The lifecourse sciences research theme works to understand the developmental origins of mental health and disorder within and across generations. We manage the longest-running longitudinal cohort studies in social and emotional development in Australia.

Understanding how mental health problems develop

The global burden of disease due to mental disorders is high – and growing. In young people, it’s a leading cause of disease and disability. In adults, it’s second only to cardiovascular disease.

There is no quick solution. We must work to understand risks that may lead to the development of mental disorders. But we must also understand the strengths that will protect people from mental disorders.

It takes a lifecourse perspective to address this burden of disease. With it, the unique needs of each age and stage of development can be identified and supported.

With a lifecourse perspective, we can build resilient populations with the capacity to handle the threats and challenges of life.

How we study mental health across the lifecourse

The lifecourse sciences research theme works to understand the developmental origins of mental health and disorder within and across generations.

Our team are experts in prevention sciences and development at each age and stage of the lifespan. Lifecourse data scientists on our team support our work using the latest methods in social epidemiology and predictive modelling.

Our research uses the longest-running longitudinal cohort studies of social and emotional development in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian Temperament Project, the oldest cohort study managed by SEED, now spans three generations. Begun in 1983, it has followed Australians for over 40 years.

We are one of the largest lifecourse epidemiology groups in Australia.

Our long-term investment in these world-class studies means that we can now narrow down what matters most for social and emotional health. We have within SEED a wealth of evidence on what influences healthy development over time.

This means we can advise communities on what to target to monitor the wellbeing of broader populations. The data from our longitudinal studies also give our SEED colleagues rare insights into what matters when developing programs to build mental health strengths or address risks before problems develop.

Design, evaluation and promotion of mental health interventions across the early Lifecourse

Our purpose

1

Maintain and advance world-class longitudinal studies of social and emotional development.

2

Produce and maintain a register of developmental indicators which mark major milestones in social and emotional development from infancy to adulthood.

3

Link to major longitudinal consortia run through the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth.

4

Support new approaches and technologies in longitudinal research and provide seed funding to establish new longitudinal studies and grow existing longitudinal studies.

Our leaders

Delyse Hutchinson
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Jacqui Macdonald
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Peter Butterworth
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Longitudinal Cohorts

Major projects

The Comprehensive Monitoring System empowers communities to understand how their young people are developing psychologically.

The 1 in 10 Men project will launch a Fatherhood Living Knowledge Bank that, supported by artificial intelligence, will ensure a continual flow of emerging evidence from around the world to inform best practice supports for men in the pre-fatherhood years, antenatal and perinatal periods. 

Consortia

Intergenerational Cohorts Consortium (ICC)

Collaboration with The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study Parenting Study and the Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study.