ESRC South Coast DTP Studentship - ADHD and Physical Health: Relationship, Genetic, and Environmental Influences (S2146) (SCDTP-S2146)

ADHD and Physical Health: Relationship, Genetic, and Environmental Influences

A fully funded studentship awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) commencing in 2021/22 Academic Year.

The proposed projects will use data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a large and nationally representative, longitudinal ESRC dataset to explore: 1) the directionality (what comes first?) of a number of childhood onset mental health conditions (ADHD, conduct problems, internalizing problems) and physical health conditions (immune conditions, neurological problems, hearing, eyesight, and speech impairments, cardiovascular problems, sleep, weight, diabetes, cancer and pain), using structural equation modelling; 2) the genetic overlap between ADHD and a number of physical health conditions. Genetic data is from family triads (mother, father, child) collected at participants’ age 14 as part of the MCS; 3) the influence of environmental factors (e.g. socioeconomic status, birth complications, complications during pregnancy, health and health behaviour of the parents) on trajectories of ADHD, physical conditions and their interaction, using latent growth modelling.

Supervisory Team:

Valerie Brandt, School of Psychology, UoS, V.C.Brandt@soton.ac.uk

Samuele Cortese, School of Psychology, UoS, Samuele.Cortese@soton.ac.uk

External: Anita Thapar (expert in neuropsychiatric genetics) Thapar@cardiff.ac.uk

Skills Required

The potential PhD student should have some experience in multivariate statistics, an interest in child mental health and neuropsychiatric genetics.

Funding

South Coast DTP Funding provides an annual maintenance grant (tax free) of £15285 (2020/21 UKRI rate), plus payment of programme fees.  Other funding available for SCDTP funded students can be found on the SCDTP website (www.southcoastdtp.ac.uk).

Funding is provided for 3 years full-time PhD study (pro-rata for part-time students).  Applications for 1+3 funding for students completing a Master's year prior to the commencement of PhD study are also welcome (details available at www.southcoastdtp.ac.uk).

Application Procedure

The closing date and time for applications is 4.00pm on 18th January 2021.  The full application procedure, the funding application form, and more information on the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership can be found at: http://southcoastdtp.ac.uk/apply/ 

For further information about this project, please contact the lead supervisor detailed above.  For questions relating to the application procedure, or for more information about the SCDTP, please visit the SCDTP website or contact us at scdtp@soton.ac.uk 

Closing Date: 18 Jan 2021
Post Type: PhD Studentship (Funded)