Enhancing child
and youth research
Established by ARACY in 2006, the Longitudinal Studies Collaborative (LSC) brings together leading Australian and New Zealand research cohorts focused on children and youth. Our mission is to strengthen collaboration, improve data sharing, support new and existing longitudinal studies, and promote the value of long-term research.
Growing Up in New Zealand
Glen Innes, Auckland, New Zealand
Growing Up in New Zealand is New Zealand's contemporary longitudinal study tracking the development of more than 6,000 New Zealand children from before birth until they are young adults.
Read morePathways of Care Longitudinal Study: outcomes of children and young people in out-of-home care in NSW
Department of Family and Community Services, Cavill Avenue, Ashfield NSW, Australia
Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS) is the first large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) in Australia. The child developmental domains of interest are physical health, socio-emotional wellbeing, cognitive/learning ability and safety. POCLS is the first study to link data on children’s child protection backgrounds, OOHC experiences, health, education and offending held by multiple government agencies; and match it to first hand accounts from children, caregivers, caseworkers and teachers. The POCLS database will allow researchers to track children’s experiences and outcomes from birth.
Read morePeel Child Health Study (PCHS)
Murdoch University, Mandurah Campus, Mandurah WA, Australia
The Peel Child Health Study is exploring the health and development of families in the Peel region, Western Australia. We know that early development from conception to age 5 establishes the foundation for learning, behaviour and health throughout life but there is a lot more we can learn about the influence that family and community has on children. The Peel Child Health Study will answer questions surrounding everyday life and the different stressors involved and how that can impact upon child health and development. The study will focus on the community, environment, biological, social and emotional factors of families living in the peel region.
Read morePPOIT-3: A phase 3, multicentre, randomised, controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of Probiotic and Peanut Oral Immunotherapy (PPOIT) in inducing desensitisation or tolerance in children with peanut allergy compared with Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) alone and with placebo.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
The PPOIT (probiotic and peanut oral immunotherapy) trials are a series of studies investigating the use of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus and peanut OIT to induce sustained unresponsiveness to peanut, in other words, a possible effective treatment for peanut allergy.
Read morePPOIT-2: Open pilot study of Probiotic and Peanut Oral Immunotherapy (PPOIT) with shortened buildup phase
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
The PPOIT (probiotic and peanut oral immunotherapy) trials are a series of studies investigating the use of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus and peanut OIT to induce sustained unresponsiveness to peanut, in other words, a possible effective treatment for peanut allergy.
Read more2000 Stories: Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
2000 Stories is comprised of the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (VAHCS) and the nested intergenerational study, Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study (VIHCS). The VIHCS, launched in 2006, is one of the first prospective multi-generational studies in the world to look at how a parent’s (VAHCS participant) lifestyle, health and behaviour before pregnancy (including the teenage years), as well as during and after pregnancy, might influence their child’s health and development. It is one of the first longitudinal studies of childhood psychosocial development to be embedded within an existing longitudinal study of parent development and aims understand the processes that might influence many aspects of health and wellbeing across generations.
Read moreTop End Cohort (TEC) study
Menzies School of Health Research, Casuarina, Northern Territory, Australia
The Top End Cohort Study is a prospective, life course study of non-Indigenous people living in the Top End, NT Australia.
Read moreHealthy Parents, Healthy Kids
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The study will evaluate whether the program is effective in supporting pregnant women to eat healthily during their pregnancy, and whether the procedures are practical and feasible. It will also assess the possible effect of the dietary program on certain biological aspects of health in pregnant women and their babies, including their gut bacteria.
Read moreGomeroi gaaynggal study
University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
The Gomeroi gaaynggal ('Babies from Gomeroi lands') program is working to improve the health outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal women and their children. Aboriginal people have increased rates of chronic diseases, particularly kidney disease, and our research and community work seeks to understand this and create health change.
Read moreBefore, during And Beyond the baby Years; the influence of the first 1,000 days (BABY1000)
The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
Through the BABY1000 study we’re aiming to identify and deal with interactions before and during pregnancy that can contribute to the development of health disorders that impact future generations.
Read moreThe ORIGINS project (ORIGINS)
Joondalup Health Campus, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
The ORIGINS Project is a new longitudinal birth cohort study, designed to collect detailed information about how early environment influences the risk of a broad range of diseases, including asthma, allergies, diabetes, obesity and its many complications. We will recruit women (and the father of their baby) early in pregnancy and collect data on their health, diet, physical activity patterns and a range of factors in their environment. We will then assess how these early life exposures influence their child's growth, development, and health (including neurodevelopment, evidence of allergies, infections, and other medical history).
Read moreAboriginal Birth Cohort (ABC) study
Menzies School of Health Research, Casuarina, Northern Territory, Australia
The Aboriginal Birth Cohort Study (ABC) is the largest and longest running Indigenous birth cohort in Australia. Commencing in 1987 it has been following the health of Indigenous people in their place of residence across the Top End.
Read moreLet's Learn Language
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Let's Learn Language was a cluster randomised controlled trial, nested in a population based survey. More than 1200 parents participated in the survey, reporting on their child's communication and behaviour at ages 12 and 18 months. The 301 children who were 'slow-to-talk' at 18 months were invited to participate in the controlled trial, which evaluated the benefits of a low intensity parent-toddler language promotion program.
Read moreLanguage For Learning (L4L)
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The Language for Learning study is a large-scale randomised controlled trial, nested within a population-based cohort of 1464 children in Melbourne. The RCT tested whether a population-based intervention in 4 year olds with language delay led to improved language and associated outcomes at ages 5, 6, and 9. In addition, language data from the whole cohort will enable researchers to better understand trajectories of language development and impairment throughout childhood.
Read moreSYMBA - Promoting gut health (symbiosis) with prebiotic fibre for prevention of allergic disease
Telethon Kids Institute, Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
The SYMBA Study aims to examine if a high fibre prebiotic supplement, taken during pregnancy and whilst breastfeeding, will reduce the risk of allergic disease in children, with potential benefit to other aspects of health, growth and development. SYMBA is the first intervention study nested within the ORIGINS Project, a birth cohort aiming to recruit 10,000 families in the Joondalup area of Perth.
Read moreMen and Parenting Pathways (MAPP) Study
Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
Men and Parenting Pathways (MAPP) is a program of research that investigates men’s mental health and wellbeing and how it affects and is affected by family life. This includes how men prepare for and enter fatherhood; as well as how men fare when they elect to not have children or when they are unable to become fathers. MAPP includes 5 annual waves of data collection (2015-2021), and 3 COVID specific surveys (2020-2021).
Read moreAustralian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health
University of Queensland, Herston QLD 4006
The purpose of the project is to provide scientifically valid information, based on current, accurate data that is relevant to the development of health policy and practice in women’s health.
Read moreVITALITY: Primary prevention of infant food allergy: a randomised controlled trial of postnatal vitamin D supplementation
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
VITALITY is a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial assessing the role of postnatal vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of infant food allergy. Recruitment began in December 2014, and is planning on recruiting 3012 healthy, term, breastfed 6-8 week old infants from council-run immunisation sessions across Melbourne, Australia.
Read moreVictorian Childhood Hearing Impairment Longitudinal Databank
The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
VicCHILD is the Victorian Childhood Hearing Impairment Longitudinal Databank. The aim of VicCHILD is to provide a register and population-based longitudinal research databank of Victorian children born with a permanent hearing loss to create a unique resource for advancing research in hearing loss.
Read moreVictorian Infant Brain Study
The Royal Women's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The VIBeS cohort is the world’s largest prospective longitudinal neuroimaging and neurodevelopmental study of very preterm and term children.
Read moreVictorian Cerebral Palsy Register
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The Victorian Cerebral Palsy Register collects information on people with cerebral palsy, born or living in the Australian state of Victoria since 1970.
Read moreThe Raine Study
The University of Western Australia, Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
The Raine Study was established in 1989-1991 with the inclusion of 2900 pregnant women. There were 2868 live births and these children formed the original cohort (Generation 2) of the Raine Study.
Read moreMater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy
Herston Road, Herston, Queensland, Australia
The Mater Misericordiae Mothers' Hospital-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy began as a prospective study of 8,556 pregnant women interviewed after their first clinic visit.
Read morePPOIT-1: Study of the effectiveness of Probiotics and Peanut Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) in inducing desensitisation or tolerance in children with peanut allergy
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The PPOIT (probiotic and peanut oral immunotherapy) trials are a series of studies investigating the use of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus and peanut OIT to induce sustained unresponsiveness to peanut, in other words, a possible effective treatment for peanut allergy.
Read moreSchoolNuts
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
SchoolNuts is a cross-sectional population-based study that aims to measure the prevalence of food allergy in the early adolescent age group, as well as to understand risk factors for recurrent and severe accidental food ingestion reactions and to determine clinical predictors of food challenge outcomes.
Read morePeri/Post-natal Epigenetic Twins Study (PETS)
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
PETS is a study of twins, from when they were in the womb through to childhood and beyond. The study aims to identify what makes us all who we are; our health, development and well being. Where better to start than with twins, who share the same mother, but are usually in their own ‘sac’ during pregnancy, then share the same home environment as children.
Read moreAdolescence to Emerging Adulthood (A2EA) Study
161 Barry Street, Carlton, Victoria, 3053, Australia
The Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood (A2EA) Study (formerly the Orygen Adolescent Development Study) is a prospective longitudinal study that aims to address core questions regarding biological and environmental risk factors for the development of depression and other psychopathologies with common onset during adolescence.
Read moreThe Mothers’ and Young People’s Study (MYPS)
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The Mothers’ and Young People’s Study (MYPS) is a multi-wave, prospective cohort study investigating the health and well-being of over 1500 first-time mothers and their firstborn children. The study aims to improve understanding of social and obstetric factors influencing maternal and child health.
Read moreLongitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth
60 Light Square, Light Square, Adelaide South Australia, Australia
The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) track young people as they move from school into further study, work, and other destinations. LSAY uses large, nationally representative samples of students at school to collect information about education and training, work, financial matters, health, social activities and related issues.
Read moreInternational Youth Development Study
The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The International Youth Development Study (IYDS) is a long-term study that looks at the development of healthy and problem behaviours among young people in the state of Victoria, Australia and the state of Washington, United States. IYDS is one of the first studies designed to examine whether or not differences in Australian and American cultures and schools affect youth development.
Read moreTriple B Pregnancy Cohort Study (Bumps, Babies and Beyond)
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, King Street, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
The Triple B Study: Bumps, Babies and Beyond is an innovative Australian study of approximately 1600 families. The project is a longitudinal pregnancy cohort which examines a wide range of biopsychosocial factors that relate to the health and development of Australian children and families.
Read moreImaging Brain Development in the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study
161 Barry Street, Carlton, Victoria, 3053, Australia
Puberty, brain development and psychopathology.
Read moreIllawarra Born: cross generation health study
University Of Wollongong, Northfields Ave - Stand E, Northfields Avenue, Gwynneville, New South Wales, Australia
The Illawarra Born study is a regional based study that aims to improve health and wellbeing across the lifespan, with a particular focus on preventable chronic diseases, especially mental health.
Read moreHealthNuts
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The HealthNuts study of 5,300 children is the world’s first comprehensive population-based study of food allergy with an objective measurement of true food allergy.
Read moreFamilies And Childhood Transitions Study
161 Barry Street, Carlton, Victoria, 3053, Australia
Brain development and psychopathology.
Read moreEarly Language in Victoria Study
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS) has been following the speech and language development of a large group of children (>1700) born in the surrounds of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) since they were 8 months of age.
Read moreReview of the health of adults conceived with and without Assisted Reproductive Technologies
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The 2009-2011 retrospective cohort study, “Comparison of health and development of young adults born with and without assisted conception”, is the largest in-depth study anywhere in the world of people aged 18 years and over who were conceived with ART. The aim of the study was to compare the physical and mental health, educational achievements, and social development of young adults conceived with and without ART. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1524 mothers (reporting on 1573 offspring), and 1096 young adults. The young adults that participated in the 2009 – 2011 telephone interviews have been invited to take part in the 2016-2017 CHART (Clinical review of the Health of 22-35 year olds conceived with and without Assisted Reproductive Technologies) Study. CHART is a clinical review investigating the respiratory, cardiac and metabolic health, and general wellbeing of the participants. Recruitment began in June 2016.
Read moreChildhood Overweight BioRepository of Australia (COBRA)
The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
A unique biorepository of data and biological samples from overweight and obese children
Read moreChristchurch Health and Development Study
University of Otago, Christchurch, Riccarton Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand
Psychosocial development, mental health, epidemiology, life course development
Read moreChildren’s Attention Project (CAP) including Neuroimaging of CAP Substudy (NICAP)
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; A range of outcomes: mental health, academic, family and child well-being, quality of life.
Read moreChildhood to Adolescence Transition Study
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
The CATS study is a new and unique longitudinal study of children in metropolitan Melbourne as they approach adolescence. The study began in 2012 and will follow over 1200 children from grade 3 (8-9 years of age). For information on the imaging component of the study, please refer to the Imaging Brain Development of CATS listing.
Read moreBarwon Infant Study
Barwon Health - University Hospital Geelong, Bellerine Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
The Barwon Infant Study (BIS) is a pre-birth population derived cohort with over 1000 pregnant women recruited between 2010 and 2013. This study was designed to follow children born to the recruited mothers and observe them as they grow. BIS is an investigation into the early life origins of a range of non-communicable diseases in the modern environment.
Read moreBaby Biotics
The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Baby Biotics is a double-blind randomised controlled trial of the probiotic, Lactobacillius reuteri, in 167 infants aged less than 3 months old with infant colic. The study will investigate the impact of L reuteri on infant crying and sleep, as well as maternal mental health and family quality of life.
Read moreAustralian Temperament Project: Generation 3 Cohort Study
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
To examine transgenerational (pre-conception) determinants of infant mental health, attachment and wellbeing
Read moreAustralian Parental Supply of Alcohol Longitudinal Study
University of New South Wales, Randwick Campus, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
Parental supply of alcohol, and alcohol use and related harms in adolescence and early adulthood.
Read moreAustralian Temperament Project
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Young people’s psychosocial development from infancy to adulthood, investigating the contribution of individual (including temperament and behaviour), family, peer and broader environmental factors to adjustment and wellbeing.
Read moreAsking Questions about Alcohol in Pregnancy Study
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and health and development of index child at birth and 12-24 months and 6-7 years of age.
Read moreVICIEM: A clinical and laboratory databank for patients with Inborn Errors of Metabolism
The Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
The natural history of inborn errors of metabolism (inherited metabolic diseases)
Read more2000 Stories: Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
2000 Stories is comprised of the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (VAHCS) and the nested intergenerational study, Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study (VIHCS). The VAHCS was established in 1992, with a group of around 2000 Year 9 students (14 – 15 years of age) recruited across Victoria, Australia. The ten VAHCS surveys have created one of the most comprehensive pictures of adolescent development to date. Aspects of teenage health and behaviour investigated include mental health, personality and behaviour, school, family, and drug and alcohol use. This information has been used to improve the health of future generations by influencing policy and informing prevention programs.
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Child & Youth Cohorts
Longitudinal cohort studies that track the lives of participants over many years are a powerful tool for understanding human development across childhood.
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Bringing together data from multiple longitudinal studies can answer questions that cohort studies alone cannot answer.
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