DOI: 10.3886/e193505v1-144141
title: Life-course Experiences And Pregnancy

description: The Life-course Experiences And Pregnancy (LEAP) study is a 
retrospective cohort study of
reproductive and perinatal health among 977 women participating since
adolescence in an ongoing longitudinal study of eating, activity, and
weight-related health (Project EAT: Eating and Activity over Time). For 
Project EAT, male and female
adolescents aged 11-18 were recruited during the 1998-1999 school year 
from 31
public middle and high schools in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area 
of
Minnesota. Participants were subsequently surveyed every 5 years, with 
the most
recent Project EAT survey completed in 2014-2015 when participants were 
aged 25-36. Project EAT surveys have collected data on a wide
range of measures including depressive symptoms, unhealthy weight 
control
behaviors, binge eating, home food availability, physical activity, and 
body
weight. In 2019, participants in Project EAT who identified as women 
were recruited to complete the LEAP survey if they had responded to at 
least two of the three most recent Project EAT surveys and resided in 
the United States. The LEAP survey asked participants about their 
reproductive histories, including whether they had ever attempted to get
 pregnant, whether they had been pregnant, and how many of their 
pregnancies resulted in a live birth. Women who reported having at least
 one live birth were asked, for each birth reported: their age when they
 gave birth; the gestation length of the pregnancy; any diagnosed 
pregnancy complications; and their best estimates of what they weighed 
just before the pregnancy and how much weight they gained during the 
pregnancy. In addition, for their first live birth only, women were 
asked about a range of psychosocial and behavioral characteristics 
during the pregnancy, including their perceived ability to live on their
 income, depressive symptoms, binge eating, and unhealthy weight control
 behaviors, among others. Women who had never been pregnant were asked 
if they had ever attempted to get pregnant and, if so, if they had 
received a diagnosis of infertility and/or sought fertility treatment. 
Self-reports of key pregnancy characteristics for each woman’s live 
births were validated against medical record data in a validation 
substudy (n=250). All participants who reported at least one live birth 
on the LEAP survey (n=656) were invited to sign HIPAA Authorization and 
medical records release forms authorizing the study team to request 
their prenatal, delivery, and postpartum medical records for each of 
their pregnancies. Data on pre-pregnancy weight, measured weights at 
each prenatal visit, delivery weight, gestational age at delivery, and 
diagnoses of pregnancy complications were abstracted from the data.<br>
description: Response Rates: The response rate to the LEAP survey was 78% among those who had responded to two of the last three Project EAT surveys. <br>For
 the validation substudy, the response rate to the medical records 
request was 58%. Records were successfully obtained for 38% of the 
cohort. <br><br>
description: Presence of Common Scales: Kandel and Davies Depressive Mood Scale<br>
description: The LEAP sample comprises female-identifying individuals participating 
in an existing longitudinal cohort study. These participants were 
originally recruited from 31 public middle and high schools in the 
greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota.<br><br>
description: This cohort includes people identifying their sex as female who have 
been participating since the 1998-1999 school year in a longitudinal 
cohort study of eating, activity, and weight-related health. 
Participants were originally recruited from 31 public middle and high 
schools in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota and the 
majority still reside in Minnesota.  <br>.
description: record abstracts; web-based survey;