Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a continuing longitudinal study that seeks to follow the lives of all those living in Great Britain who were born in one particular week in 1958. The aim of the study is to improve understanding of the factors affecting human development over the whole lifespan. The NCDS has its origins in the Perinatal Mortality Survey (PMS) (the original PMS study is held at the UK Data Archive under SN 2137). This study was sponsored by the National Birthday Trust Fund and designed to examine the social and obstetric factors associated with stillbirth and death in early infancy among the 17,000 children born in England, Scotland and Wales in that one week. Selected data from the PMS form NCDS sweep 0, held alongside NCDS sweeps 1-3, under SN 5565. Survey and Biomeasures Data (GN 33004):To date there have been nine attempts to trace all members of the birth cohort in order to monitor their physical, educational and social development. The first three sweeps were carried out by the National Children's Bureau, in 1965, when respondents were aged 7, in 1969, aged 11, and in 1974, aged 16 (these sweeps form NCDS1-3, held together with NCDS0 under SN 5565). The fourth sweep, also carried out by the National Children's Bureau, was conducted in 1981, when respondents were aged 23 (held under SN 5566). In 1985 the NCDS moved to the Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU) - now known as the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS). The fifth sweep was carried out in 1991, when respondents were aged 33 (held under SN 5567). For the sixth sweep, conducted in 1999-2000, when respondents were aged 42 (NCDS6, held under SN 5578), fieldwork was combined with the 1999-2000 wave of the 1970 Birth Cohort Study (BCS70), which was also conducted by CLS (and held under GN 33229). The seventh sweep was conducted in 2004-2005 when the respondents were aged 46 (held under SN 5579), the eighth sweep was conducted in 2008-2009 when respondents were aged 50 (held under SN 6137) and the ninth sweep was conducted in 2013 when respondents were aged 55 (held under SN 7669). Four separate datasets covering responses to NCDS over all sweeps are available. National Child Development Deaths Dataset: Special Licence Access (SN 7717) covers deaths; National Child Development Study Response and Outcomes Dataset (SN 5560) covers all other responses and outcomes; National Child Development Study: Partnership Histories (SN 6940) includes data on live-in relationships; and National Child Development Study: Activity Histories (SN 6942) covers work and non-work activities. Users are advised to order these studies alongside the other waves of NCDS.From 2002-2004, a Biomedical Survey was completed and is available under End User Licence (EUL) (SN 8731) and Special Licence (SL) (SN 5594). Proteomics analyses of blood samples are available under SL SN 9254.Linked Geographical Data (GN 33497): A number of geographical variables are available, under more restrictive access conditions, which can be linked to the NCDS EUL and SL access studies. Linked Administrative Data (GN 33396):A number of linked administrative datasets are available, under more restrictive access conditions, which can be linked to the NCDS EUL and SL access studies. These include a Deaths dataset (SN 7717) available under SL and the Linked Health Administrative Datasets (SN 8697) available under Secure Access.Additional Sub-Studies (GN 33562):In addition to the main NCDS sweeps, further studies have also been conducted on a range of subjects such as parent migration, unemployment, behavioural studies and respondent essays. The full list of NCDS studies available from the UK Data Service can be found on the NCDS series access data webpage.  How to access genetic and/or bio-medical sample data from a range of longitudinal surveys:For information on how to access biomedical data from NCDS that are not held at the UKDS, see the CLS Genetic data and biological samples webpage.Further information about the full NCDS series can be found on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website. 

National Child Development Study: Childhood Data from Birth to Age 16, Sweeps 0-3, 1958-1974: SN 5565 includes selected data from the Perinatal Mortality Survey (PMS), conducted in 1958. Only those cases which were used in the NCDS, thus forming NCDS Sweep 0, are included here (although the full PMS dataset is held at the UKDA under SN 2137). SN 5565 also includes NCDS Sweeps 1, 2 and 3, conducted in 1965, 1969 and 1974 respectively. For the birth survey, information was obtained from the mother and from medical records by the midwife. For the purposes of the first three NCDS surveys, information was obtained from parents (who were interviewed by health visitors), head teachers and class teachers (who completed questionnaires), the schools' health service (who carried out medical examinations) and the subjects themselves (who completed tests of ability and, latterly, questionnaires). In addition, the birth cohort was augmented by including immigrants born in the relevant week in the target sample for the first three follow-ups (NCDS1-3). The latter group was identified from the school registers during tracing. Since 1974 no attempt has been made to include new immigrants in the survey. The Centre for Longitudinal Studies updated the first six waves of NCDS in late 2006. Improvements made include further data cleaning and the addition of new documentation. For the third edition (July 2014), a file containing additional variables was deposited and the documentation updated accordingly.

Main Topics:

NCDS0 (selected data from PMS 1958): These data provide a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances relating to the mother and child, the pregnancy and birth, including: background information on mother; previous pregnancy history; details of present pregnancy; and birth data. NCDS1: This sweep assessed the NCDS children at age seven. It consisted of five questionnaires/tests as follows:Bristol Social Adjustment Guide (BSAG): the purpose of the BSAG study was to assess the children's social adjustment at age seven. Information is supplied by the teacher having most contact with the child in question. Topics are divided into sections, such as 'attitudes to teacher', 'attitudes towards other children', etc. For each topic the informant is given a choice of approximately 6-8 statements to describe the child. The forms used are those devised by Stott.Educational Assessment at Age Seven: this instrument assessed the child's educational progress at that age, and the results of attainment tests are includedParental Questionnaire: this covered the child's early life and environment. It included details of illnesses, operations and a full medical historyMedical Questionnaire: these data comprised a medical history and examination; tests of vision, speech and hearing; physical measurements and a urine test. Physical statistics for the child include: height, weight and head circumferenceAudiogram data: this test assessed the child's hearing ability at age seven. The data cover hearing loss measured in decibels for each earNCDS2: These data were gathered when the child was aged 11: availability and use of local amenities; child's mother/father figure; reasons why child is not living with own or adoptive mother/father (where applicable); number of births to study child's mother since study child's birth; chronic illness and death in the family; medical history; educational aspirations; activities outside school and hobbies; educational progress; living conditions and background variables. NCDS3: The third sweep assessed the progress of the children at age 16 and covered the following: medical history; IQ; medical and co-ordination tests; educational background; home environment; living conditions, ownership of consumer goods; relationship between child and parents; behavioural difficulties; educational expectations and aspirations; career expectations and aspirations; spare-time jobs held, spare-time activities, attitudes towards marriage, family size; sex education received at school, relationship with family, details of cigarettes smoked and alcohol consumption.

No sampling (total universe)

See documentation for further details.

Face-to-face interview

Postal survey

Self-administered questionnaire

Psychological measurements and tests

Educational measurements and tests

Observation

Clinical measurements

Physical measurements and tests