ALSPAC @30 v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC): A multi-generation, longitudinal resource focusing on life course health and well-being.
IRAS ID
273200
Contact name
Professor Nicholas Timpson Timpson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Between April 1991 and December 1992 the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), also known as Children of the 90s, enrolled >14000 pregnant women resulting in 14062 live births. Mothers (G0 Mothers), fathers (G0 Partners), children (G1) and now children of the children (G2 children) from this recruitment have been followed up at multiple timepoints and a wide variety of samples, exposure and outcome measures collected.
This proposed data collection will substantially add to the existing collection of the ALSPAC resource and allow the testing of specific research questions for research purposes as called for by the academic community. The timing of this data collection sweep allows ALSPAC to study G1 participants at an age previously overlooked as relatively healthy and uninformative, in fact newly mature adults in the 25-40-year age range are increasingly recognised as showing the signs of their early life environment and already manifesting the precursors of later-adulthood diseases. Given the age and timing of ALSPAC, the increasing number of G2 participants and the continued engagement of the G0 parents, this data collection sweep present a natural opportunity to assess life course events from fetus through early life to pre-conception, pregnancy and health in the new family. Together, ALSPAC presents an excellent opportunity to study the full lifecourse, including the emergence of disease events.
ALSPAC has been running a pilot study since 2011 (12/SW/0055 ALSPAC-G2) collecting data from G1 participants and their children (G2). This study will shortly close and the protocols developed and implemented as part of this pilot will now be included in this protocol.
@30 is the collective title for this face to face multi-generational data collection that will be undertaken in the next phase of this ongoing longitudinal study, and will bring the COCO90s pilot study (12/SW/0055) under the same ethical approval.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0588
Date of REC Opinion
27 Aug 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion