The prevalence of low birth weight is an important aspect of public health which has been linked to increased risk of infant death, increased cost of care, and a range of later life outcomes. Using data from a new Irish cohort study, I document the relationship between birth weight and socio-economi…

It is well established that stressful life events (e.g., family bereavements or moving to a new country) are damaging to psychological health and well-being. Indeed, social relationships are often noted as an important factor that can influence well-being and buffer the negative effects of stress. H…

This article explores the role that home-learning activities (HLAs) play in the relationship between social origin and cognitive development using an Irish birth cohort study, Growing Up in Ireland. Numerous studies using different measures of the home-learning environment (HLE) have shown that it h…

This nationally representative study of Irish infants explores whether the set of child and environmental factors established as predicting language outcomes aged 3 years would also predict language and communication development as early as age 9 months. Associations between infant and environmental…

This study reports recent trends in periconceptional folic acid use in Ireland using archived data from Growing Up in Ireland – the National Longitudinal Study of Children. Of a sample of 10,891 mothers, 6,936 (64%) reported taking folic acid before conception and 10,157 (93%) reported taking foli…

Anecdotal evidence suggests that grandparents provide a substantial amount of childcare support to parents of infants in Ireland yet there has been little attention to the provision of grandparent childcare at policy level. Using nationally representative data on childcare provision in the Republic…

Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) is a two-cohort, longitudinal study of children and young people. The study aims to describe the health and development of Irish children across a range of topics; these include physical and mental health, family socio-demographic status, education, and the child’s behavi…

Using data from Ireland’s national longitudinal study of children, this paper employs a capabilities approach to disability to understand how individual characteristics as well as home and school environmental factors at age 9 relate to academic and socio-emotional outcomes of students with special…

While the role parents play in supporting young people is well established, support from other caring adults also becomes important during adolescence, particularly when young people are facing problems in their lives. The goal of this paper is to reflect on youth support seeking when facing problem…

Large-scale international migration continues apace. From a health-care services perspective, it is important to understand the influence of migrant heritage on utilization, to allocate resources appropriately and facilitate equity. However, the differences in utilization across different migrant gr…