1. Swiss Survey of Children and Youth
COCON
Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, PI: Prof. Dr. Marlis Buchmann
Presenter: Dr. Corinne Igel

2. COmpetence CONtext Major research aims
exploring the dynamic interplay of young people’s
competence development and social opportunities in contexts
of growing-up
COmpetence
CONtext

3. Analytical interests
social and individual antecedents and consequences of young people’s coping with the developmental tasks of early life course transitions
cumulative advantages and disadvantages in young people’s life course and competence development

4. Research focus
longitudinal interplay of social opportunities, young people’s development, and their coping with early life course transitions
sample topics addressed in COCON publications:
the role of peer networks and productive competencies for school-to-work transitions
educational success and the development of self-esteem
the significance of parents and friends for the development of moral motivation and value orientations
sex-typed parental ability attributions and the development of gendered occupational preferences
gender differences in coping with school entry
school entry and academic performance in mid-elementary school

5. The COCON study
longitudinal study of children and youth in Switzerland (12 years of surveying: )
representative sample (German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland; ≈ 95% of the population)
validation study: “Intensive Study“ (additional psychological measures at the behavioral level: ages 6 to 15, )
COCON consists of both a representative and an intensive study. The representative part includes about 3,000 children, adolescents and young adults, who give interviews on a wide range of topics. The intensive study is conceptualised as a supplement to the representative study for the 6 year-olds and is carried out with 175 additional children. It focuses on topics regarding developmental psychology and aims to investigate specific aspects in more depth, such as moral development in mid-childhood. Thereby important instruments of measurement can be validated in the representative study. For psychological questions, these are usually in the form of extensive scales, which could not be used in the wider representative study for methodological and practical reasons. On the other hand, the psychological development side of COCON can be extended.

6. COCON study design multi-cohort study multi-informant study N = 584
Primary caregiver
N = 584
N = 1,258
N = 1,273
multi-cohort study
multi-informant study
The first survey wave took place in Each of the selected age cohorts represents a prototypal stage in the course of growing up and becoming an adult: middle childhood (6 year olds); middle adolescence (15 year olds) and late youth or early adulthood (21 year olds).
The most important caregivers for the 6- and 15-year-olds were also included in the survey; the parent who does the most supervision and spends the most time with the child (principal caregiver) as well as the most important instructor, such as the kindergarten teacher or main class teacher.
The two younger cohorts were interviewed every three years within the framework of the representative longitudinal study. Additionally, further survey data was collected both shortly before and after important transitions, such as school entry or the start of an apprenticeship. This takes into consideration that not necessarily all children and adolescents of the same age undergo important transitions at the same time.

7. The COCON study
first representative, longitudinal, multi-cohort, and multi-informant study of children and adolescents in Switzerland

8.  Sampling, constructs, topics, … Hands-on-Session
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