Abstract
How are risks for mental and physical health and behavioural problems passed between generations of New Zealanders? We describe the development of a research project that aims to explore these issues. It is set within the context of an established longitudinal study: The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. The new study is called the Next Generation Study and the participants in the project are the teenage children of the Dunedin Study members. The teenagers and their parents are asked about many aspects of their lives, health, development and experiences. The Next Generation Study provides a rare opportunity to examine continuities as well as changes between two generations in the same family, and the linkages between them, while also obtaining a holistic (or multidisciplinary) snapshot of a generation of young New Zealanders in the early twenty-first century. This article explains the process of developing several aspects of the Next Generation Study protocols and reports on participants' feedback after the first year of assessments.