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Verification of the Goldilocks Hypothesis: the association between screen use, digital media and psychiatric symptoms in the Growing Up in Ireland study
Aims This study aims to replicate Przybylski and Weinstein (Psychol Sci 28(2):204–215, 2017), using a large population cohort to examine the validity of the proposed Goldilocks Hypothesis, which states that moderate digital media engagement may be beneficial and that both high and low usage may have a negative relationship with mental wellbeing. Methods Using the…
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Digital engagement and its association with adverse psychiatric symptoms: A longitudinal cohort study utilizing latent class analysis
Objectives To assess the impact of digital media usage on psychiatric symptoms in an adolescent population utilizing a longitudinal cohort design. Methods Using two waves of the GUI child cohort, age 13 (N = 7527) and age 17/18 (N = 6126), we used latent class analysis (LCA) to create latent groups centred around self-reported time spent online, and the…
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Parental unemployment during the Great Recession and childhood adiposity
The incidence of adiposity in the early years of life has outgrown the prevalence in older children and adolescents globally; however, the factors influencing weight gain are predominantly studied in adults. This study examines the relationship between changing economic conditions during the Irish recession and child weight in a nationally representative sample of 10,011 Irish…
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Childhood Psychological Health During the Great Recession in Ireland
The aim of this paper is to quantify the effect of economic, parental and lifestyle factors on the psychological health of children at significant points in recent economic history in Ireland. The paper uses data from the Growing Up in Ireland study and employs a dynamic random effects ordered logistic regression model to test the…
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The effects of individual, family and environmental factors on physical activity levels in children: a cross-sectional study
Background Physical activity plays an important role in optimising physical and mental health during childhood, adolescence, and throughout adult life. This study aims to identify individual, family and environmental factors that determine physical activity levels in a population sample of children in Ireland. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of the first wave (2008) of the nationally representative…
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Educationally maintained inequality? The role of risk factors and resilience at 9, 13 and 17 in disabled young people’s post-school pathways at 20
While Ireland has the highest level of participation in higher education (HE) in Europe, it also has one of the widest participation gaps between disabled and non-disabled young people. Using a large-scale longitudinal dataset, we assess how disabled young people compare with non-disabled peers in accessing a range of post-school educational pathways. Extending the effectively…
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Exploring cumulative disadvantage in early school leaving and planned post-school pathways among those identified with special educational needs in Irish primary schools
Reflecting the neglect of childhood disability in social stratification research, there is a notable dearth of research on the mechanisms underpinning disability differentials in educational outcomes. Drawing on rich longitudinal data collected at 9, 13 and 17 years as part of Ireland’s ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ study, we look at the impact of special educational needs…
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Home computer use and academic performance of nine-year-olds
A recent rise in home computer ownership has seen a growing number of children using computers and accessing the internet from a younger age. This paper examines the link between children’s home computing and their academic performance in the areas of reading and mathematics. Data from the nine-year-old cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland…
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A study of early complementary feeding determinants in the Republic of Ireland based on a cross-sectional analysis of the Growing Up in Ireland infant cohort
Objective Early complementary feeding has been shown to increase the risk of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases later in life. Poor compliance with current guidelines on complementary feeding has been reported by Irish studies. The aim of the present paper is to identify predictors of early complementary feeding in order to help health professionals target…
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Developing an Index of Well-Being for Nine-Year-Old Irish Children
This paper outlines the development of an index of child well-being using data from the first wave of the Child Cohort in the Growing up in Ireland study. This national longitudinal study explores children’s lives by collecting data from 8,568 nine-year-old children, their caregivers and their teachers. Well-being indices are useful to describe children’s circumstances,…