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Cohort Profile: The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study: A population-based multigenerational prospective cohort study of socio-emotional health and development

Year: 2022

Type: preprint

Abstract: Purpose: The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Cohort (ATPG3) was established to examine the extent to which offspring social and emotional development is shaped in the decades prior to conception, in parent and grandparent histories of psychosocial adjustment (e.g., emotional regulation, relationship quality and prosociality) and maladjustment (e.g., depressive symptoms, substance use and antisociality). Participants: The Australian Temperament Project (ATP) commenced in 1983 as a population representative survey of the social and emotional health of 2443 young Australians (Generation 2: 4-8 months) and their parents (Generation 1). Since then, families have been followed from infancy to young adulthood (15 waves). Between 2012 and 2018, the cohort was screened biannually for pregnancies and infants (Generation 3). Assessments were conducted in the third trimester of pregnancy, and at 8 weeks and 1 year postpartum. Findings to date: 1167 offspring (607 female) born to 703 ATP G2 parents (400 mothers) were recruited into the ATPG3 Cohort. Findings to date highlight: (1) strong continuities in depressive symptoms and substance use from adolescence through to becoming a parent; (2) a role for persistent preconception mental health problems in risk for parent-child bonding difficulties, as well as infant emotional reactivity and behaviour problems; (3) the importance of secure attachments in adolescence in reducing long term risk for postpartum mental health problems; and (4) the protective nature of perceived social support, both preconception and postpartum, in strengthening relationship quality and social support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future Plans: Assessments of the ATPG3 cohort in preschool and middle childhood are currently funded and underway. We intend to maintain the offspring cohort through childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and into parenthood. Data will be used to map preconception determinants of emotional health, and enhance approaches to population monitoring and targeted intervention over the life course and across generations.

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/hp4tj

Authors: Craig Olsson, Primrose Letcher, Christopher Greenwood, Jennifer Mcintosh, Sophie Barker, Catherine Olsson, Jacqui A Macdonald, Elizabeth Spry, Delyse Hutchinson, Joanne Ryan, Ben Edwards, Rob McGee, george patton, Ann Sanson

Institutions: Royal Children's Hospital, Deakin University, The University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, La Trobe University, Monash University, Australian National University, University of Otago

Language: English

Topic: Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: University of Otago, La Trobe University, University of New South Wales, Deakin University, University of Melbourne, Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council

Awards: Preconception predictors of early childhood social and emotional development: a 30-year longitudinal study of grandparents, parents and children, The intergenerational origins of social and emotional wellbeing, G3985002104, Preconception determinants of child health and development: A 4-year follow up of offspring born to the Australian Temperament Project, Development and Trial Implementation of a Comprehensive Intergenerational Mental Health Monitoring System, Intergenerational Prediction of Social and Early Emotional Development

OpenAlex ID: W4280615391

Cites: 48

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