Protocol for an Observational Study on the Effects of Paternal Alcohol Use Disorder on Children's Later Life Outcomes

TL;DR

This study protocol outlines an observational research plan to investigate the long-term effects of paternal alcohol use disorder on offspring's health, economic success, and relationships, using a novel data turnover statistical method.

Contribution

It introduces a new statistical design called data turnover for analyzing long-term impacts across multiple subpopulations in observational studies.

Findings

Design of a long-term observational study using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Introduction of the data turnover method for evidence assessment

Analysis plan for examining health, economic, and relationship outcomes

Abstract

The harmful effects of growing up with a parent with an alcohol use disorder have been closely examined in children and adolescents, and are reported to include mental and physical health problems, interpersonal difficulties, and a worsened risk of future substance use disorders. However, few studies have investigated how these impacts evolve into later life adulthood, leaving the ensuing long-term effects of interest. In this article, we provide the protocol for our observational study of the long-term consequences of growing up with a father who had an alcohol use disorder. We will use data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to examine impacts on long-term economic success, interpersonal relationships, physical, and mental health. To reinforce our findings, we will conduct this investigation on two discrete subpopulations of individuals in our study, allowing us to analyze the replicability of our conclusions. We introduce a novel statistical design, called data turnover, to carry out this analysis. Data turnover allows a single group of statisticians and domain experts to work together to assess the strength of evidence gathered across multiple data splits, while incorporating both qualitative and quantitative findings from data exploration. We delineate our analysis plan using this new method and conclude with a brief discussion of some additional considerations for our study.