Australian Temperament Project
The Australian Temperament Project (ATP) is an ongoing, longitudinal study following young people’s psychosocial development from infancy to adulthood, investigating the contribution of personal, family, peer and broader environmental factors to adjustment and wellbeing. Commencing in 1983, this internationally renowned study has so far collected 15 waves of data across the first 28 years of life. The ATP is investigating the development of problems such as learning difficulties, antisocial behaviour, substance abuse, anxiety and depression, as well as positive development including social competence, supportive family and peer relationships and civic participation.
- Member and parent newsletters for 2011
- Family is for life: Connections between childhood family experiences and wellbeing in early adulthood by Rhys Price-Robertson, Diana Smart, & Leah Bromfield (2010) in Family Matters, 85.
- Research report No. 17: In the driver's seat II: Beyond the early driving years by Suzanne Vassallo, Diana Smart, Samantha Cockfield, Thanuja Gunatillake, Anne Harris and Warren Harrison
Media release - The roles that parents play in the lives of their young adult children: article on the transition from adolescence to adulthood, by Suzanne Vassallo, Diana Smart and Rhys Price-Robertson in Family Matters No. 82.
- Pathways from infancy to adolescence: Australian Temperament Project 1983-2000 describes the Australian Temperament Project and gives an account of a large cohort of young Australians through the first 18 years of the Project. It investigates patterns and pathways to positive and problematic adjustment, and the contribution of child, family and environmental factors to successful functioning.
- Current initiatives: The ATP team is currently focusing on:
- the ATP Next Generation study - a study of the experiences of ATP study members who have become parents
- a series of papers looking at positive development and civic engagement in early adulthood and the factors that promote it
- factors that are associated with risk-taking and adjustment difficulties in early adulthood (i.e. harmful alcohol use, depression), and
- the contribution of childhood experiences (i.e. school bullying, child maltreatment) to later wellbeing and adjustment.
The Australian Temperament Project is a joint project between the Australian Institute of Family Studies, the Royal Children's Hospital, the University of Melbourne and Deakin University. The project is led and supported by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, and is also supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council.