This application addresses broad Challenge Area (04) Clinical Research, and the specific Challenge Topic, 04- DA-102: """"""""A New Look at Longitudinal Data"""""""". This effort will not only jumpstart entirely new lines of research by substantially expanding the breadth of an already comprehensive data resource, but will also have significant influence on both biomedical and behavioral science by collecting data that will integrate frontier work in biomedical areas with the preeminent data resource for intergenerational longitudinal research into the behaviors of mothers and their children. The NLSY79 has always collected substantial amounts of health information including, with very substantial support by NIDA, a great deal of data on drug and other substance use. NICHD has also supported an extensive collection on the social, emotional and cognitive development of the children of the female respondents. This application would permit two very important improvements - it will prevent the loss of critical data in the adolescent years of children born to older mothers, including crucial data on substance use and other non-normative behavior, as well as sexual behavior, peer relationships, progress in school, early labor market behavior, and important health outcomes such as BMI and other health-related conditions. The second important improvement would be to prepare the way to incorporate biomarkers into this heavily used, intergenerational longitudinal data resource. The NLS faces a rather different regulatory environment than most surveys supported by NIH or NSF and the process of preparing for collecting biomarkers will take great care not only to get the science right, but in negotiating the regulatory hurdles. We will be consulting widely with other projects that are collecting biomarkers to insure the scientific community gets the best value for its money. The unique history and composition of the NLSY79 presents a remarkable opportunity and, if funded, this project will pay dividends for decades to come and benefit multiple institutes at NIH including NIDA, NICHD, NIA among others. Public Health Relevance Statement: To understand health outcomes, we need to understand the role of socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors on one hand, and clinical factors on the other. This project will support the unification of these two research programs for the NLSY79 - one of the most heavily used intergenerational longitudinal surveys available to the research community.
Public Health Relevance Statement: To understand health outcomes, we need to understand the role of socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors on one hand, and clinical factors on the other. This project will support the unification of these two research programs for the NLSY79 - one of the most heavily used intergenerational longitudinal surveys available to the research community.
