Christchurch Health and Development Study
The Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS) has been in existence for over 40 years. During this time we have followed the health, education, and life progress of a group of 1,265 children born in the Christchurch (New Zealand) urban region in mid-1977.
The cohort has been studied from infancy into childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Data gathered over the course of the study now comprises some 50 million characters of information, with which the study has published over 500 scientific papers, reports, books and book chapters describing the life history of the CHDS cohort.
In 2019, we completed our participant interviews for their 40-year assessment.
Collections in Christchurch Health and Development Study
Recent Deposits
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High novelty seeking as a predictor of antisocial behaviour in early adulthood
Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between novelty seeking (NS) and antisocial behaviours (age 18–35). Method: A New Zealand general population birth cohort was studied from 1977 to 2012. Sample sizes ... -
Epidemiological foundations for the insurance hypothesis: Methodological considerations
Nettle et al. evaluate evidence for the insurance hypothesis, which links obesity with the perception of food scarcity. Epidemiological findings in this area have generally been weak and inconsistent. The present commentary ... -
The role of novelty seeking as a predictor of substance use disorder outcomes in early adulthood
Background and aims: There has been a great deal of evidence showing that high novelty seeking (NS) is a risk factor for the development of substance use disorders (SUDs). However, the possible causal role of NS in SUDs ... -
Ethnic Differences in Adolescent Mental Health Problems: Examining Early Risk Factors and Deviant Peer Affiliation
Using life-course longitudinal data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS), we examined ethnic differences in rates of psychiatric disorder among New Zealand adolescents, comparing New Zealand M?ori to ... -
Modelling possible causality in the associations between unemployment, cannabis use, and alcohol misuse
Background There has been considerable interest in the extent to which substance use and unemployment may be related, particularly the causal pathways that may be involved in these associations. It has been argued that ... -
Major depression and alcohol use disorder in adolescence: Does comorbidity lead to poorer outcomes of depression?
Background Comorbid major depression (MD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD), particularly in adolescents, have been shown to be associated with poorer subsequent MD outcomes. Methods Longitudinal data were used to model ... -
Obtaining a History of Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury Using the Ohio State University TBI Identification Method to Elicit Adult Recall
Objective: To investigate the concordance between medically documented childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) and recall of same by adults aged 35 years. Participants: A total of 962 birth cohort members from the Christchurch ... -
The role of peri-traumatic stress and disruption distress in predicting symptoms of major depression following exposure to a natural disaster
Objective: Few studies have examined the contribution of specific disaster-related experiences to symptoms of depression. The aims of this study were to do this by examining the roles of peri-traumatic stress and distress ... -
Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: II. Psychiatric outcomes of childhood sexual abuse
Objective: This is the second in a series of articles that describe the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a birth cohort of more than 1,000 New Zealand children studied to the age ... -
Life-stress and reactivity by gender in a longitudinal birth cohort at 30 and 35 years
Purpose: Previous literature has shown gender differences in reactivity to stressful life events. However, it is unclear whether gender differences in stress reactivity are consistent across a series of life event domains ... -
The accuracy of adult recall for early mild traumatic brain injury
Background: Childhood mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has been associated with negative adult outcomes. Effective interventions require identification of the injury event. There is currently little information regarding ... -
Exposure to parental separation in childhood and later parenting quality as an adult: evidence from a 30-year longitudinal study
Background: Previous research has documented that exposure to parental separation/divorce during childhood can be associated with long-term consequences into adulthood. This study sought to extend this literature by examining ... -
Relation between age of first drinking and mental health and alcohol and drug disorders in adulthood: Evidence from a 35-year cohort study
Aims: To estimate associations between age of first drinking (AFD) and alcohol use disorder, nicotine dependence, cannabis dependence, illicit drug dependence, major depression and anxiety disorder in adulthood, net of a ... -
Resilience and psychiatric epidemiology: Implications for a conceptual framework
Kalisch and colleagues present a conceptual framework for the study of resilience, using a neurobiological approach. The present commentary examines issues arising for the study of resilience from epidemiological data, ... -
Bullying victimization in adolescence and psychotic symptomatology in adulthood: Evidence from a 35-year study
Background There has been considerable recent interest in possible causal linkages between exposure to bullying victimization and later psychotic symptomatology. Prior research in this area has had several limitations which ... -
Adolescent depression, adult mental health and psychosocial outcomes at 30 and 35 years
Background There is limited information on long-term outcomes of adolescent depression. This study examines the associations between severity of depression in adolescence and a broad array of adult functional outcomes. ... -
Examination of a possible J-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and internalizing disorders in a longitudinal birth cohort
Background: Many studies have reported a J-shaped relationship between alcohol use and affective or anxiety symptoms, with abstainers experiencing more severe symptoms than moderate drinkers. It is less clear whether this ... -
Tobacco smoking and cannabis use in a longitudinal birth cohort: Evidence of reciprocal causal relationships
Background: There is evidence of associations between tobacco and cannabis use that are consistent with both a classical stepping-stone scenario that posits the transition from tobacco use to cannabis use ('gateway' effect ... -
Origins of Comorbidity between Conduct and Affective Disorders
Objective: This analysis used methods of structural equation modeling to assess the extent to which comorbidity between conduct and affective disorders could be explained by (1) common or correlated causal factors that ... -
From evidence to policy: Findings from the Christchurch Health and Development Study
The Christchurch Health and Development Study is a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1265 children who were born in Christchurch New Zealand in 1977. This cohort has now been studied from birth to the age of 35. This ...