FAQs

Access

Access to ABCD Study data is managed through the NIH Brain Development Cohorts Data Use Certification (DUC) process. To login to DEAP you need to have an approved DUC. If you have applied for a DUC and been approved you may still need to complete your NBDC Responsible Data and Biospecimen Use Training (see last tab at the NBDC DUC website for more details).

Reminder: Users can use the DEAP data dictionary explorer without an active DUC. Creating datasets & subsequent actions (download, analysis, etc) are limited to users with active DUCs.

Creating a dataset

There are a few reasons why the import function may not be working:

  1. Typos
  2. Incorrect naming convention: Make sure you are selecting the correct type of variable name based on the source of your list. If you are unsure, you can try all available options until the import function works.
  3. Variable does not exist

Note: Not all studies use multiple naming conventions. If you are working with HBCD data, it is likely that your list contains a typo or the variable you are looking for does not exist under that name.

The import function highlights variables that do not exist (for the selected naming convention) in red. You can remove any errors and then proceed with the import.

If you are unsure what is causing the error, you can use the data dictionary explorer and enable the display of the additional variable name columns. From there, you can search or filter for variables using the names you have. Alternatively, you can download the pre-assembled data dictionary and search the CSV file for your variable names.

If you are still uncertain about how to resolve the issue, or if you want to confirm whether a variable is no longer in the dataset, please submit a ticket.

Documentation resource: Import by variable name

Existing datasets

If a dataset is locked (), iit cannot be unlocked. To make modifications, you will need to duplicate it and treat the copy as a new dataset.

No. Shared datasets are locked for recipients, which means you cannot make changes directly to them. Any updates made by the owner will automatically appear in your shared version.

If you need to make edits, you can duplicate the dataset. The duplicated version is your own copy, and you can modify it freely. However, it will not stay in sync with the original shared dataset.

For a more collaborative approach, consider communicating with collaborators about what to include in the dataset by using the ontology tree share function or by creating a list of variables that one collaborator can then import into DEAP to generate a dataset.

No. Users without a data use certification can use DEAP’s exploration functions but they cannot create or access the data, including a shared dataset.