Benefits of extensive recruitment effort persist during follow-ups and are consistent across age group and survey method. The TRAILS study

Abstract

BackgroundExtensive recruitment effort at baseline increases representativeness of study populations by decreasing non-response and associated bias. First, it is not known to what extent increased attrition occurs during subsequent measurement waves among subjects who were hard-to-recruit at baseline and what characteristics the hard-to-recruit dropouts have compared to the hard-to-recruit retainers. Second, it is unknown whether characteristics of hard-to-recruit responders in a prospective population based cohort study are similar across age group and survey method.MethodsFirst, we compared first wave (T1) easy-to-recruit with hard-to-recruit responders of the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS), a prospective population based cohort study of Dutch (pre)adolescents (at first wave: n = 2230, mean age = 11.09 (SD 0.56), 50.8% girls), with regard to response rates at subsequent measurement waves. Second, easy-to-recruit and hard-to-recruit participants at the fourth TRAILS measurement wave (n = 1881, mean age = 19.1 (SD 0.60), 52.3% girls) were compared with fourth wave non-responders and earlier stage drop-outs on family composition, socioeconomic position (SEP), intelligence (IQ), education, sociometric status, substance use, and psychopathology.ResultsFirst, over 60% of the hard-to-recruit responders at the first wave were retained in the sample eight years later at the fourth measurement wave. Hard-to-recruit dropouts did not differ from hard-to-recruit retainers. Second, extensive recruitment efforts for the web based survey convinced a population of nineteen year olds with similar characteristics as the hard-to-recruit eleven year olds that were persuaded to participate in a school-based survey. Some characteristics associated with being hard-to-recruit (as compared to being easy-to-recruit) were more pronounced among non-responders, resembling the baseline situation (De Winter et al.2005).ConclusionsFirst, extensive recruitment effort at the first assessment wave of a prospective population based cohort study has long lasting positive effects. Second, characteristics of hard-to-recruit responders are largely consistent across age groups and survey methods.

Mental health trajectories from childhood to young adulthood affect the educational and employment status of young adults: results from the TRAILS study

“…Of the baseline participants, 2149 children participated in the second wave (96.4%, 13.5 years, SD 0.53), 1816 in the third wave (81.4%, 16.3 years, SD 0.69) and 1881 in the fourth wave (84.3% of baseline, mean age 19 years, SD 0.58). At baseline, no differences in psychopathology between respondents and non-respondents were observed;16 also during follow-up no differences in psychopathology between those retained and those who dropped out were found 18. More detailed information about design, sample, procedures and non-response analysis of the TRAILS study can be found elsewhere 16 17.…”

Early life adversities and adolescent antisocial behavior: The role of cardiac autonomic nervous system reactivity in the TRAILS study

“…Our sample consisted of participants who were slightly more at risk in comparison to the general population, but the variation was still within a normal range. However, this oversampling may have provided us with a more representative general population sample, as individuals with more antisocial behavior were more likely to drop-out from the TRAILS study (Huisman et al, 2008;Nederhof et al, 2012). Moreover, childhood adversities were assessed retrospectively.…”

“…Detailed information about sample selection and analysis of non-response bias are reported elsewhere (de Winter et al, 2005;Nederhof et al, 2012). The current study used data from the first three measurement waves, to December 2007 (wave 3).…”

The predictive value of childhood subthreshold manic symptoms for adolescent and adult psychiatric outcomes

“…Cohort members were assessed at baseline when aged 11 years (n=2230) and then at ages 13 (n=2149), 16 (n=1816) and 19 years (n=1881). The retention rate over the 8-year follow-up period was 84.3% which is high for longitudinal studies of psychiatric outcomes (Nederhof et al, 2012). The flow chart of this study is illustrated in Figure 1.…”

“…Behavioral assessments were undertaken at age 11, 13 and 16 years and formal lifetime psychiatric diagnoses were ascertained at age 19 years according to the TRAILS data collection protocol. Details of the TRAILS design, sampling and weighted prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders have already been published (Nederhof et al, 2012;Oldehinkel et al, 2015;Ormel et al, 2012;Ormel et al, 2015) and are summarised in the supplemental material.…”