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Research subject Life Course Studies: Inter- and Multi-generational Perspectives

Applying a life-course perspective to health involves the recognition that living conditions during earlier stages of life - or even in earlier generations - matters for the development of health and well-being at both the individual and population levels.

The life-course approach can be seen as a broad, multidisciplinary framework for studying the importance of early living conditions for the development of health and disease. Our research targets an array of early living conditions, spanning all the way from pre-conception to young adulthood, and their influence on a wide range of social, economic, and health-related outcomes later in life.

In connection to our commitment to the goals of public health in improving population health and reducing inequalities, research carried out at the Department focuses on the transmission of (dis)advantage across multiple generations. The living conditions of parents - and even grandparents – can be seen as setting the scene for subsequent generations and thereby influencing their life chances.

Our studies are largely based on quantitative analyses that employ comprehensive register linkages, often in combination with unique birth cohort data. In order to address the complex mechanisms that operate both within and across generations, we strive to apply both traditional methods of social and life-course epidemiology as well as state-of-the-art statistical methods.