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Clusters of health behaviours among young adults in Ireland
New ESRI research, funded by HSE Health and Wellbeing, examines how 4 key risk factors for disease (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet) cluster together among young adults. Using data from the Growing up in Ireland ’98 Cohort at 17 years of age, the research identified 3 distinct health behaviour clusters among young adults in…
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Rethinking the association between overweight/obesity and ADHD in children: a longitudinal and psychosocial perspective
Objective This study examines the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and overweight/obesity in a large-scale longitudinal study of children, while controlling for a range of psychosocial factors. Method Data were obtained from Growing Up in Ireland, a nationally representative and longitudinal study of approximately 6500 children who were assessed at 9 and 13 years of…
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Effects of preterm birth and parent–child relationships on socioemotional difficulties, verbal ability, and numerical ability among older children and young adolescents.
Young children born preterm may be more affected by environmental influences than their full-term peers. Few studies have investigated whether such effects exist for older children and young adolescents. With participants aged 9 and 13 years, we examine whether children born preterm could be differentially affected by the quality of their relationship with their mothers…
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Are the effects of intelligence on student achievement and well-being largely functions of family income and social class? Evidence from a longitudinal study of Irish adolescents
The paper examines the effects of socioeconomic background (SES) – measured by social class, family income and parental education – cognitive ability, and gender on a variety of key outcomes from a large longitudinal study based on a representative sample of thirteen-year-olds. The data analysed comprised 6216 children who participated in waves 1 to 3…
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Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in Ireland: Methods and Response Rates
To describe response rates and characteristics associated with response to the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System study in Ireland (PRAMS Ireland). Using hospital discharge records of live births at a large, urban, obstetric hospital, a sampling frame of approximately 2,400 mother-infant pairs were used to alternately sample 1,200 women. Mothers’ information including name, address, parity,…
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Gender inequalities in time spent doing housework by children in Ireland: A nationally representative sample across two time points
Gender inequality in housework divisions is persistent. This study examined early-emerging patterns in gender roles via children’s gendered housework time in the Irish context using time-use diary and questionnaire data, controlling for key demographic variables. This study utilized longitudinal “Growing up in Ireland” data, comparing the same children’s behaviour at age 9 and 13. Participants…
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Screens, teens, and psychological well-being: Evidence from three time-use-diary studies
The notion that digital-screen engagement decreases adolescent well-being has become a recurring feature in public, political, and scientific conversation. The current level of psychological evidence, however, is far removed from the certainty voiced by many commentators. There is little clear-cut evidence that screen time decreases adolescent well-being, and most psychological results are based on single-country,…
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The maternal health behaviour of non-Irish nationals during pregnancy and the effect of time living in Ireland
Objectives Maternal health behaviours (MHBs) can influence pregnancy outcomes. Despite efforts internationally to encourage positive MHBs, women often fail to comply with pregnancy guidelines. International studies show differences in MHBs between nationalities and an effect of time spent in the host country. There is limited Irish data in this area, with no previous research relating…
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The use of a dietary quality score as a predictor of childhood overweight and obesity
Background The use of dietary quality scores/indices to describe diet quality in children has increased in the past decade. However, to date, few studies have focused on the use of these scores on disease outcomes such as childhood obesity and most are developed from detailed dietary assessments. Therefore, the aims of this study were: firstly…
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Support from grandparents to families with infants.
Parent-child interactions are influenced by factors outside the immediate family. A recent paper † based on data from the Growing Up in Ireland study (GUI) focuses in particular on the support provided by grandparents in caring for very young children. Such support can have important direct and indirect influences on child development. For example, a…
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Low expectations: Do teachers underestimate the ability of overweight children or the children of overweight mothers?
Using the first wave of the Growing Up in Ireland Survey of nine year old children we examine whether a teacher’s assessment of their pupil’s academic ability is influenced by the weight status of the child and/or the child’s mother. Multivariate regression analyses of the teacher’s assessment, controlling for the child’s actual test performance, their…