Child to Adult Transition Study (CATS)
- Project status: Active
Research area: Population Health > Centre for Adolescent Health
We aim to improve our understanding of the many factors that influence young people's health and emotional wellbeing as they transition through adolescence and into adulthood.
Our study began in 2012 when our participants were in Grade three, so we have followed them since they were eight to nine years old. We catch up with them every year for a new 'wave' of data collection to ask about their experiences going through their teenage years and now becoming young adults.
Our study began in 2012 when our participants were in Grade three, so we have followed them since they were eight to nine years old. We catch up with them every year for a new 'wave' of data collection to ask about their experiences going through...
Our study began in 2012 when our participants were in Grade three, so we have followed them since they were eight to nine years old. We catch up with them every year for a new 'wave' of data collection to ask about their experiences going through their teenage years and now becoming young adults.
The Child to Adult Transition Study (CATS) is a longitudinal study of over 1,200 children in Melbourne as they move from childhood, through adolescence, and into young adulthood. This is the first study to look at a population sample of children with this focus.
The focus of the study is on health and emotional development in the middle years of school; looking at the experiences of children and their families, the changing social context as they go through their schooling, the consequences this may have on academic outcomes and their reactions to biological changes of puberty.
CATS aims to improve our understanding of the many influences on the health and emotional adjustment of children as they journey through adolescence to young adulthood. Information collected as part of this large study will help to identify when and how to promote the best health and emotional adjustment.
For more information on our study:
Research team
Professor Susan Sawyer leads the team, and she is the Director of the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Australia’s leading academic centre of excellence in adolescent health.
Contact us
Child to Adult Transition Study (CATS)
Murdoch Children's Research Institute
The Royal Children's Hospital
50 Flemington Road
Parkville VIC 3052
Australia
Phone: +61 3 9936 6272
Email:
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Publications
Adolescents at risk of mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective population-based study of the effects of government mandates and school closures.
Mundy, L. K., Canterford, L., Dashti, S. G., Husin, H. M., Beatson, R., Edwards, B., & Patton, G. C. (2023). Adolescents at risk of mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective population-based study of the effects of government mandates and school closures. Australian Journal of Social Issues, DOI: 10.1002/ajs4.249
Modelling timing and tempo of adrenarche in a prospective cohort study.
Dashti, S. G., Mundy, L., Goddings, A. L., Canterford, L., Viner, R. M., Carlin, J. B., Patton, G. & Moreno-Betancur, M. (2022). Modelling timing and tempo of adrenarche in a prospective cohort study. PLoS ONE, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278948
Learning outcomes in primary school children with emotional problems: a prospective cohort study.
Mundy, L. K., Canterford, L., Moreno‐Betancur, M., Hoq, M., Viner, R. M., Bayer, J. K., Lietz, P., Redmond, G., & Patton, G. C. (2022). Learning outcomes in primary school children with emotional problems: a prospective cohort study. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, DOI: 10.1111/camh.12607
Study protocol: the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study (CATS).
Mundy, L., Simmons, J., Allen, N. B., Viner, R., Bayer, J. K., Olds, T. S., Williams, J., Olsson, C., Romaniuk, H., Mensah, F., Sawyer, S., Degenhardt, L., Alati, R., Wake, M., Jacka, F. N., & Patton, G. C. (2013). Study protocol: the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study (CATS). BMC Pediatrics, DOI: 10.1186/1471-2431-13-160
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