The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records: a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Andrew W Boyd; Alison Teyhan; Rosie P Cornish; Jazz Croft; Richard G Thomas; Iain Brennan; John A A Macleod

doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16328.2

The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records: a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Andrew W Boyd^*
, Alison Teyhan
, Rosie P Cornish
, Jazz Croft
, Richard G Thomas
, Iain Brennan
, John A A Macleod

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

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Abstract

Introduction: Linking longitudinal cohort resources with police-recorded records of criminal activity has the potential to inform public health style approaches to policing, and may reduce potential sources of bias from self-reported criminal data collected by cohort studies. A pilot linkage of police records to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) allows us to consider the acceptability of this linkage, its utility as a data resource, differences in self-reported crime according to consent status for data linkage, and the appropriate governance mechanism to support such a linkage.
Methods: We carried out a pilot study linking data from the ALSPAC birth cohort to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records on criminal cautions and convictions. This pilot was conducted on a fully anonymous basis, meaning we cannot link the identified records to any participant or the wider information within the dataset. Using ALSPAC data, we used summary statistics to investigate differences in socio-economic background and self-reported criminal activity by consent status for crime linkage. We used MoJ records to identify the geographic and temporal concentration of criminality in the ALSPAC cohort.
Results: We found that the linkage appears acceptable to participants (4% of the sample opted out), levels of criminal caution and conviction are high enough to support research, and that the majority of crimes occurred in Avon & Somerset (the policing area local to ALSPAC). Those who did not respond to consent requests had higher levels of self-reported criminal behaviour compared to participants who provided explicit consent.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that data linkage in ALSPAC provides opportunities to study criminal behaviour and that linked individual-level records could provide robust research in the area. Our findings also suggest the potential for bias when only including participants who have explicitly consented to data linkage, highlighting the limitations of opt-in consent strategies.

Original language	English
Article number	271
Pages (from-to)	1-15
Number of pages	15
Journal	Wellcome Open Research
Volume	5
Issue number	271
Early online date	17 Nov 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16328.2
Publication status	Published - 5 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Grant information: The UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust [217065, https://doi.org/10.35802/217065] and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. This publication is the work of the authors and JM will serve as guarantor. The linkage to the PNC dataset was funded by the 'Project to Enhance ALSPAC through Record Linkage' (PEARL) – a Wellcome Trust award [086118]. AB, AT, RC, RT, JC and JM are supported by the MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder award [MC_PC_17210] which funded the writing of this paper. RC works in the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit funded by the UK Medical Research Council [MC_UU_00011/3, MC_UU_00011/6] and the University of Bristol.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020. Boyd A et al.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Criminal conviction
official caution
Ministry of Justice
Police National Computer database
record linkage
birth cohort
ALSPAC

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title = "The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records: a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)",

abstract = "Introduction: Linking longitudinal cohort resources with police-recorded records of criminal activity has the potential to inform public health style approaches to policing, and may reduce potential sources of bias from self-reported criminal data collected by cohort studies. A pilot linkage of police records to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) allows us to consider the acceptability of this linkage, its utility as a data resource, differences in self-reported crime according to consent status for data linkage, and the appropriate governance mechanism to support such a linkage. Methods: We carried out a pilot study linking data from the ALSPAC birth cohort to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records on criminal cautions and convictions. This pilot was conducted on a fully anonymous basis, meaning we cannot link the identified records to any participant or the wider information within the dataset. Using ALSPAC data, we used summary statistics to investigate differences in socio-economic background and self-reported criminal activity by consent status for crime linkage. We used MoJ records to identify the geographic and temporal concentration of criminality in the ALSPAC cohort. Results: We found that the linkage appears acceptable to participants (4\% of the sample opted out), levels of criminal caution and conviction are high enough to support research, and that the majority of crimes occurred in Avon \& Somerset (the policing area local to ALSPAC). Those who did not respond to consent requests had higher levels of self-reported criminal behaviour compared to participants who provided explicit consent. Conclusions: These findings suggest that data linkage in ALSPAC provides opportunities to study criminal behaviour and that linked individual-level records could provide robust research in the area. Our findings also suggest the potential for bias when only including participants who have explicitly consented to data linkage, highlighting the limitations of opt-in consent strategies.",

keywords = "Criminal conviction, official caution, Ministry of Justice, Police National Computer database, record linkage, birth cohort, ALSPAC",

author = "Boyd, \{Andrew W\} and Alison Teyhan and Cornish, \{Rosie P\} and Jazz Croft and Thomas, \{Richard G\} and Iain Brennan and Macleod, \{John A A\}",

note = "Funding Information: Grant information: The UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust [217065, https://doi.org/10.35802/217065] and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. This publication is the work of the authors and JM will serve as guarantor. The linkage to the PNC dataset was funded by the 'Project to Enhance ALSPAC through Record Linkage' (PEARL) – a Wellcome Trust award [086118]. AB, AT, RC, RT, JC and JM are supported by the MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder award [MC\_PC\_17210] which funded the writing of this paper. RC works in the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit funded by the UK Medical Research Council [MC\_UU\_00011/3, MC\_UU\_00011/6] and the University of Bristol. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020. Boyd A et al.",

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The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records: a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). / Boyd, Andrew W; Teyhan, Alison ; Cornish, Rosie P et al.
In: Wellcome Open Research, Vol. 5, No. 271, 271, 05.09.2022, p. 1-15.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records

T2 - a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

AU - Boyd, Andrew W

AU - Teyhan, Alison

AU - Cornish, Rosie P

AU - Croft, Jazz

AU - Thomas, Richard G

AU - Brennan, Iain

AU - Macleod, John A A

N1 - Funding Information: Grant information: The UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust [217065, https://doi.org/10.35802/217065] and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. This publication is the work of the authors and JM will serve as guarantor. The linkage to the PNC dataset was funded by the 'Project to Enhance ALSPAC through Record Linkage' (PEARL) – a Wellcome Trust award [086118]. AB, AT, RC, RT, JC and JM are supported by the MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder award [MC_PC_17210] which funded the writing of this paper. RC works in the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit funded by the UK Medical Research Council [MC_UU_00011/3, MC_UU_00011/6] and the University of Bristol. Publisher Copyright: © 2020. Boyd A et al.

PY - 2022/9/5

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N2 - Introduction: Linking longitudinal cohort resources with police-recorded records of criminal activity has the potential to inform public health style approaches to policing, and may reduce potential sources of bias from self-reported criminal data collected by cohort studies. A pilot linkage of police records to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) allows us to consider the acceptability of this linkage, its utility as a data resource, differences in self-reported crime according to consent status for data linkage, and the appropriate governance mechanism to support such a linkage. Methods: We carried out a pilot study linking data from the ALSPAC birth cohort to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records on criminal cautions and convictions. This pilot was conducted on a fully anonymous basis, meaning we cannot link the identified records to any participant or the wider information within the dataset. Using ALSPAC data, we used summary statistics to investigate differences in socio-economic background and self-reported criminal activity by consent status for crime linkage. We used MoJ records to identify the geographic and temporal concentration of criminality in the ALSPAC cohort. Results: We found that the linkage appears acceptable to participants (4% of the sample opted out), levels of criminal caution and conviction are high enough to support research, and that the majority of crimes occurred in Avon & Somerset (the policing area local to ALSPAC). Those who did not respond to consent requests had higher levels of self-reported criminal behaviour compared to participants who provided explicit consent. Conclusions: These findings suggest that data linkage in ALSPAC provides opportunities to study criminal behaviour and that linked individual-level records could provide robust research in the area. Our findings also suggest the potential for bias when only including participants who have explicitly consented to data linkage, highlighting the limitations of opt-in consent strategies.

AB - Introduction: Linking longitudinal cohort resources with police-recorded records of criminal activity has the potential to inform public health style approaches to policing, and may reduce potential sources of bias from self-reported criminal data collected by cohort studies. A pilot linkage of police records to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) allows us to consider the acceptability of this linkage, its utility as a data resource, differences in self-reported crime according to consent status for data linkage, and the appropriate governance mechanism to support such a linkage. Methods: We carried out a pilot study linking data from the ALSPAC birth cohort to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records on criminal cautions and convictions. This pilot was conducted on a fully anonymous basis, meaning we cannot link the identified records to any participant or the wider information within the dataset. Using ALSPAC data, we used summary statistics to investigate differences in socio-economic background and self-reported criminal activity by consent status for crime linkage. We used MoJ records to identify the geographic and temporal concentration of criminality in the ALSPAC cohort. Results: We found that the linkage appears acceptable to participants (4% of the sample opted out), levels of criminal caution and conviction are high enough to support research, and that the majority of crimes occurred in Avon & Somerset (the policing area local to ALSPAC). Those who did not respond to consent requests had higher levels of self-reported criminal behaviour compared to participants who provided explicit consent. Conclusions: These findings suggest that data linkage in ALSPAC provides opportunities to study criminal behaviour and that linked individual-level records could provide robust research in the area. Our findings also suggest the potential for bias when only including participants who have explicitly consented to data linkage, highlighting the limitations of opt-in consent strategies.

KW - Criminal conviction

KW - official caution

KW - Ministry of Justice

KW - Police National Computer database

KW - record linkage

KW - birth cohort

KW - ALSPAC

U2 - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16328.2

DO - 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16328.2

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 36277330

SN - 2398-502X

VL - 5

SP - 1

EP - 15

JO - Wellcome Open Research

JF - Wellcome Open Research

IS - 271

M1 - 271

ER -

The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records: a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

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