3 New Zealand longitudinal studies: a listing

In a recent publication Poland and Legge (2005: Review of New Zealand Longitudinal Studies for the NZ Families Commission) listed NZ longitudinal studies. This is an extension and update of their list.

Title/Link	Ownership	Purpose	Begin date	Cohort size
DMHDS [1]	Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine	To study the nature and prevalence of some development and health problems and factors associated with them	1972	1139
CHDS [2]	Christchurch Health and Development Study, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences	To study the health, education and life progress of the cohort	1977	1310
NZES [3]	New Zealand Election Study, The University of Auckland	To monitor the democratic process during a period of social and economic change and the transition between electoral systems that has been in effect since the 1996 election. More recent work now focuses on campaign effects, the role of the media, and more fundamental questions about how New Zealanders perceive the political process in New Zealand.	1990 (to 2005)	c5000
Te Hoe Nuku Roa [4]	Research Centre for Māori Health and Development, Massey University	To obtain a longitudinal study of Māori households that will allow cultural, economic and personal factors to be correlated	1993	600 hhlds 1600 indiv's
Alcohol Use [5]	Longitudinal Study of Alcohol Use, The Centre for Social and Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation
Children [6]	The Competent Children, Competent Learners Project, New Zealand Council for Educational Research	To investigate the roles of home and education in the development of children’s competencies and if these roles change over time and as the children have other experiences	1993	c500
Suicide	Canterbury Suicide Project, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences	To estimate the risk of further attempts after a first attempt, to look at how various factors affect the risk of further suicide attempts and how they change the individuals mental health state, and to record the current care in place for those who attempt suicide	1993 (to 1997) (1998-2002)	302
New Settlers	Long Study of New Settlers, Massey University	To determine the nature and impact of factors affecting the settlement, adjustment and responses of new settler families	1999 (to 2002)	3 x 30+ groups (People's Republic of China, India and South Africa
PIFS [7]	Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology	To provide information on health and its cultural, environmental, economic and psychosocial factors	2000	1398
Kaupapa Māori Education [8]	Te Rerenga Ā Te Pīrere (“The Flight Of The Fledgling”), New Zealand Council for Educational Research	To follow the educational achievements of students in kaupapa Māori education	2001	111
SOFIE [9]	Survey of Family, Income and Employment, Statistics New Zealand	To look at how New Zealanders’ circumstances and lifestyles change over time and the factors that influence these changes	2002	15000 hhlds
Youth [10]	Youth Connectedness Project, Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families, Victoria University of Wellington with the New Zealand Council for Educational Research	“... to optimise the chances of youth having positive experiences in adolescence and of overcoming the inevitable challenges of this life stage to become healthy and productive adults”	2003 (to 2007)
Immigrants [11]	Longitudinal Immigration Survey: New Zealand, Immigration New Zealand	To help the government, and those agencies providing services to migrants, to identify how to make settling in New Zealand more successful for future migrants. Also to help assess the impacts of immigration on New Zealand’s society and economy	2005 (to 2009)	5000
HWRS [12]	Health, Work and Retirement Study, Massey University with the Health Research Council of New Zealand	To identify the influences on health and wellbeing in later midlife (55–70 years) that lay the basis for community participation and health in later life, and ultimately a more independent retirement	2006 (to 2016)	8000
Ageing	Longitudinal Study of Ageing, Massey University with the Family Centre	To identify factors required for positive ageing and older people's contribution to society	2008
Children & Families	Longitudinal Study of New Zealand Children and Families: Development phase, Ministry of Social Development with the Health Research Council of New Zealand and The University of Auckland	To seek better understanding of factors that compromise child development and lead to poor functioning in later life, such as physical and mental health problems, educational failure, substance abuse and criminal offending, and to point the way to the development of policies to boost child development and reduce the social costs associated with such problems