Collection IOP/TEDS - TWINS' EARLY DEVELOPMENT STUDY (TEDS) [NB the whole of this collection is CLOSED]

Key Information

Reference code

IOP/TEDS

Title

TWINS' EARLY DEVELOPMENT STUDY (TEDS) [NB the whole of this collection is CLOSED]

Date(s)

  • 1994-2003 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent

1813 boxes

Scope and content

Comprising a series of questionnaires completed by parents and children participating in the TEDS project, 1994-2003; including initial contact questionnaires completed when twins were approximately one year old containing the name of mother or father, address, telephone details, consent signatures, information on twins such as whether identical or non-identical, differences in appearance, sleep patterns, feeding issues, dress, siblings, pregnancy details with diet, the health of mother, any complications and overview of the circumstances of the birth, post-natal status, levels of stress in the home, relationship between parents and their education, occupations and background, 1995-1997 (IOP/TEDS 1); questionnaires for two year old children and their parents, comprising sets of three pamphlets of around 40 pages each, completed by the mother and each twin containing questions on changes in family circumstances since last interview, illness of twins, toilet habits, juvenile self awareness, sociability, behaviour patterns, emotional state, levels of play attainment with matching shapes, colours, brick-building, drawings and puzzles completed by the children themselves, 1996-1998 (IOP/TEDS 2); questionnaires of year three surveys comprising parents' and three year old twins' booklets and consisting of basic contact details similar to previous sections, more detailed examination of the twins' behaviour such as patience, levels of anxiety, propensity for self-harm, sociability, diet, play, speech patterns, songs, nursery rhymes, discipline, with drawings by the children and tests of their vocabulary, 1997-1999 (IOP/TEDS 3); questionnaires of year four surveys, with consent and contact information, changes in the health, diet, sleep patterns, play, discipline, communications, likes and dislikes, alterations in status of parents, with a greater focus on speech development, reading ability and puzzle solving capabilities of the children, with drawings, vocabulary and puzzle-solving tests completed by the children, 1998-2000 (IOP/TEDS 4); survey booklets for the siblings sub-project investigating the development of siblings in twins families, containing year two, three and four cohorts, and comprising a sample of the total TEDS volunteer families, focusing on the development of the sibling, play, discipline, sociability, home life, vocabulary and puzzle and picture tests completed by the children, 1997-2001 (IOP/TEDS 5); various questionnaires including semi-completed forms, those without consent signatures, forms not data-inputted, opt-outs from the programme, [1996-2000] (IOP/TEDS 6); papers relating to studies used in planning the TEDS project, including studies of hemiplegia, comprising questionnaires completed by parents of sufferers for the London Hemiplegia Register, consisting of data on the health and behaviour of child sufferers, 1988-1991, questionnaires completed by teachers for the MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, requesting insight into the behaviour of children mainly in Middlesex schools, with computer printouts of statistics of the project, 1995-1997, box of audio tapes relating to a Institute of Psychiatry project, [1988] (IOP/TEDS 7); TEDS Environment (E-Risk) project papers comprising questionnaires completed by researchers during interviews with mothers and children around the age of five, and with their teachers, and consisting of a range of questions and puzzles designed to examine in more detail the background of a sample group of about 1100 twins drawn from the main register, [1999-2003] (IOP/TEDS 8).

Accruals

Regular accruals

System of arrangement

The collection consists of questionnaires arranged into four sections of interviews and responses of 1, 2, 3 and 4 year-olds with additional sections on sibling and environmental sub-studies. Each twin and parent is assigned a unique identifier number that is retained throughout the course of the project. The identifier comprises a four or five digit number for each family/parent and a three number suffix unique to the individual child. Within each annual series, the questionnaires are divided into sets of three for the mother and each of the twins, colour coded between years for quick reference, and into a number of tranches comprising several hundred names arranged in broadly numerical order. These batches were created when raw questionnaires were sent for data inputting and the arrangement has been retained for ease of recovery of particular files. The Archives possess a master list of families and twins with identifier numbers and box locations. Some twins' files have been retained by the SGDP and this is noted on spreadsheet indexes.

General Information

Name of creator

(1997-2014)

Biographical history

The Institute of Psychiatry was opened in 1923 as the medical school of the Maudsley Hospital, which was established in 1914 to treat the mentally ill. It was recognised by the University of London and changed its name to the Institute of Psychiatry in 1948, before becoming a school of King's College London in 1997.

Custodial history

Received from the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, 2001-2005.

Conditions governing access

Files containing personal data are closed for 80 years and sensitive personal data for 100 years from the date of the most recent document in the file.

Administrative records are generally closed for 20 years except for published material and some committee and other minutes.

Where open, access is subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies will not normally be supplied from this closed collection.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Finding aids

A catalogue of the contents of the collection is available online and in hard copy in the King's College Archives Reading Room on the King's Strand Campus.A series of spreadsheets indexing the contents of the collection by box number, family name and identifier code, is retained by Archives.

Existence and location of originals

Off-campus collection

Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›

Related descriptions

Note

Further information and regular newsletters publicising the work of the Project can be downloaded from www.teds.ac.uk.

Alternative identifier(s)

Place access points

People and Organisations

Genre access points

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.

Script(s)

Archivist's note

Entry compiled by Geoff Browell for the RSLP funded AIM25 Project.

Accession area