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LIFE-COURSE AND HEALTH

Influences on health and wellbeing lie not just in the here and now but are also found in individuals' personal histories and their past environments. A life-course approach to the study of health and wellbeing addresses a range of research questions reflecting this developmental perspective. These questions include:

• How do the prevalence and incidence of health problems vary with age or stage of life?
• To what extent do the health status and wellbeing of individuals change over time?
• What personal and environmental factors influence the onset, persistence or recovery from health problems in the future?
• How do risk and protective factors over the life-course combine to influence health and wellbeing (e.g. through cumulative or synergistic effects)?
• How do environmental influences combine with personal vulnerability (including genetic predisposition) in determining future health and wellbeing?
• What processes are involved in the linking of risk and protective factors in one generation with health and wellbeing in subsequent generations?

The life-course and health stream investigates these questions across a number of studies, particularly longitudinal investigations, and across a range of health outcomes, including specific physical and mental health conditions, global health and wellbeing, substance use, and other health behaviours.

Contact: Bryan Rodgers