‘PaLS’ aims to:
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Describe differences in peer group structures / hierarchies among 15-year old pupils in a representative sample of secondary schools. For example, whether, and if so how, schools vary in respect of the size of friendship groups, the amount of mixing between boys and girls within friendship groups or the importance of more powerful or dominant pupils.
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Study the relationship between peer group structures / hierarchies and pupils’ stress levels as measured by the hormone cortisol (see the FAQ page for further information). For example, whether levels are higher among those at the top or the bottom of the ‘pecking order’.
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Examine the relationships between peer group structures / hierarchies and pupils’ health behaviours and mental health, and determine whether they are accounted for by stress.
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Study changes over time in the health, and the factors associated with health, of young people in the same geographical area, by comparison with two of our earlier 15-year old cohorts (the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study and the West of Scotland 11 to 16 Study), surveyed in 1987 and 1999 respectively.
