Dataset from Young Adult Follow-Up Study (a component of the Oshikhandass Water and Sanitation, Health and Hygiene Interventions Study)

This study was a follow-up to a 1989-1996 study of diarrhea and pneumonia in children under age 5 years. The aim was to examine individual-level associations between childhood health and family socioeconomic indicators of early life adversity with adolescent health and development. The outcomes were: nonverbal reasoning scores using the Raven’s Progressive Matrices, self-reported health status, Body Mass Index, blood pressure, educational attainment and employment. It was hypothesized that early life experiences, within a context of poverty, manifested in reduced health and development in adolescence, which is the foundation of adult human capital. Adolescents/young adults were interviewed using a bespoke questionnaire; psychometric testing was conducted on the results of the Raven’s Matrices; a multivariable Bayesian network was constructed to explore structural relationships between variables.