Life at age 17 – latest findings from the Growing Up in Scotland study

Line is a Research Director in the Longitudinal Surveys team. She has significant experience in managing and directing large, complex studies involving children, young people, young adults and parents and writing up and disseminating findings from these and other studies. She also has significant expertise in conducting research on best practice in survey research, with a focus on enhancing inclusivity and engagement.

Among her recent projects, Line led the SEND Futures Discovery Phase study which explored the views and experiences of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their parents. She also led the pilot and development phase for the initial wave of a new large-scale cohort study of secondary school children. Additionally, Line continues to be actively involved in the Growing Up in Scotland study, a long-running project following children in Scotland born in 2004/05.

Helena joined NatCen in March 2021 after graduating with a BSc in Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh. Helena is a researcher in the Health and Biomedical team and primarily works on the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey and Patterns of Play.

Dr Donna Easterlow is Head of Children and Families Analysis at the Scottish Government. This includes responsibility for research, statistics and economic analysis to inform early years, child protection, children’s rights and wellbeing, early learning and childcare and school age childcare policy. The Growing up in Scotland study is managed by her team, but with strong links across the whole of the government. Donna has also previously worked in rural, transport and constitutional reform analysis in Scottish Government. Prior to joining Scottish Government, Donna was a lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh.

Paul is Director of the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen), NatCen’s Edinburgh-based team. In a career spanning more than 20 years, Paul has worked on a wide range of studies involving quantitative and qualitative methods and across a number of policy areas. His interest and experience lie mainly in survey methods, particularly longitudinal surveys, and broadly in the areas of families, children and young people.  

Paul’s principal research role over the last two decades has been associated with the leadership and delivery of the Growing Up in Scotland study, a large scale, multi-cohort, multidisciplinary prospective longitudinal birth cohort study commissioned by the Scottish Government, which he has led since the study’s launch in 2005.

In the last decade, he has overseen the delivery of several high profile Scottish and UK wide survey projects including the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, the Scottish Health Survey, the 1970 British Cohort Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. He has also contributed to significant UK-wide longitudinal projects and initiatives including the Early Life Cohort Feasibility Study and Population Research UK.

Paul regularly delivers presentations on survey findings and methodology to a wide range of audiences including policymakers, practitioners, academics and students.  He has also given evidence to a number of parliamentary committees in Scotland and Northern Ireland.