in the early seventies in England, Scotland and Wales and will help develop an understanding of their progress into the latter period of their lives.

The most recent Age 46 survey began in July 2016 and was scheduled to run until July 2018. As of the beginning of February 2018, data had been collected from just over 6,000 participants and by completion it was projected that approximately 8,500 will have taken part. The Age 46 Survey had a particular focus on health and was conducted by interviewers and registered nurses. The survey involved an interview, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure assessment, measures of physical functioning (grip strength and balance assessments) and the collection of blood samples (for immediate analysis of cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin, storage for future analysis and future DNA extraction). In addition, participants were asked to wear a device which measured physical activity levels for 7 days and to complete an online questionnaire about their diet. The objective measures of health had been funded by the Medical Research Council and the British Heart Foundation.

The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will cover the following topics:

Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking, diet, exercise), cognitive function.

Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood, Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

In addition, participants will be asked to download and play a smart-phone based game, which will measure navigational skills, one of the first skills to decline with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The game has been developed in association with Alzheimer’s UK. The data collected will be analysed in combination with the life history information collected over the course of the study’s history to allow for novel investigation of the factors associated with navigational skills in mid-life.

Aim

The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study participants as possible. Therefore, CLS are seeking permission to be supplied with updated addresses for the study members whose whereabouts are currently unknown. CLS believe that a substantial number of these individuals would be willing to participate in the Age 50 survey if they could be contacted. Previous efforts to re-establish contact for the BCS70 cohort study have been very successful using this route.

CLS wish to access NHS Digital data for the purpose of updating participant demographic data held on CLS systems for the purpose of contacting participants and maximise involvement in future sweeps conducted within this study. CLS also requests access to mortality data included within the reports outlined below to be used in the process of contacting participants involved in previous sweeps.

Data Summary

CLS are requesting access to record level, identifiable data linked to the cohort from the following Medical Research reports:

MRIS – Cause of Death Report

MRIS - List Cleaning Report

MRIS Members and Postings Report

MRIS – Cohort Event Notification Report

MRIS – Flagging Current Status Report

Under previous versions of this agreement, CLS has benefited from the use of NHS Digital data to assist with maximising participation in Age Surveys. Therefore, a further wave of list cleaning exercises was requested, i.e. this agreement, to try and find updated addresses for those who are found during fieldwork to have moved from the address held. This will further boost the number who can be contacted and invited to participate. Multiple list cleans have been requested for the purpose of tracing address details of participants over the period leading up to the Age 50 survey. Distribution of study materials, annual courtesy letters and pilot studies planned for the 2019-2020 period would benefit from the most up to date contact information for participants, thus an additional list clean is required.

UCL’s legal bases for processing the data under General Data Protection Regulation is bases under Article 6(1)(e) ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’ & Article 9(2)(j) ‘processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject’.

Aggregated data with small numbers suppressed will be made available to the research community in late 2019, forming an invaluable resource for health research. Researchers will be able to use the rich life-history data collected over the duration of the study’s life in conjunction with the data collected in the BCS70 Age 46 survey to examine the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. It is then planned that the measures conducted will be repeated in future sweeps of the study, which will allow for research which deepens the understanding of changes in health which occur with ageing. No patient identifiable data is made available for research.

The cohort currently held by NHS Digital, totalling roughly 15,976, was calculated as an adaptation of the original participant population, excluding study members in Scotland. Of the roughly 15,976 individuals invited to participate in the BCS70 Age 50 Survey, CLS predict that researchers will have difficulty contacting a small proportion of this population for the purposes of distributing study material and invitations for participating in Age Surveys. Preparations for the previous Age Survey (46) highlighted a group of study members where contact has been lost between researchers and the study member due to out-of-date address information. These are not individuals which have informed CLS that they wish to withdraw from the study, the researchers have simply lost touch with them as they have moved home and not informed CLS. This application for the MRIS list cleaning report is for the members of the cohort lost to follow up only.

CLS have commissioned Copyprint UK Limited to distribute mailings to all participants including regular messages regarding Age Surveys and to maintain contact with the study. These tasks serve the purpose of ensuring maximum participation in each of the Age Surveys planned throughout the study. Copyprint will have access to participant demographic information and contact details in order to fulfil their obligation. This includes data which has been supplied to Copyprint directly from NHS Digital's dissemination and data which has been 'washed' through being updated by the data subject directly. Copyprint are not permitted to use the data for any other purpose.

University College London (UCL) are the sole Data Controller for this agreement. All Data Processors party to this agreement are acting upon the instruction of the controller.

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 50 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2023 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

CLS has previously made outputs from the study available for researchers via the UK Data Service. This data is presented as aggregated with small numbers suppressed and consists of data collated during Age Surveys by interviewers. Outputs will not include data provided by NHS Digital.

The Age 46 Sweep involved many data collection elements which contribute to outputs, a full list of which is provided below:

• 45-minute core interview – topics covered include: relationships, children, parents, place of residence, economic activity, income, qualifications and training, physical and mental health, smoking, drinking, exercise

• Cognitive assessments – immediate and delayed word recall, letter cancellation and animal-naming tasks

• Paper self-completion questionnaire – topics covered include physical health, mental health and well-being, physical activity, and leisure activities

• Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body-fat, waist/hip circumference)

• Blood pressure measurement

• Grip strength assessment

• Balance assessment

• Blood sample collection

• Activity monitor

• Online dietary diary

Data from the Age 46 Sweep will be made available for researchers to access via the UK Data Service from October 2019, providing an important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care.

• The upcoming Age 50 Survey will involve a core interview and a paper self-completion questionnaire which will collect data on different factors of participant functioning and socio-economic factors:

• Health, well-being and cognition: physical health, mental health, medical care, health behaviours (e.g. smoking, drinking,

• diet, exercise), cognitive function.

• Finances and employment: work, income, wealth (savings and debts, pensions, & housing), retirement plans & education.

• Family, relationships and identity: social networks, relationships with partners, parents, children, friends, neighbourhood,

• Social capital, social and political participation, attitudes and values, and religion.

The data will be used to produce outputs at the same level as produced from the Age 46 Sweep and will be available for researchers to access via the UK Data Service from early 2023.

The BCS70 study has seen interest from a large number of research groups, where CLS outputs have been referenced in research publications addressing a large scope of areas within health and social care. A list of the publications referencing the study can be found at the link below:

https://www.bibliography.cls.ucl.ac.uk/Bibliography.aspx?sitesectionid=647&sitesectiontitle=Bibliography

Outputs for the use of NHS Digital data:

The addresses previously obtained from NHS Digital were used to invite study members to take part in the BCS70 Age 46 survey and they will be used to invite study members to take part in the future sweep age 50 taking place in 2020. The previous application requested an extension to the current agreement to keep the data we currently hold and to carry out another 2 list cleans in preparation for age 50, and to receive notifications of deaths and embarkations biannually.

The expected outcome of processing this data is a more accurate database of participant demographics information, available to CLS and the appointed Data Processors in identifiable form in order to effectively contact participants and maximise the participant rate in regular surveys.

There have been hundreds of published journal articles, books, chapters, reports or conference presentations based on data from the 1970 British Cohort Study.

Below are some examples of existing publications using BCS70 data benefiting public health:

• TAYLOR, B and WADSWORTH, J. (1987) Maternal smoking during pregnancy and lower respiratory tract illness in early life. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 62(8), 786-791.

IMPACT: Research from BCS70 has contributed to the understanding of the effects of maternal smoking on child health.

SUMMARY: In a national study of 12,743 children maternal, but not paternal, smoking was confirmed as having a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis and admission to hospital for lower respiratory tract illness during the first five years of life. Reported rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases were found to be as high in children born to mothers who stopped smoking during pregnancy as in those whose mothers smoked continuously both during and after pregnancy. Rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases in children whose mothers started smoking only postnatally were no higher than in those whose mothers remained non-smokers. Postnatal smoking seemed to exert a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis, but less than smoking during pregnancy. These findings suggest that maternal smoking influences the incidence of respiratory illnesses in children mainly through a congenital effect, and only to a lesser extent through passive exposure after birth.

• MARMOT, M and BELL, R. (2016) Social inequalities in health: a proper concern of epidemiology. Annals of Epidemiology, 26(4), 238-240.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted an interrogated socio-economic inequalities in health.

Abstract: Social inequalities are a proper concern of epidemiology. Epidemiological thinking and modes of analysis are central, but epidemiological research is one among many areas of study that provide the evidence for understanding the causes of social inequalities in health and what can be done to reduce them. Understanding the causes of health inequalities requires insights from social, behavioural and biological sciences, and a chain of reasoning that examines how the accumulation of positive and negative influences over the life course leads to health inequalities in adult life. Evidence that the social gradient in health can be reduced should make us optimistic that reducing health inequalities is a realistic goal for all societies.

• PLOUBIDIS, G.B, SULLIVAN, A, BROWN, M and GOODMAN, A. (2017) Psychological Distress in Mid-Life: Evidence from the 1958 and 1970 British Birth Cohorts. Psychological Medicine, 47(2), 291-303.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted the growing problem of depression in the UK.

Abstract: This paper addresses the levels of psychological distress experienced at age 42 years by men and women born in 1958 and 1970. Comparing these cohorts born 12 years apart, we ask whether psychological distress has increased, and, if so, whether this increase can be explained by differences in their childhood conditions. Data were utilized from two well-known population-based birth cohorts, the National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. Latent variable models and causal mediation methods were employed. After establishing the measurement equivalence of psychological distress in the two cohorts we found that men and women born in 1970 reported higher levels of psychological distress compared with those born in 1958. These differences were more pronounced in men (b = 0.314, 95% confidence interval 0.252–0.375), with the magnitude of the effect being twice as strong compared with women (b = 0.147, 95% confidence interval 0.076–0.218). The effect of all hypothesized early-life mediators in explaining these differences was modest. Our findings have implications for public health policy, indicating a higher average level of psychological distress among a cohort born in 1970 compared with a generation born 12 years earlier. Due to increases in life expectancy, more recently born cohorts are expected to live longer, which implies – if such differences persist – that they are likely to spend more years with mental health-related morbidity compared with earlier-born cohorts.

• V.P. Mateia, A.I. Mihăilescub, L.V. Diaconescuc, T. Purnichid, R. Grigorașe, O. Popa-Veleac (2018) Depression in young adults diagnosed with cancer – an analysis of the outcomes of 1970 British Cohort Study.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of the risk of depression in young patients diagnosed with cancer.

Summary

The study found that the risk of depression is higher at people with onset of cancer before 30. The study did not identify an increased risk for depression by socioeconomic status. Instead, they suggest the importance of active screening and treatment of depression at young patients with cancer.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399918303088?via%3Dihub

BANN, D, JOHNSON, W, LI, L, KUH, D and HARDY, R. (2018) Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent body-mass index, weight, and height from 1953 to 2015: an analysis of four longitudinal, observational, British birth cohort studies. Lancet Public Health, 3(4), e194-e203.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood body-mass index (BMI) have been documented in high-income countries, how they have changed over time, how inequalities in the composite parts (ie, weight and height) of BMI have changed, and whether inequalities differ in magnitude across the outcome distribution. The study investigated how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent weight, height, and BMI have changed over time in Britain.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468266718300458?via%3Dihub

CHENG, H and FURNHAM, A. (2018) Teenage locus of control, psychological distress, educational qualifications and occupational prestige as well as sex are independent predictors of adult binge drinking. Alcohol, advance online access, 1 Sept 2018.

IMPACT : Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how various psychological and socio-demographic factors in childhood and adulthood that relate to alcohol intake and binge drinking at age 42 years.

abstract:

Data were drawn from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), The analytic sample comprised 5267 cohort members with data on parental social class at birth, cognitive ability at age 10, locus of control at age 16, psychological distress at age 30, educational qualifications at age 34, and current occupation and alcohol consumption at age 42 years. Results showed that sex (male), lower parental social class, adolescent external locus of control, psychological distress, lower scores on childhood intelligence, lower educational qualifications and less professional occupations were all significantly and positively associated with binge drinking in adulthood. Both psychological and social factors influence adult excessive alcohol consumption. Adolescent locus of control beliefs had a modest but significant effect on adult binge drinking 26 years later.

detailed information can be found here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0741832916301677?via%3Dihub

For more information about published work using this study access cls.ucl.ac.uk

The British Cohort Study 1970 (BCS) is one of Britain’s world renowned national longitudinal birth cohort studies. It follows a large sample of individuals born over a limited period of time (all those born in one week in 1970) through the course of their lives, charting the effects of events and circumstances in early life on outcomes and achievements later on. They show how histories of health, wealth, education, family and employment are interwoven for individuals and vary between them.

The study is run by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the University of London, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Since 1970 there have been nine attempts to gather information from the whole cohort. Over time, the scope of enquiry has broadened from a medical focus at birth, to encompass physical and educational development at the age of five, physical, educational and social development at the ages of ten and sixteen, and then to include economic development and other wider factors at ages 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42. The most recent survey was Age 46 and future sweeps surveys will take place roughly every 5 years. The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as many study members as possible especially during interim periods between surveys.

The study has its origins in the British Births Survey in which information was gathered about almost 17,500 babies. The original study focused on the circumstances and outcomes of birth but since then the study has broadened in scope to map all aspects of health, education, social and economic development. The current survey will provide an updated picture of the circumstances and experiences of those born in the early seventies in England, Scotland and Wales and will help develop an understanding of their progress into the latter period of their lives.

The most recent Age 46 survey began in July 2016 and was scheduled to run until July 2018. As of the beginning of February 2018, data had been collected from just over 6,000 participants and by completion it was projected that approximately 8,500 will have taken part. The Age 46 Survey has a particular focus on health and was conducted by interviewers and registered nurses. The survey involved an interview, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure assessment, measures of physical functioning (grip strength and balance assessments) and the collection of blood samples (for immediate analysis of cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin, storage for future analysis and future DNA extraction). In addition, participants are asked to wear a device which measures physical activity levels for 7 days and to complete an online questionnaire about their diet. The objective measures of health had been funded by the Medical Research Council and the British Heart Foundation.

For the BCS70 Age 46 survey, CLS contracted an external supplier NatCen Social Research (the trading name of the National Centre for Social Research) to carry out the individual study members’ interviews. For the Age 50 Survey, CLS will be appointing a new contractor to assist with the pilot studies planned for the 2019-2020 period prior to the Age 50 Survey.

The record-level pseudonymised research data will be deposited at the UK Data Service. Aggregated data with small numbers suppressed will be made available to the research community in late 2019, forming an invaluable resource for health research. Researchers will be able to use the rich life-history data collected over the duration of the study’s life in conjunction with the data collected in the BCS70 Age 46 survey to examine the longitudinal predictors of health in mid-life. It is then planned that the measures conducted will be repeated in future sweeps of the study, which will allow for research which deepens the understanding of changes in health which occur with ageing. No patient identifiable data is made available for research.

The cohort currently held by NHS Digital, totalling roughly 15,976, was calculated as an adaptation of the original participant population, excluding study members in Scotland. Of the roughly 15,976 individuals invited to participate in the BCS70 Age 50 Survey, CLS predict that researchers will have difficulty contacting a small proportion of this population for the purposes of distributing study material and invitations for participating in Age Surveys. Preparations for the previous Age Survey (46) highlighted a group of study members where contact has been lost between researchers and the study member due to out-of-date address information. These are not individuals which have informed CLS that they wish to withdraw from the study, the researchers have simply lost touch with them as they have moved home and not informed CLS. This application for the MRIS list cleaning report is for the members of the cohort lost to follow up only.

The ongoing success of the study depends on maintaining contact with as large a number of study members as possible. Therefore, CLS are seeking permission to be supplied with updated addresses for the study members whose whereabouts are currently unknown. CLS feel that a substantial number of these individuals would be willing to participate in the Age 50 survey if they could be contacted. Previous efforts to re-establish contact for our BCS70 cohort study have been very successful using this route.

CLS have commissioned Copyprint UK Limited to distribute mailings to all participants including regular messages regarding Age Surveys and to maintain contact with the study. These tasks serve the purpose of ensuring maximum participation in each of the Age Surveys planned throughout the study. Copyprint will have access to participant demographic information and contact details in order to fulfil their obligation. This includes data which has been supplied to Copyprint directly from NHS Digital's dissemination and data which has been 'washed' through being updated by the data subject directly. Copyprint are not permitted to use the data for any other purpose.

The on-going success of the study depends on maximising participation. The successful list clean exercise which took place during the previous iteration of this agreement, prior to the launch of fieldwork, allowed CLS to invite around 318 previously untraced study members to take part. Of the 1370 untraced cohort members, 1164 cases were returned by NHS Digital where 537 of these records provided CLS with updated address details. In summary, CLS were able to invite 318 participants to take part in the study where they would otherwise be unable to do so.

Therefore, a 2nd wave of list cleaning exercises was planned i.e. this agreement, to try and find updated addresses for those who are found during fieldwork to have moved from the address held. This will further boost the number who can be contacted and invited to participate. Multiple list cleans have been requested for the purpose of tracing address details of participants over the period leading up to the Age 50 survey. Distribution of study materials, annual courtesy letters and pilot studies planned for the 2019-2020 period would benefit from the most up to date contact information for participants, thus an additional list clean is required.

The data file supplied from NHS Digital, as part of this list clean application, will be processed within CLS and entered into CLS’s secure confidential address database i.e. CLS will load more recent addresses into the database. All BCS70 study members contact information is held in this secure confidential address database at CLS.

Any study members choosing not to take part in the study are flagged on this database with a code denoting whether their refusal is temporary (i.e. for a particular wave/survey) or permanent (i.e. they wish to have no further involvement in the study). Any previously deposited anonymised survey data for a study member and confidential data from the address database are retained unless the study member specifically asks us not to, in which case this data is securely deleted.

The addresses previously obtained from NHS Digital were used to invite study members (whom we have lost contact with are classed as ‘UNTRACED’) to take part in the BCS70 Age 46 survey. However, this data received via this application is never sent or published to the UK Data Service.

With regard to a request for 'withdrawal' from a participant CLS classifies them as a 'withdrawal from the current survey' or a 'withdrawal from the study' and these are handled slightly differently:

• Withdrawal from the current survey: CLS will flag this on its computer system to indicate that the participant will not be taking part in the current survey and the reason for not wanting to take part is also recorded. For example, they may just not have the time to take part. Therefore there will be no further contact with the participant for the duration of the current survey but they will be invited to take part in the next survey.

• Withdrawal from the study: CLS will flag this on its computer system as a permanent refusal to indicate that the participant will not be taking any further part in the study itself and the reason for this type of withdrawal is also recorded for analysis purposes. Therefore there will be no further contact with the participant for the remainder of the longitudinal study. If this request is received in writing then CLS will acknowledge the request and notify the participant that they have been flagged and will no longer be contacted or receive any further communications. This request may sometimes be accompanied by a request for the destruction of their data.

Outputs for the List Clean:

The main outcome from the BCS70 Age 46 survey will be a fully documented, anonymised research dataset and this will be archived with the UK Data Service in late 2019 to provide a strategically important resource for UK Social Science, including researchers in health and social care. Researchers will only have access to aggregated data with small numbers suppressed, in accordance with the HES Analysis Guide.

The addresses previously obtained from NHS Digital were used to invite study members to take part in the BCS70 Age 46 survey and they will be used to invite study members to take part in the future sweep age 50 taking place in 2020. Therefore, this application is to request an extension to the current agreement to keep the data we currently hold and to carry out another 2 list cleans in preparation for age 50, and to receive notifications of deaths and embarkations biannually.

There have been hundreds of published journal articles, books, chapters, reports or conference presentations based on data from the 1970 British Cohort Study.

Below are some examples of existing publications using BCS70 data benefiting public health:

• TAYLOR, B and WADSWORTH, J. (1987) Maternal smoking during pregnancy and lower respiratory tract illness in early life. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 62(8), 786-791.

IMPACT: Research from BCS70 has contributed to the understanding of the effects of maternal smoking on child health.

SUMMARY: In a national study of 12,743 children maternal, but not paternal, smoking was confirmed as having a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis and admission to hospital for lower respiratory tract illness during the first five years of life. Reported rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases were found to be as high in children born to mothers who stopped smoking during pregnancy as in those whose mothers smoked continuously both during and after pregnancy. Rates of admissions to hospital for lower respiratory tract diseases in children whose mothers started smoking only postnatally were no higher than in those whose mothers remained non-smokers. Postnatal smoking seemed to exert a significant influence on the reported incidence of bronchitis, but less than smoking during pregnancy. These findings suggest that maternal smoking influences the incidence of respiratory illnesses in children mainly through a congenital effect, and only to a lesser extent through passive exposure after birth.

• MARMOT, M and BELL, R. (2016) Social inequalities in health: a proper concern of epidemiology. Annals of Epidemiology, 26(4), 238-240.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted an interrogated socio-economic inequalities in health.

Abstract: Social inequalities are a proper concern of epidemiology. Epidemiological thinking and modes of analysis are central, but epidemiological research is one among many areas of study that provide the evidence for understanding the causes of social inequalities in health and what can be done to reduce them. Understanding the causes of health inequalities requires insights from social, behavioural and biological sciences, and a chain of reasoning that examines how the accumulation of positive and negative influences over the life course leads to health inequalities in adult life. Evidence that the social gradient in health can be reduced should make us optimistic that reducing health inequalities is a realistic goal for all societies.

• PLOUBIDIS, G.B, SULLIVAN, A, BROWN, M and GOODMAN, A. (2017) Psychological Distress in Mid-Life: Evidence from the 1958 and 1970 British Birth Cohorts. Psychological Medicine, 47(2), 291-303.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 has highlighted the growing problem of depression in the UK.

Abstract: This paper addresses the levels of psychological distress experienced at age 42 years by men and women born in 1958 and 1970. Comparing these cohorts born 12 years apart, we ask whether psychological distress has increased, and, if so, whether this increase can be explained by differences in their childhood conditions. Data were utilized from two well-known population-based birth cohorts, the National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. Latent variable models and causal mediation methods were employed. After establishing the measurement equivalence of psychological distress in the two cohorts we found that men and women born in 1970 reported higher levels of psychological distress compared with those born in 1958. These differences were more pronounced in men (b = 0.314, 95% confidence interval 0.252–0.375), with the magnitude of the effect being twice as strong compared with women (b = 0.147, 95% confidence interval 0.076–0.218). The effect of all hypothesized early-life mediators in explaining these differences was modest. Our findings have implications for public health policy, indicating a higher average level of psychological distress among a cohort born in 1970 compared with a generation born 12 years earlier. Due to increases in life expectancy, more recently born cohorts are expected to live longer, which implies – if such differences persist – that they are likely to spend more years with mental health-related morbidity compared with earlier-born cohorts.

• V.P. Mateia, A.I. Mihăilescub, L.V. Diaconescuc, T. Purnichid, R. Grigorașe, O. Popa-Veleac (2018) Depression in young adults diagnosed with cancer – an analysis of the outcomes of 1970 British Cohort Study.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of the risk of depression in young patients diagnosed with cancer.

Summary

The study found that the risk of depression is higher at people with onset of cancer before 30. The study did not identify an increased risk for depression by socioeconomic status. Instead, they suggest the importance of active screening and treatment of depression at young patients with cancer.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399918303088?via%3Dihub

BANN, D, JOHNSON, W, LI, L, KUH, D and HARDY, R. (2018) Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent body-mass index, weight, and height from 1953 to 2015: an analysis of four longitudinal, observational, British birth cohort studies. Lancet Public Health, 3(4), e194-e203.

IMPACT: Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood body-mass index (BMI) have been documented in high-income countries, how they have changed over time, how inequalities in the composite parts (ie, weight and height) of BMI have changed, and whether inequalities differ in magnitude across the outcome distribution. The study investigated how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent weight, height, and BMI have changed over time in Britain.

Detailed information about the study can be found here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468266718300458?via%3Dihub

CHENG, H and FURNHAM, A. (2018) Teenage locus of control, psychological distress, educational qualifications and occupational prestige as well as sex are independent predictors of adult binge drinking. Alcohol, advance online access, 1 Sept 2018.

IMPACT : Research using BCS70 Cohort Study data has contributed to the understanding of how various psychological and socio-demographic factors in childhood and adulthood that relate to alcohol intake and binge drinking at age 42 years.

abstract:

Data were drawn from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), The analytic sample comprised 5267 cohort members with data on parental social class at birth, cognitive ability at age 10, locus of control at age 16, psychological distress at age 30, educational qualifications at age 34, and current occupation and alcohol consumption at age 42 years. Results showed that sex (male), lower parental social class, adolescent external locus of control, psychological distress, lower scores on childhood intelligence, lower educational qualifications and less professional occupations were all significantly and positively associated with binge drinking in adulthood. Both psychological and social factors influence adult excessive alcohol consumption. Adolescent locus of control beliefs had a modest but significant effect on adult binge drinking 26 years later.

detailed information can be found here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0741832916301677?via%3Dihub

For more information about published work using this study access cls.ucl.ac.uk