Add-on studies

Would you like to conduct an add-on study yourself?

In the current phase of YOUth, we can no longer facilitate physical add-on studies in the YOUth Child Research Centre. However, in the first quarter of 2023, YOUth will launch the YOUth Participant Portal (YPP). Through this digital platform, researchers in the area of child development can in collaboration with YOUth collect additional data among those YOUth participants and/or their parents who have indicated that they’re open to participate in online add-on studies. This type of add-on study may consist of a questionnaire, an online task, or a mini-game. For more information, please see the YOUth YPP Add-on Studies Protocol. If you have an idea for an online add-on study through the YPP, please fill out the YPP Proposal Stage 1 form.

If you have any questions, please contact our Logistics Manager Lilli van Wielink.

The following add-on studies have been approved:
 

COVID-19 impact on child development

To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the participants in the YOUth cohort study. At different phases of the pandemic, (pregnant) mothers of the YOUth: baby and child cohort (self-report) and parents or guardians of the YOUth: child and adolescent cohort (self-report and report-on-child) filled out The Coronavirus Health Impact Survey (CRISIS). This survey provides information on exposure to the virus, emotions, worries, lifestyle, social contacts, exercise, (mental) health, social media use, substance abuse in adults and lockdown restrictions, such as school closures. The first survey also asks responders to rate their or their child's emotions and habits three months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, psychopathology symptoms of the (pregnant) mothers and the parents of our adolescent participants were assessed at every time point using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). This measure is also available in the main study for the (pregnant) mothers.  All data from this project are available upon request. 

Dual-eye tracking

To assess the feasibility and utility of a promising new method to study social gaze behaviour, high-resolution eye-tracking is recorded during parent-child interactions. This innovative method called dual-eye tracking fits perfectly within the YOUth study as it examines how social gaze behaviour is related to YOUth’s two primary outcome measures: social competence and behavioural control. More information.

Baby MRI

To observe early (micro)structural and functional brain growth and development from foetal to neonatal period with the use of conventional and advanced MRI sequences and sophisticated post-imaging techniques. This MRI study is an important part of the YOUth study as it provides a comprehensive examination and description of the developing brain in the last trimester of pregnancy in more detail and it enables to link perinatal brain development to long-term neurocognitive and behavioural outcome. More information.

Gaze and other nonverbal behaviour in parent-infant interactions

The face-to-face interactions infants experience in their first few years of life are the quintessential context in which skills, such as language, are learned and used. Parents interact with infants not only by talking but also through various types of nonverbal behaviour (e.g., direction of gaze, gestures, movements of the body). These nonverbal behaviours are therefore likely to be important to how infants learn and develop skills necessary for successful interaction in later life. This study extends on a previous YOUth add-on study 'Dual-eye tracking' that measured gaze during parent-child interactions in the YOUth Child & Adolescent cohort. With new methods available, we now focus on the role of gaze and other nonverbal behaviours (e.g., exaggerated movements, gestures, etc.) in parent-infant interactions.