NIHR Studentship 2: Exploring the value of linked health and council data to examine associations between adverse childhood experiences and its consequences using linked population and health datasets

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) North Thames and the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) based at UCL invite applications for two jointly-funded 3-year PhD studentships at UCL to begin September 2018. Supervisors are drawn from across both the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames and NIHR SPHR.

The benefit of this collaborative initiative include joint funding from two high profile NIHR research collaborations, which facilitates the opportunity for unparalleled access to leading applied and public health experts, supervisors who are leaders in their field, channels for dissemination of research and participation in bespoke training and a strong network and community of graduate students and researchers. There are four projects in total, of which two will be funded through these joint studentships.

Project 2

There is strong evidence linking adverse childhood experiences to health harming behaviours and health outcomes in adolescents and adults. Most of our understanding to date comes from cross-sectional or cohort studies, mainly from the USA, utilizing bespoke surveys with comparatively small or potentially biased samples and at risk of sample and recall bias. These findings therefore have limited generalisability to UK populations. A linked population dataset with comprehensive health and council data may offer an opportunity to
examine associations between adverse childhood experiences and its consequences that could inform local and national interventions to prevent and identify adverse childhood experiences or its consequences.

This PhD (with specific details subject to local agreement and information governance) will seek to advance our understanding of the value of linked health and council data to measure the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations with outcomes in young adults, such as school absences, or educational attainment, unplanned health and social care use. It could involve:

i. A review of the literature examining adverse childhood experiences, including a systematic review which might focus specifically on risks at the household level, such as the risk of exposure to parental conflict, substance abuse, or mental illness.
ii. Informed by the review, a) developing markers of adverse childhood experience in the Islington dataset at a household level and b) examining their prevalence and associations with outcomes in children and adolescents of population and service importance, such as school absences, or educational attainment, health behaviours, long-term conditions and unscheduled health and social care use.
iii. A qualitative component to understand the findings emerging from the dataset.

Eligibility

Candidates should hold a Master’s qualification (or complete their Master’s by September 2018) in an appropriate discipline and have a minimum of a 2:1 or equivalent in their first degree. Applicants should preferably have knowledge of the UK health and care system. All applicants are required to have excellent written and verbal communication skills. They should also be willing to work collaboratively in multi-disciplinary and multi-professional teams.

Due to funding restrictions applicants must be UK/EU nationals. Please refer to UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA - https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information--Advice/Fees-and-Money/Home-or-Overseas-fees-the-basics) for details of these criteria.

How to apply

Your application should consist of a CV, contact details of two academic referees, and a personal statement (1,000 words maximum) describing your suitability for the proposed project including how your research experience, skills and interests relate to the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames and NIHR SPHR project(s). In your application, please indicate which project(s) you wish to be considered for.

Please send your application or queries about projects to Dr Silvie Cooper, NIHR CLAHRC North Thames Academy Teaching Fellow ([Email Address Removed]).

Find out more: https://clahrc-norththames.nihr.ac.uk/two-nihr-phds/