The Child to Adult Transition Study (CATS)
CATS is a unique longitudinal study following over 1200 children as they transition through adolescence and into adulthood. The study began in 2012 when the children were in Grade 3 (8-9 years old) and attending primary schools in metropolitan Melbourne.
What’s new with CATS?
CATS is a unique study. No previous study in the world has tracked such a large group of young people from primary school right through puberty and into the later teen years. We now understand that early puberty is linked to adolescent wellbeing, and we have a much better understanding of how health, emotional wellbeing and academic engagement change during this time. Check out our Publications page to find out what our research team has learnt so far.
By hearing from the same group of participants annually from 2012 to 2023, we have been able to advocate for young people, and contribute to important policy decisions that directly affect this generation of youth. Due to the significance of this research, we have received further funding and have now extended our investigation to explore the transition from adolescence into young adulthood. We have officially changed our name to the Child to Adult Transition Study (formerly the Child to Adolescent Transition Study), as we wanted to represent the life stage of our participants now.
What’s CATS doing in 2023?
We will continue to contact our participants every year to ask about their physical and mental health, living circumstances, studies or work, and how they are managing the many transitions occurring as they enter their early years of adulthood. We aim to improve our understanding of the many factors that influence young peoples’ health and emotional wellbeing as they develop from being adolescents to young adults.
In 2023 we’re catching up with all our participants again, who are now 19-20 years old, as they are settling into the early stages of their careers, travels, or higher education.
Visit the CATS website for additional information: https://cats.mcri.edu.au.
