Influences of Early Life In and Across The Life Course

Influences of Early Life Across The Life Course

There is strong evidence that early life can shape outcomes later in life, including, for example a person’s health, social, educational and economic status. ILAS work programmes across the themes considers how experiences, like those around family, service support, education and human development, accumulate over time to influence individual well-being.

Looking at the life course in this way allows us to explore how advantages and disadvantages may accumulate over a person’s life. This is important as it helps us to understand how different stages in individual lives are connected over time and to inform developments regarding early intervention across the life course. Additionally, it raises the potential to develop interventions and services which may be better able to respond to early-life influences.

Illustrative projects demonstrating the Influences of Early Life include:

• Genome, Environment, Microbiome and Metabolome in Autism (GEMMA): This project aims to understand why some infants at familial risk develop autism in order to enable earlier diagnosis, better interventions, and improved quality of life
• Quality Assurance Implementation Protocol for Family Support Services in Europe: The aim of this project is to enhance family support services across Europe by implementing a quality assurance protocol through a self-assessment and improvement process
• Youth Empathy and Civic Engagement: Activating Social Empathy: This project aim is to improve empathy skills and foster positive peer relations among secondary school students