Research project

Birth to Twenty study

Status :
Current
Project leader : Richter, Linda (Prof L.M.)
Other team members : Joseph, Philip (Mr P.K.)
Makusha, Tawanda (Mr T.)
De Kock, Cilna (Ms C.J.)
Responsible department : HIV/AIDS, STIs and TB
Research output(s) : Barbarin, O.A., Richter, L.M. & de Wet, T. (2001) Exposure to violence, coping resources, and psychological adjustment of South African children. American journal of orthopsychiatry. 71(1):16-25.
de Wet, T., Steyn, K. & Richter, L.M. (2000) Children and Tobacco: Birth to Ten Preliminary results. Urban Health and Development Bulletin. 3(3):15-18.
Ginsburg, C., Norris, S., Richter, L., Galpin, J. & Coplan, D. (2008) "Patterns of residential mobility amongst children in greater Johannesburg: observations from the Birth to Twenty cohort". (Paper presented at the Children and Migration Conference, Cork, 11 April).
Grantham-McGregor, S., Cheung, Y.B., Cueto, S., Glewwe, P., Richter, L. & Strupp, B. (2007) Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. The Lancet. 369(9555):60-70.
Lewin, N.S., Norris, S.A. & Richter, L.M. (2007) Health and social scientists need to weigh in. South African Medical Journal. 97(6):392.
Mkhasibe, C. & Brandt, R. (2004) Doing something: the initiation of sexual abuse services in Soweto. In: Richter, L., Dawes, A. & Higson-Smith, C. (eds). Sexual abuse of young children in southern Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press. 356-366.
Norris, S.A. & Richter, L.M. (2008) Are there short cuts to pubertal assessments? Self-reported and assessed group differences in pubertal development in African adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health. 42(3):259-265.
Norris, S.A., Richter, L.M. & Fleetwood, S.A. (2007) Field report: panel studies in developing countries: case analysis of sample attrition over the past 16 years within the Birth to Twenty cohort in Johannesburg, South Africa. Journal of International Development. 19:1143-1150.
Panday, S., Richter, L. & Bhana, A. (2006) Young adults, the target of below-the-line advertising. South African medical journal. 96(2):104-105.
Ramchandani, P.G., Richter, L.M., Stein, A. & Norris, S.A. (2009) Predictors of postnatal depression in an urban South African cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders. 113:279-284.
Richter, L. (2008) Improving the developmental outcome of babies. (Paper presented at the South African Paediatrics Association: The Sky's the Limit Congress 2008, Sun City, South Africa, 29 May - 1 June).
Richter, L., Norris, S., Pettifor, J., Yach, D. & Cameron, N. (2007) Cohort profile: Mandela's children: the 1990 birth to twenty study in South Africa. International Journal of Epidemiology. 36(3):504-511.
Richter, L. & Higson-Smith, C. (2004) The many kinds of sexual abuse of young children. In: Richter, L., Dawes, A. & Higson-Smith, C. (eds). Sexual abuse of young children in southern Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press. 21-35.
Richter, L.M., Panday, S., Swart, T.M. & Norris, S.A. (2009) Adolescents in the city: material and social living conditions in Johannesburg-Soweto, South Africa. Urban Forum. 20(2):319-334.
Richter, L.M., Panday, S. & Norris, S.A. (2009) Factors influencing enrolment: a case study from Birth to Twenty, the 1990 birth cohort in Soweto-Johannesburg. Evaluation and Program Planning. 32(3):197-203.
Richter, L.M., Norris, S.A. & Ginsburg, C. (2006) The silent truth of teenage pregnancies: Birth to Twenty cohort's next generation. South African medical journal. 96(2):122-123.
Richter, L.M. (2004) Strengthening infants and children: South African perspectives. The Signal. 12:9-13.
Richter, L.M., Norris, S.A. & de Wet, T. (2004) Transition from birth to ten to birth to twenty: the South African cohort reaches 13 years of age. Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology. 18:290-301.
Richter, L.M. (2003) Birth to twenty. (Invited presentation to the World Health Organization meeting on Very Young Adolescents, Geneva, Switzerland, 28-30 April).
Richter, L.M. & Norris, S. (2003) Very young adolescents: a longitudinal perspective from South Africa: the Birth to Twenty study. (Paper presented at the WHO Conference, Geneva, May).
Richter, L.M. (2002) Caring for small children: mutual mental health for caregiver children. Women's health project review. 42:25-27.
Richter, L.M. (2001) Psychosocial factors in child health. In Child health for all: a manual for Southern Africa. 3rd ed. Kibel, M.A. & Wagstaff, L.A. (eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 19-24.
Richter, L.M. (1999) Chronic Childhood illness. Child Health Dialogue. 16:3-4.
Sabet, F., Richter, L.M., Ramchandani, P.G., Stein, A., Quigley, M.A. & Norris, S.A. (2009) Low birthweight and subsequent emotional and behavioural outcomes in 12-year-old children in Soweto, South Africa: findings from Birth to Twenty. International Journal of Epidemiology. 38:944-954.
Victora, C.G., Adair, L., Fall, C., Hallal, P.C., Martorell, R., Richter, L. & Sachdev, H.S. (2008) Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital. The Lancet. 371(9609):340-357.
Web-site : http://www.wits.ac.za/birthto20
Project summary

Birth to Twenty is a longitudinal birth cohort sutdy of more than 3200 children and their families in Soweto-Johannesburg, 74% of whom have been followed up from before birth to their current age of 16 years. The original emphasis of the study was on determinants of health, psychological adjustment and educational achievement of children in an urban environment in the context of socioeconomic, household, family, peer and psychological factors. The current foci of the study are pubertal maturation, coital debut and sexual risks, the influence of future orientation and family support on educational achievement, and risks of educational failure and drop out. The cohort is seen twice a year, once at home and once at the data collection centre. A series of physical, physiological, social, psychological and educational measures are made among the adolescent participants, their parents, and increasingly, their own children. This study is funded by the Wellcome Trust.