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Use of pornography by young adults in Ireland
This report draws on the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study to look at pornography use among over 4,500 young adults at 20 years of age. Pornography use was captured as part of a module of questions on different types of internet use. The rich information provided by the GUI study allows us to explor…
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Shadow Education Uptake in Ireland: Inequalities and Wellbeing in a High-Stakes Context
This paper assesses the role of shadow education (SE), i.e., organised learning activities outside formal schooling, in the lives of secondary school students of different social backgrounds and in different school settings, in a high-stakes context. It draws on multilevel analysis of longitudinal G…
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Caregiving among Young Adults in Ireland
Care is fundamental to the fabric of social relationships and a significant proportion of the adult population is engaged in regular care for children and/or adults with illnesses or disabilities. Increasing attention internationally is being paid to the role of young carers (those under 18) and you…
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Is the association between infant regulatory problems and trajectories of childhood internalizing and externalizing symptoms moderated by early screen media exposure?
Background: Regulatory problems in infancy are associated with internalizing and externalizing symptom trajectories across childhood. It is unknown whether early screen media exposure exacerbates the association between infant regulatory problems and childhood internalizing and externalizing symptom…
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‘Embracing Diversity in all its Forms’: The Voluntary Secondary Sector in Irish Education
The Irish education system is undergoing significant change as it navigates the challenges of the 2020s. Schools are at the frontline of Ireland’s efforts to integrate migrant families, build an inclusive society and tackle generational socioeconomic inequality. They are also, increasingly, key site…
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Interacting adult-child relationships and school adjustment: Findings from growing up in Ireland
Although children’s relationships with their parents and teachers contribute to their school adjustment and achievement, few studies have examined interactions between these relationships, particularly for father-child relationships. Using the Growing Up in Ireland birth cohort (N = 7507, 50.3% male…
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Pregnancy complications and childhood mental health: is the association modified by sex or adverse social circumstances? Findings from the ‘growing up in Ireland’ national infant cohort study
Specific pregnancy complications, socioeconomic position and sex have all been independently associated with child mental health outcomes, but their combined effects remain unclear. We examined whether total number of complications experienced in the pregnancy associated with mental health at 5 and…
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Poverty trajectories and child and mother well-being outcomes in Ireland: findings from an Irish prospective cohort
Background Poverty is associated with poor outcomes, yet exposure to distinct poverty trajectories in early childhood is not well understood. Objective To understand the prevalence of different trajectories of household poverty and their association with mid-childhood and mother indicators of physic…
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Bullying Victimization as an Adverse Experience for Psychosocial Adjustment among Irish Adolescents
This study investigates the long-term effects of victimization from middle adolescence to late adolescence and early adulthood, examining emotional and behavioral problems, peer relationships, and smoking habits and sleeping difficulties. The study also explores how these outcomes can persist into e…
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Longitudinal relations between child emotional difficulties and parent-child closeness: a stability and malleability analysis using the STARTS model
Background Past empirical evidence on the longitudinal relations between emotional mental health symptoms and parent-child close relationships has produced mixed and inconclusive results. Some studies suggest a unidirectional relation, whereas other studies point toward a bidirectional association…
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The Changing Social Worlds of 13-year-olds
This study draws on data on Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) Cohorts ’98 and ’08 to document changes in the lives of adolescents over the period 2011/12 to 2021/22, building on an earlier study (Smyth, 2022) which compared their experiences at nine years of age. This decade was a period of considerable s…
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Housing, Health and Happiness: How Inadequate Housing Shapes Child and Parental Wellbeing
There has been a good deal of attention in Irish policy discourse to housing supply and affordability. However, there has been less focus on the extent to which the quality of housing impacts the wellbeing of children and their parents. This study addresses this gap in knowledge by using data from G…