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On 1st June 1932, as part of the Scottish Mental Survey, 87,498 Scottish schoolchildren born in 1921 sat the same test of mental ability: the Moray House Test. In 1997, the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh began to search for men and women still living in Scotland who took part in these tests.
On 1st June 1998, about 80 individuals gathered in the Aberdeen Music Hall to re-sit the test exactly 66 years later. Participants were followed-up 5 times over a 10 year period.

Aberdeen University has followed all of the children born in Aberdeen in 1921, 1936 (see Aberdeen Birth Cohort 1936) and 1950-1956 (see Aberdeen Children of the 1950’s) as they grow and age.
Collectively these groups are known as the ABERDEEN BIRTH COHORTS, and have helped to advance our understanding of aging well.

Over the years, researchers have linked the results from these tests to health and social information.
The linked data has been used to answer questions like:
• Does being born very small affect mental health later in life?
• Is the risk of dementia related to childhood intelligence?
• What influences quality of life in old-age?
Participants born in 1921 and 1936 have been invited back for a wide variety of studies at the University. Similar research is being started for the Children of the 1950’s group.

On 4th June 1947, as part of the Scottish Mental Survey, every Scottish schoolchild born in 1936 sat the same test of mental ability: the Moray House Test. In 1997, Professor Lawrence Whalley discovered the Scottish Mental Survey test records at the Scottish Council for Research in Education in Edinburgh and began to trace people who had sat the test in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen University has followed all of the children born in Aberdeen in 1921, 1936 (see Aberdeen Birth Cohort 1936) and 1950-1956 (see Aberdeen Children of the 1950’s) as they grow and age.
Collectively these groups are known as the ABERDEEN BIRTH COHORTS, and have helped to advance our understanding of aging well.

Over the years, researchers have linked the results from these tests to health and social information.
The linked data has been used to answer questions like:
• Does being born very small affect mental health later in life?
• Is the risk of dementia related to childhood intelligence?
• What influences quality of life in old-age?
Participants born in 1921 and 1936 have been invited back for a wide variety of studies at the University. Similar research is being started for the Children of the 1950’s group.

The Children of the 1950s study is a population-based resource for the study of biological and social influences on health across the life-course and between generations.

Comprising individuals born in Aberdeen, Scotland between 1950 and 1956, this cohort is based on the 12,150 people who took part in the Aberdeen Child Development Survey, a cross-sectional study in a population of all children who were attending an Aberdeen primary school in December 1962. The data collected include information on birth weight, childhood height and weight, tests of cognition and behavioural disorder, and a range of multi-level socio-economic indicators.

In the early 2000s the current vital status and whereabouts of 98.5% of the 12,150 subjects (6276 males, 5874 females) with full baseline data were ascertained. The large majority (81%) of study participants still resided in Scotland and the majority (73%) remained in the Grampian region which incorporates Aberdeen.

Linkages to hospital admissions and other health endpoints captured through the routine Scottish Morbidity Records system have been completed. A postal questionnaire to all surviving cohort members was distributed in 2001, with a response proportion of 63%.

The cohort database is now maintained as a resource for researchers, with over 40 publications to data resulting from interrogation of the data.

Last Update 21/09/2017