TAM Cohort – Stress, development and mental health

The TAM follow-up study has followed a single age cohort from Tampere from adolescence into midlife since 1983. Participants have taken part in surveys at ages 16, 22, 32, 42 and 52. The study focuses on mental health and key transitions across the life course, such as starting one’s studies, choosing a profession, or starting a family. According to research, these transitions and their consequences have a significant impact on health and well‑being.

The study examines especially the risk and protective factors that influence life-course processes and wellbeing. A key objective is to identify the coping strategies and protective resources that could help prevent challenges to well‑being in psychologically demanding life situations. Childhood and adolescent environments lay the foundation for adult health and social position, but deeper understanding is still needed about the mechanisms linking these experiences to later outcomes.

The long follow-up makes it possible to examine the life course across several stages and offers valuable insights into how events across different phases of life are connected to mental health and wellbeing. Such information is essential for preventing the prolongation and accumulation of stressful factors.

Goals

The project examines, among other things:

associations between various risk factors related to family background, adolescence, the transition to adulthood, and adulthood, and mental health and wellbeing
factors that protect adolescents against mental health and well-being challenges across life course.

Key thematic areas throughout the follow-up have included:

physical and mental health
health behaviours
life situation
psychosocial resources.

Implementation

The baseline data for the follow-up study were collected in Tampere in spring 1983. The target group consisted of all Finnish-speaking 9th-grade pupils in Tampere’s comprehensive schools (n = 2,269), of whom 97% (n = 2,194) completed the questionnaire during one class session in each school. The respondents’ mean age was 15.9 years. These 2,194 respondents form the study cohort, which has been followed into adulthood in four additional waves.

The follow-up surveys were conducted by mail in 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2019, when participants were 22, 32, 42 and 52 years old. Response rates have remained good: 76% in 1989, 67% in 1999, 61% in 2009 and 53% in 2019. In total, 89% have responded to at least one follow-up, and more than one third to all four. The long follow-up period makes the dataset a unique research resource covering development from adolescence to midlife.

The ethical aspects of the study have been evaluated by the Ethics Committee of Tampere University Hospital and Internal Review Board (IRB) of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). At each stage of data collection, a favourable statement has been obtained to carry out the study. A favourable statement has also been granted by THL’s IRB for the linkage of follow‑up data with cause-of-death information.

Data security and the protection of participants’ privacy are ensured by storing personal identifiers separately from the analytical data. Only specifically designated and authorised researchers have access to the study data. In addition, all personnel handling the data have signed a confidentiality agreement.