Laboratory

Population Health

At a Glance Projects Publications Team

Project

Early-Life Determinants of Cognitive Functioning, Health, and Mortality

Megan Evans, Jonas Schöley, Nataliia Levchuk, Aapo Hiilamo

Detailed Description

Recent research has highlighted the importance of early-life conditions in shaping outcomes across an individual's lifespan, with factors ranging from childhood environmental and family conditions to perinatal health and in utero exposures. The relationship between the length of the birth interval and child development has also received increasing attention, with some studies exploring offspring outcomes across the life course. To gain a deeper understanding of these relationships, our research employs advanced statistical techniques and top-quality data from administrative population registers in Norway, Ukraine, and the United States.

We explore a range of indicators, including adult payment problems, neo-natal mortality, and type 2 diabetes related to preterm birth, low birth weight, infant mortality, and psychiatric disorders. Overall, our research underscores the complex interplay between early-life conditions and outcomes across the life course, with some factors exerting stronger effects in the short-term, whereas others may have more long-term impacts.

Publications

Schöley, J.:

The impact of population heterogeneity on the age trajectory of neonatal mortality: a study of US births 2008–2014

Demographic Research 53:7, 187–218. (2025)    

Hiilamo, A.; Jensen, M. R.; Hermansen, Å.:

Associations between adolescent psychiatric disorders and adulthood payment problems: a Norwegian register study of complete birth cohorts of 1995-1997

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1–7. (2024)    

Baier, T.; Lang, V.; Grätz, M.; Barclay, K. J.; Conley, D.; Dawes, C.; Laidley, T.; Lyngstad, T. H.:

Genetic influences on educational achievement in comparative perspective

European Sociological Review 38:6, 959–974. (2022)    

Baranowska-Rataj, A.; Barclay, K. J.; Costa-i-Font, J.; Myrskylä, M.; Özcan, B.:

Preterm births and educational disadvantage: heterogeneous effects across families and schools

Population Studies, 1–16. (2022)    

Barclay, K. J.; Smith, K. R.:

Birth spacing and health and socioeconomic outcomes across the life course: evidence from the Utah Population Database

Demography 59:3, 1117–1142. (2022)    

Barclay, K. J.; Smith, K. R.:

The effects of birth spacing on health and socioeconomic outcomes across the life course: evidence from the Utah Population Database

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2020-038. (2020)    

Martikainen, P.; Elo, I. T.; Tarkiainen, L.; Mikkonen, J.; Myrskylä, M.; Moustgaard, H.:

The changing contribution of childhood social characteristics to mortality: a comparison of Finnish cohorts born in 1936–50 and 1961–75

International Journal of Epidemiology 49:3, 896–907. (2020)    

Baranowska-Rataj, A.; Barclay, K. J.; Costa-i-Font, J.; Myrskylä, M.; Özcan, B.:

Preterm births and educational disadvantage: heterogeneous effects across families and schools

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2019-016. (2019)    

Bijwaard, G. E.; Myrskylä, M.; Tynelius, P.; Rasmussen, F.:

Education, cognitive ability and cause-specific mortality: a structural approach

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2016-007. (2016)