Third decade of the E-Risk study
The E-Risk study has focused on three key developmental stages; the transitions to formal schooling (home visits at ages 5 and 7), secondary school (home visits at ages 10 and 12), and young adulthood (home visits at age 18). Through the years, we have collected data about many different topics, including mental health, cognition, obesity, asthma, school performance, criminal offending, violence, victimisation, neighbourhood conditions, the family environment, as well as biomarkers to investigate inflammation, genetic risk, and gene regulation. This has been possible due to generous funding from the UKRI Medical Research Council and many other funders.
In February 2024, the study entered its third decade, and we have already interviewed over 300 twins to explore how their adult lives are taking shape now they are 30 years of age. For the first time in the study’s history, we are interviewing the twins through online video calls, instead of visiting them in their homes. This has enabled greater possibilities for connection with twins who otherwise would be difficult to get hold of, however, in some instances it has provided a bit of a barrier in developing rapport within a short space of time. We are also collecting blood and buccal samples from the twins to explore how the stresses they have experienced in their lives may have impacted them biologically, including how fast or slowly their bodies are aging.
Additionally, we are asking them if they are willing for us to link to the vast array of data that is held about them by the NHS and government agencies. This linkage will be conducted by the UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration and held in their super-secure Trusted Research Environment. Linking our rich interview data with twins’ medical, educational, criminal, employment, taxation and geographical records will provide an invaluable opportunity to examine how negative and positive experiences across the first three decades of life can impact twins’ health, social behaviours, and prosperity as they prepare to enter mid-life.
Working with young people with lived experience
This phase also initiated a fantastic partnership with the McPin Foundation Young People’s Advisory Group, consisting of young people with lived experience of mental health issues. They have provided invaluable advice and assistance with various aspects of the study, including recruiting and training the researchers, helping us locate and recruit our twins, and developing new measures on happiness, purpose, goals, and concerns about the future. We are thrilled about continuing to work closely with them during the remainder of the project and excited that they will develop recommendations for what researchers should ask of the data we collect.
The E-Risk team is constantly growing, and we have 5 amazingly dedicated researchers who interview the twins. They come from a range of professional backgrounds, including healthcare practitioners that wanted to gain experience in data collection, as well as existing researchers that are passionate about reducing stigma around mental health.