MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit

The Scottish 'Adolescent Lifestyles In Contemporary Europe' ('ALICE') project was part of a larger, European-wide project called 'Smoking in Movies', led by colleagues in Kiel, Germany. One of the aims of that project, which took place in six countries, was to study of the impact of exposure to smoking in films on European adolescents. In order to do that, surveys were conducted in 2010 with 2,000-3,000 school pupils in Scotland and each of the five other countries (Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland), with a follow-up of the same pupils a year later. In order to collect the Scottish data for 'ALICE', we surveyed pupils in the first three years of secondary education (Scottish Secondary 1-3 – S1-S3, aged 12-14) in seven schools in Scotland's central belt in 2010 and followed them up in 2011.

The ‘European’ survey included questions on basic demographics, self-descriptors, smoking and drinking. It also asked whether or not each pupil had seen a sample of 50 films randomly selected from 250 country-specific box office hits; researchers had carefully watched and analysed all these films and estimated how many smoking images they included. Some extra ‘Scottish’ specific health and lifestyle questions were included at the end of the questionnaire in order not to contaminate the ‘European’ items. There were 2937 participants. 

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://alice.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/.

Data Sharing: researchers from outside the MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit may apply to Helen Sweeting for permission to access specified sections of the data for particular analysis, in collaboration with one or more members of the study team. Email Helen.Sweeting@glasgow.ac.uk for further information.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

The Child Mental Health in Education (ChiME) project began as a collaboration between the University of Glasgow and Glasgow City Council Education Services. The data, collected between 2010 and 2017, are an administrative dataset, collected by Glasgow City Council for all local authority schools and local authority nurseries in Glasgow. This meant all eligible school children were automatically included.

Data were collected by Glasgow City Council Education Services on social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in children during their preschool and primary school years, using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was completed at three time points within the ChiME project: age 4-5 years (preschool, nursery staff complete); age 7 years (Scottish Primary 3, teacher complete); age 10 years (P6, child complete).  (NHS health visitors also completed the SDQ and a language scale with parents when children were aged 30 months, but these data are held separately by the NHS.)

Every year, the results from the local authority schools and nurseries were fed back to teachers to help with class planning and catering for individual children's needs. Additionally, results for the whole of Glasgow were reported to Glasgow City Council Education Services and used to explore service provision across the City.

Although data collection stopped in 2017, the information is a valuable resource for analysis and research (note that the dataset does not include the names of individual children). The fact that this was a Glasgow wide administrative dataset in all local authority schools and nurseries means that it includes children from the most deprived areas and with greater levels of difficulties, among whom study participation levels are often lower.

What is the SDQ?

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief behavioural screening questionnaire for 2-17 year olds. The SDQ comprises 25 questions divided into five groups; emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behaviour. The first four groups are scored negatively and the fifth group (prosocial behaviour) is scored positively. The answers to the negatively scored questions are added together to provide a Total Difficulties Score. Versions of the SDQ are available for parents, teachers and for young people over 10 years old.

How was consent for data collection obtained?

Parents were informed (via schoolbag letter and the school website) and given the opportunity to opt out if they did not wish their child to participate. Children in the older age group (P6) who were asked to self-complete the questionnaire were able to opt-out on the day of data completion.

What research has the ChiME data been used for?

Findings have been submitted for publication to inform academics and the wider community. Studies have looked at:

• whether it is is feasible to assess children systematically for social and behavioural problems as part of the routine transition process at school entry;
• levels of such problems at age 30 months;
• associations between different problem areas, and between social and behavioural problems and social isolation at preschool;
• levels of social and behavioural problems among children in different areas of Glasgow;
• whether a Glasgow-wide parenting programme had an impact on children’s mental health;
• and socioeconomic inequalities in mental health at school entry and how these change over the first three years of school.

Details of published work can be found under 'Related research' section below.

Who funds and looks after ChiME and its data?

ChiME has been previously been funded by Glasgow City Council Education Services, The Scottish Government Health Department, the Scottish Government Fairer Scotland Fund, Glasgow City Council One Glasgow fund and the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre. It is now supported by the MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit (SPHSU) at the University of Glasgow.

The project was originally overseen by a steering group which included members from Glasgow City Council, University of Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde, Educational Psychology, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and school and nursery staff. Since 2017, when data collection stopped, a scientific group, including representation from Glasgow City Educational Services and the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Aberdeen has managed the data.

The data are now securely held by SPHSU at the University of Glasgow.

We are interested in how different aspects of life, such as physical growth and family life, affect the health of young people from different ethnic backgrounds.

DASH began in 2002/2003. Over 6,500 young people aged 11-13 years took part from 51 schools spread across 10 London boroughs (Brent, Croydon, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark, Waltham Forest and Wandsworth). These areas were selected to ensure that young people from a range of ethnic backgrounds were included.

In 2005/ 2006, we went back to the schools to see if there had been any changes in the health and well-being of those young people, then aged 14-16.

In 2010 we started getting in touch with people who had taken part in the first two waves of DASH when they were at school to try and find as many as possible. In 2012 we began a feasibility study to see how best to follow up participants as young adults. The feasibility study finished at the end of March 2014 and over 650 participants, aged 21-23, were seen. The International Journal of Epidemiology cohort profile for the study is available at https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/36/3/512/656567. 

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://dash.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/.

Data Sharing: we are committed to maximizing the use of DASH data to advance knowledge to improve human health and welcome proposals for collaborative projects from bona fide researchers. Our data sharing policy reflects the MRC guidance on data sharing. We have developed this data sharing policy with the aim of making data as widely and freely available as possible while safeguarding the privacy of participants, protecting confidential data, and maintaining the reputation of the study. Email seeromanie.harding@kcl.ac.uk for further information. 

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

Our research on the award-winning Football Fans in Training (FFIT) programme demonstrates the powerful draw that professional clubs can exert to reach ‘high risk’ populations (in this case, obese men who are at high risk of ill-health and are not using other services).

Football Fans in Training has shown how the draw of the club and the 12 week group-based intervention, combined with organisational buy-in and supportive peer interactions, provide a highly successful model for behaviour change. Our evaluation of FFIT, published in The Lancet and BMC Public Health in 2014, found that men who participated in the FFIT programme lost more than nine times as much weight as those who did not take part in the programme. Participants also benefited from reduced waist size, decreased percentage body fat and lower blood pressure, which are all associated with a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. They also reported improvements in wellbeing and self-esteem, in eating behaviours and in physical activity. Men’s enjoyment of the programme and the building of a ‘team’ spirit and other social support are key components of FFIT’s success. The programme also demonstrates the potential of gender-sensitised programmes to challenge negative links between masculinity and health-damaging behaviours.

The FFIT programme has been scaled-out to other professional sports settings across different countries, including professional rugby clubs in England and ice hockey clubs in Canada. The FFIT model has also been adapted for new populations and health behaviours. For instance, the EuroFIT programme is a culturally-sensitised programme that engages inactive men via elite football clubs across four different countries and builds on the original FFIT programme, incorporating psychological theory of sustained behaviour change to reduce men’s sedentary behaviour, increase their physical activity and eat a healthier diet.

The MRC Gay Men's Sexual Health Survey, Scotland was led by Lisa McDaid, former Programme Leader for Relationships and for Sexual Health at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. The survey was conducted with gay and bisexual men in bars and saunas in Glasgow and Edinburgh every three years from 1996 to 2014. Men who took part were asked to complete a short, anonymous questionnaire about their recent sexual behaviour and sexual health service use. From 2005-2014, we also collected oral fluid samples to be tested anonymously for HIV. This allowed us to estimate HIV prevalence and undiagnosed infection among the gay and bisexual men who took part. The 2014 survey also tested for Hepatitis C.

This survey provided important data on the sexual health of gay and bisexual men in Scotland. It captured valuable information from men who do not regularly attend sexual health clinics and provided a snapshot of men 'on the gay scene' in Scotland. The final survey took place in 2014. There were 12622 participants, aged between 15 and 83 years old. 

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://gaymensurvey.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk. 

Data Sharing: we are committed to maximizing the use of the MRC Gay Men's Sexual Health Survey, Scotland to advance knowledge and improve sexual health. We welcome proposals for collaborative projects and data sharing. Find out more on the data sharing page on our study website. Email Lisa.Mcdaid@glasgow.ac.uk. 

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of how and why changing characteristics of the urban environment (the building of the M74 motorway extension) affects how people feel about living in their neighbourhoods, where they go in those neighbourhoods and how active they are. The study lasted from 2005-2014. 

In 2005 we carried out a postal survey of 1322 adults living in three areas of Glasgow. We then built on that baseline study by investigating changes in travel patterns, physical activity, perceptions of the neighbourhood environment, wellbeing, and road traffic casualties in a follow-up study.  We repeated our postal survey in autumn 2013. In 2014 we invited some of our survey participants to spend a week wearing unobtrusive monitors (accelerometers and GPS receivers) to provide more detailed information about their activity patterns, because we were particularly interested in where people go in their neighbourhoods and how this may have been affected by any changes in their environment. We also interviewed a smaller number of participants face-to-face to explore their experiences in more detail. The mean age range of participants was 49 years old. 

The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme. It was led by the MRC Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge under the auspices of the UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), in collaboration with the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit and the Public Health group at the University of Glasgow, the University of East Anglia, the University of Edinburgh and the Glasgow Centre for Population Health. The Public Health Research protocol for the study is available at https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/phr05030/#/abstract. 

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: https://www.cedar.iph.cam.ac.uk/research/directory/traffic-health-glasgow/

Data Sharing: enquiries about the possibility of data sharing should be directed to Dr David Ogilvie at the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), University of Cambridge.
Email david.ogilvie@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk. 

The SPHSU contact for the study is Professor Rich Mitchell. 

The Peers and Levels of Stress (‘PaLS’) Study was set up to investigate links between pupils’ peer group status and levels of stress, and the relationships which these both had with mental health and health behaviours like smoking. The study had a particular focus on peer group hierarchies and was just as interested in the consequences of being at the top of the ‘pecking order’ (e.g. popular or influential) as on the effects of being at the bottom (e.g. being bullied or isolated). This was the first time such a study had been undertaken in the UK. The study surveyed pupils in the final year of statutory education (Scottish Secondary 4 – S4, aged 15) in 22 schools in and around Glasgow City between January and March 2006. There were 3194 participants.

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the original study website.

Data Sharing:
The PaLS dataset is held at the University of Glasgow MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (SPHSU). The nature of both the original consents and the potentially sensitive data mean that data can only be shared: (1) on a case-by-case basis, subject to approval from the University of Glasgow MVLS Ethics Committee; and (2) collaboratively with a SPHSU researcher, who would be responsible for providing advice, available study information and selected variables for analysis.

Applications from bona fide health researchers will be considered by the SPHSU Data Access Committee and collaborators must sign a data access agreement before data can be released. Apply in the first instance by emailing sphsu-datasharing@glasgow.ac.uk to request data access forms and guidance. 

Datacite DOI: 10.5525/gla.researchdata.1310

The SPHSU contact for this study is Dr Mark McCann.

Informing policy and practice with up-to-date evidence remains an ongoing challenge. In particular, the time-lag inherent in traditional approaches to research means that timely evidence to inform policy decision-making is often lacking at key opportunities to improve public health. Further, evidence is often narrow in scope and does not often fully depict the lived experiences of the public impacted by social and health policy change. Public engagement in the processes of evidence generation, knowledge translation and policy decision-making remains a challenging but under-developed area of research and practice. Although online technologies have been identified as a potential tool to improve civic engagement, few approaches have been developed which harness this potential in an accessible and inclusive way.

The Right Here Right Now (RHRN) study aimed to develop and test an approach for engaging the public in generating timely evidence about their lived experiences that can be used by public health stakeholders to inform public health debate and policy development. Working in partnership with decision-makers across social and public health policy, this pilot study was conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Design Innovation at the Glasgow School of Art and Glasgow Centre for Population Health, bringing together expertise from public health, digital technology and design, to address this challenge. People from across Glasgow were invited to participate and share their insights on current policy issues through a range of innovative data collection approaches and to engage with evidence producers and users. Lessons learned from the pilot study will inform the development of future innovative approaches for generating timely research evidence drawing on people’s lived experiences which could be rolled out more widely.

‘SHARE' stands for ‘Sexual Health And RElationships - Safe, Happy And Responsible'. The SHARE study was set up in 1994 and involved:

• the development of a theoretically-based teacher-delivered school sex education programme to improve young people's sexual health.
• its rigorous evaluation through a randomised trial and process evaluation.
• primary research on young people's sexual behaviour and relationships and the social factors that shape them.

At baseline, 7616 pupils took part. Participants were aged between 13 and 20 years old. Face-to-face and postal questionnaires were conducted from 1994-2002. Subsequent data linkage took until 2006. The ISRCTN registration for the study is available at http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN48719575. The BMJ cohort profile for the study is available at http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/82104/. 

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://share.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/.

Data Sharing: we welcome applications from bona fide researchers to share the data in collaboration with the study team. Researchers can contact Marion.Henderson@glasgow.ac.uk.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

The SEED Programme aims to improve pupils’ social and emotional wellbeing by supporting a co-produced and bespoke response to school need. It consists of three stages:

1) an assessment of school needs through staff, pupil and parent questionnaires;
2) feedback of these data to all school staff and a reflexive discussion (utilising appreciative enquiry and the use of an evidence-based resource guide linked to potential school needs), facilitated by the school’s Educational Psychologist, to select school-appropriate actions and initiatives at class and/or whole school level;
3) the implementation and maintenance of these actions and initiatives.

The study lasted from 2013 - April 2020. There were 3740 participants consisting of a younger cohort (4-5 years of age), an older cohort (8-9 years), teachers and parents. The protocol for the study is available to download at https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/10/3006/13. The trial registration is available to view at http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN51707384.  

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://seed.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/.

Data Sharing: anonymised data will be deposited with UK Data Service five years after completion of SEED, 2025. In the meantime, researchers can contact Marion.Henderson@glasgow.ac.uk. 

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

We know that smoking causes many illnesses and earlier death, and that even breathing in other people’s smoke (‘second-hand smoke’) can damage your health. The World Health Organisation estimated that second-hand smoke caused 603,000 deaths in 2004.

Smoking bans in indoor public places, which began in Scotland in 2006 and in England in 2007, have reduced people’s exposure to second-hand smoke. This was important for people working in places where there was a lot of smoking, such as bars. One workplace that was not fully covered by these smoking bans was prisons, because prisons were seen as both ‘home’ for prisoners whilst serving their sentences and as ‘workplace’ for prison staff. Smoking rates are generally very high among prisoners: in the 2015 Scottish Prison Service survey 72% of prisoners reported they were smokers, over three times the rates in the general population (21% of adults reported being smokers in the 2015 Scottish Health Survey). Very little research has been done on smoking in prison staff.

The Tobacco In Prisons study (TIPs), which began in 2016, is a piece of independent research, funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research Board. It is a collaboration between researchers at the universities of Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh, and NHS Lothian (Principal Investigator Professor Kate Hunt, University of Stirling). The independent TIPs research has been helping the Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service move towards smoke-free prisons by collecting the information that policy makers require to understand everyone’s needs and points of view, and to weigh up the balance of costs and benefits for everyone concerned. This includes gathering data on levels of smoking and second-hand smoke in prisons and on what different groups (such as prisoners and staff, smokers and non-smokers) feel are the good and bad things about smoking, and smoking bans in prisons.

The overall aims of TIPs are

(a) to evaluate the process of implementing enhanced tobacco control in Scottish prisons to:

• strengthen the evidence-base on what is likely to facilitate successful implementation of smoke-free prison policies for other jurisdictions; and
• feed into planning and communication strategies.

b) to evaluate:

• changes in smoking status and exposure to second-hand smoke;
• changes in related health indicators among prisoners and staff; and
• organisational/cultural impacts in Scottish prisons, following the implementation of an indoor smoke-free prison service.

A literature review providing evidence on smoking and smoking restrictions in prisons was conducted in 2015 for the Scottish Prison Service's Tobacco Strategy Group to inform decisions on how best to introduce a smoke-free prisons policy.

TIPs publicity posters and information sheets were widely distributed for display to staff and prisoners in all Scottish prisons in Autumn 2016.

TIPs background and methodology was shared at the 2016 Scottish Smoking Cessation Conference.

A peer-reviewed, scientific paper describing the Phase 1 findings in respect of prison staff exposure to second-hand smoke was published on 17th July 2017 and is available via the website of the journal ‘Annals of Work Exposures and Health’.

On 17^th July 2017 the Scottish Prison Service announced its intention for all prisons in Scotland to be smoke free by the end of 2018. In making the announcement the service said that the move to smoke free prisons has been further informed by the Tobacco in Prisons study (TIPs).

The detailed results of the Phase 1 online survey of staff working in Scottish prisons conducted November-December 2016, and survey of prisoners in all Scottish prisons conducted November 2016-April 2017, were made available to all Scottish Prison Service staff and those from the Scottish Government and NHS involved in implementation of Scottish smoke-free prisons policy. Results from the Phase 2 staff and prisoner surveys have also been made available to key stakeholders.

A peer-reviewed, scientific paper on prison staff and prisoner views on a prison smoking ban, based on data collected in Phase 1 (before any policy announcements or initiatives) was published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research in May 2018 and is available on this website.   

The 'Transport, Housing & Wellbeing' (THAW) Study aimed to examine relationships between health, housing and transport. We were particularly interested in the effects that housing quality and the surrounding environment, and the use of different types of transport, could have on people’s health.

We conducted a repeat cross-sectional study of individuals (N: 4480) living in the same areas of west central Scotland in 1997 and 2010. Respondents were asked questions on their mental and physical health and well-being, lifestyle, housing, neighbourhood, transport, employment, and finance. Altogether in 2010, 2092 adults, aged between 17 and 95 years old, and living in West Central Scotland took part.

THAW 2010 was conducted as a collaboration between the Places and Health team at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (SPHSU) and the Department of Urban Studies, at the University of Glasgow. A full description of the study can be found at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829202000400#aep-section-id11. 

Data Sharing: we are committed to maximizing the use of the Transport Housing and Well being study data to advance knowledge to improve human health and welcome proposals for collaborative projects and data sharing. Our data sharing policy aims to balance making data as widely and freely available as possible with safeguarding the privacy of participants, protecting confidential data, and maintaining the reputation of the study. Please contact laura.macdonald@glasgow.ac.uk for further information.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

The West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: 'Health in the community' was set up in 1986 in order to investigate the reasons for differences in health by socio-economic circumstances, gender, the place where people live, age, ethnic group and family type.  The basic design of the Study involved recruiting three cohorts (groups) of volunteers, each group born twenty years apart. Members of the oldest cohort were born around 1932, those in the middle cohort were born in 1952, and those in the youngest cohort were born in 1972. A total of 4,510 people agreed to take part, and have been followed for 20 years. The fifth and final wave of data collection was completed in 2008. This means that when the Study began (1987/8) participants were 15, 35 or 55 years old, and by the end of the Study (2007/8), participants were 35, 55 and 75 years old.  The Twenty-07 Study provides unique opportunities to investigate changes in two ways:  Firstly, to investigate changes in people's lives over 20 years and how these affect their health.  The participants’ ages were chosen to examine critical points in the lifespan, by tracking the three age cohorts as they make the transition from adolescence to working life, through the main part of working life, and from working life to retirement. Secondly, to investigate the differences in people's experiences at the same age but 20 years apart, and how these have different effects on their health, e.g. a 55 year old in 1987 can be compared to a 55 year old in 2007. The International Journal of Epidemiology cohort profile for the study is available at http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/42628/. 

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://2007study.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/.

Data Sharing: we welcome applications from bona fide researchers to share the data in collaboration with the study team. Details and application form are on the study website.
Email sphsu-twenty07@glasgow.ac.uk for further information.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

THRIVE stands for the Trial of Healthy Relationship Initiatives for the Very Early-years. The study has been designed to investigate the effectiveness of two parenting support programmes called Mellow Bumps and Enhanced Triple P for Baby, both in addition to care as usual (CAU), compared with the CAU being provided by the NHS for women with additional health and social care needs in pregnancy. There are a number of parenting support groups that are designed to improve the wellbeing of mothers with additional needs in pregnancy and their babies. This study aims to investigate if this group benefit from taking part in either of the parenting support programmes Enhanced Triple P for Baby + CAU or Mellow Bumps + CAU. We would like to investigate if these parenting support programmes improve mothers’ wellbeing and the relationship between them and their babies and if they are more beneficial to them than the current treatment offered by their regular care team. We are also interested in finding out if one approach is more beneficial to mothers than the other and if improvements carry on over time. The trial is equipoised and, irrespective of the direction of the results, the findings will help policy-makers and practitioners make decisions based on evidence of cost-effectiveness.

Baseline commenced in 2014 and completed in May 2019. There were approximately 500 participants including women who were pregnant at the time of interview, their infants and partners. The age range of recruited participants was 15 to 43 years old. 

The protocols of the study are available at:

http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/191287/;

http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/161102/; and

http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN21656568

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://thrive.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk

Data Sharing: anonymised data will be deposited with UK Data Service five years after completion of SEED, 2025. In the meantime, researchers can contact Marion.Henderson@glasgow.ac.uk. 

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.

The aim of the 11 to 16 Study was to investigate how things like social class and gender were related to health and health behaviours (e.g. smoking or exercise) in early (age 11) to mid (ages 13 and 15) adolescence. The young people filled in questionnaires at school at ages 11, 13 and 15 years and nurses did health interviews that included physical measurements including height and weight.  At the age 11 interview, parents and teachers were also asked to fill in a short questionnaire. At the age 15 interview the young people completed a computer-based questionnaire called Voice-DISC that asked them about their feelings and emotions.

The 16+ study was a follow-up of the same young people, where their parents had granted permission for their home addresses to be provided.  There was an interview at age 18-20 and a postal questionnaire at age 22. The aims of 16+ were:

• To record rates of physical and mental health problems, and health behaviours in late adolescence and to examine how they were related to things like social class and gender. 

The data from these young people can also be used to examine changes over time in health, and the factors associated with health, by comparing them with another group who were born 12 years earlier, lived in the same geographical area and were also surveyed at ages 15 and 18 (the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study). The study lasted from 1994-2006. There were 2586 participants. 

To learn more, including documentation (which may include further details of aims, methods, questionnaires or reports), please see the study website: http://11to16.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/.

Data Sharing: researchers from outside the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit may apply for permission to access specified sections of the data for particular analysis, in collaboration with one or more members of the study team. Email Helen.Sweeting@glasgow.ac.uk for further information. 

If you have any questions about this study, please contact sphsu-enquiries@glasgow.ac.uk.