Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS)

In the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS), the development of the same individuals (born in 1959) has been so far followed from age 8 to 61. The latest data collection (2020–2021) was part of the ‘TRAILS’ (Developmental Psychological Perspectives on Transitions at Age 60: Individuals Navigating Across the Lifespan) project led by research director Katja Kokko and funded by the Research Council of Finland.

In the latest data collection phase, data were collected using a psychological interview and self-report inventories. Additionally, a medical examination with blood samples, as well as physical activity monitoring were conducted. In this latest phase, the main aim was to explore how retirement or its anticipation, grandparenthood, leisure-time activities and an increased concern over health—in interaction with personality characteristics—link to mental well-being.

Similar to earlier data collection phases, information was gathered, among others, about well-being, personality, work and retirement, family, leisure time activities, social network, and health and health behaviors. In childhood (at age 8) and adolescence (at age 14) the socioemotional behavior of the participants was assessed by teachers and peers. Data about the childhood school achievement and upbringing environment are also available.

The JYLS data have been used in hundreds of national and international scientific publications, including both journals and books. The JYLS data have been used in 19 doctoral dissertations and dozens of master’s theses. The research themes have been related, for example, to the following: 1) socioemotional behavior and personality from childhood to adulthood, 2) the formation of education and working career, 3) family of origin and one’s own family, 4) health and health behaviors, 5) social adjustment, 6) the development of well-being, and 7) development in mid-adulthood and beginning of later adulthood.

The ongoing JYLS study was initiated at the University of Jyväskylä by Lea Pulkkinen in 1968 who led the study until the end of 2012. Since the beginning of 2013, the JYLS has been led by Research Director Katja Kokko.

Funding
Research Council of Finland (1974, 1979, 1986-2013, 2019-2023)

Reseach group
Principal Investigator
Katja Kokko, Research Director, Gerontology Research Center and Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, katja.r.kokko@jyu.fi

Milla Saajanaho, Research Coordinator, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä
Emmi Riihimäki, University Teacher, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
Johanna Ahola, Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
Tiina Savikangas, Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
Liinu Marin, Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
Tiia Kekäläinen, Senior University Lecturer, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä

Lea Pulkkinen, Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, lea.r.pulkkinen@jyu.fi
Taru Feldt, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä
Sakari Taipale, Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä
Johanna Rantanen, Senior University Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä
Tuuli Pitkänen, Research Director, Finnish Youth Research Society
Sarianna Sipilä, Professor Emerita, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Gerontology Research Center, University of Jyväskylä
Eija Laakkonen, Associate Professor, laculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
Taina Rantanen, Professor, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
Marja-Liisa Kinnunen, Research Director, the Wellbeing Services County of Central Finland and University of Eastern Finland
Timo Törmäkangas, Senior Researcher, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
Markku Kauppinen, Project researcher, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä

Collaborators
Jane Kroger, Professor Emerita, University of Tromso, Norway
Ursula Staudinger, Professor, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

Selected publications
Kokko, K., Fadjukoff, P., Reinilä, E., Ahola, J., Kinnunen, M.-L., Kroger, J., Laakkonen, E. K., Pitkänen, T., Pulkkinen, L., Rantanen, T., Staudinger, U. M., Taipale, S.,Törmäkangas, T., Kekäläinen, T., & Saajanaho, M. (2024). Developmental perspectives on transitions at age 60: Individuals navigating across the lifespan (TRAILS)—latest data collection in a longitudinal JYLS study. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 15, 251–281. doi: 10.1332/17579597Y2023D000000009

Pulkkinen, L. (2017). Human development from middle childhood to middle adulthood: Growing up to be middle-aged. (yhdessä Katja Kokon kanssa.) London: Routledge. Routledge. www.doi.org/10.4324/9781315732947