Over the years, BYDS has asked questions about drug and alcohol use, friendships and social iterations, family and community life, engagement with the justice system, employment, and educational experiences. Participants were last contacted in 2010 for the 7^th wave of the study, which took place when they were 20-21 years old.

Findings from BYDS have been shared through more than 50 reports, presentations, and scientific papers. The study has contributed to improved understanding of many issues including:

• Family and peer relationships and adolescent drinking;
• parent-adolescent relationships and “secret keeping”;
• Adolescent alcohol use and school disengagement and exclusion;
• Social connection and self-harm;
• Adolescent drug use and mental health challenges;
• Patterns of adolescent drug and alcohol use;
• Paramilitary violence and heroin use;
• School exclusion, drug use, and antisocial behaviours; and
• Patterns of family drug and alcohol use.

For the 8^th wave of the study, BYDS participants have the option to complete the survey online or with a paper booklet like those they completed at school. The survey takes about 30 minutes to complete and asks both questions from prior years and some new ones which reflect their adult lives. To thank them for their time, participants will receive a £20 voucher.

 

 

This year, we are also seeking to conduct interviews with 30 participants to explore how their experiences as young people have shaped their adulthood. The interviews will vary in length, but we anticipate that they will take 60-90 minutes and can be conducted at the participant’s home or another place where they would feel comfortable meeting with a member of the study team. Interview participants will receive an additional £25 voucher to thank them for their time.

The BYDS team has been working with a forensic tracing company to find contact details for as many BYDS participants as possible and has been sending invitation cards and emails to them as details are provided.

Unfortunately, some participants have had only one form of contact details provided, and may receive just a card or email. When this happens, we ask that those participants reach out to us so that we can send them their survey to complete.

If you previously participated in the Belfast Youth Development Study and have not yet heard from us, please get in touch with us! If you have already received your link to participate in the study, please do fill it in.

We anticipate continuing to gather data through the summer and early autumn. Publications using the new data are expected to begin after that point. They will be shared on the BYDS publication list webpage available here.

To get in touch about BYDS, please contact Dr Amanda Dylina Morse by email (a.morse@qub.ac.uk) or by phone (074 3563 5145).