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A Latent Class Analysis of Mental Health Symptoms in Primary School Children: Exploring Associations with School Attendance Problems
Although there is a wealth of research addressing the association between mental health and school absenteeism, there are calls for a better understanding of how mental health difficulties might predict SAPs (Egger et al., 2003; Finning et al., 2022; Ingul et al., 2019; Wood et al., 2012). The aim of this paper was to create…
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Parental investment or parenting stress? Examining the links between poverty and child development in Ireland
This study investigates the relationship between multidimensional household poverty and cognitive and behavioural development during the formative years of childhood (from 9 months to 9 years), using nationally representative longitudinal data from Ireland for the cohort of children born in 2007-2008. The results indicate substantial inequalities in Irish children’s cognitive and behavioural outcomes at age…
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Civic and political engagement among young adults in Ireland
International research has shown that civic engagement, that is, volunteering in local services, can benefit both young people and their communities, while political engagement can strengthen a society’s democratic culture. The Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures (2019) policy framework highlights the importance of young people feeling connected, respected and contributing to their world. To date, however,…
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Associations between parental smoking and teenage alcohol and drug use in the Growing Up in Ireland cohort study: a longitudinal observational study
Background Children with a parent who smokes are more likely to become substance users than those who do not have a parent who smokes. In this study, we examined whether childhood or early adolescent exposure to primary parent smoking increased the risk of subsequent teenage alcohol and drug use at ages 17–18 years. Methods For…
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Divergent trajectories: three dimensions of child poverty during the Great Recession in Ireland
While research has investigated the effects of the Great Recession on the Irish economy using economic indicators or cross-sectional household-level data, this research note applies group-based multitrajectory modelling to provide a more nuanced approach. Using nationally representative, longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Ireland study, we analyse patterns in three common measures of economic…
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Why are students attending fee-charging second-level schools in Ireland more likely to progress to high-demand university degree courses? Evidence from the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal survey
A small minority of Irish students attend fee-charging second-level schools. However, media analyses of the backgrounds of those students who go on to more sought-after tertiary educational institutions or degree courses suggest that a disproportionate number of them were attendees at fee-charging schools. There are a few reasons why this might be the case. In…
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Population heterogeneity in developmental trajectories of internalising and externalising mental health symptoms in childhood: differential effects of parenting styles
Aims Multiple studies have connected parenting styles to children’s internalising and externalising mental health symptoms (MHS). However, it is not clear how different parenting styles are jointly influencing the development of children’s MHS over the course of childhood. Hence, the differential effects of parenting style on population heterogeneity in the joint developmental trajectories of children’s…
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Digital use and socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent well‐being: Longitudinal evidence on socioemotional and educational outcomes
Introduction Despite a growing body of research on associations between adolescent digital use and well-being, few studies have investigated these associations a) longitudinally and b) across socioeconomic status. The present study uses high-quality longitudinal data to examine how digital engagement shapes socioemotional and educational outcomes from early to late adolescence across socioeconomic status (SES). Methods…
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Exploring the relationship between breastfeeding and the incidence of infant illnesses in Ireland: evidence from a nationally representative prospective cohort study
Background Ireland has one of the lowest BF rates in the world. This study investigates the association between breastfeeding and infant health in Ireland. Methods A cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected from Growing Up in Ireland (GUI): the National Longitudinal Study of Children was conducted. The average morbidity for 2212. infants exclusively breastfed for…
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Identifying high-risk subgroups for self-harm in young people
Self-harm in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) is the result of a complex interaction of biological, psychiatric, psychological, social, and cultural risk factors. A lot of research has already been conducted to identify the risk factors for self-harm in AYAs. On the other hand, there has been less research conducted on the simultaneous effects of,…
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Irish Para Report Card on Physical Activity of Children and Adolescents With Disabilities
For the first time, data on children and adolescents with disabilities in Ireland are reported based on the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance Para Report Card methodology. The most recent data from the last 10 years were used in the grading process (A+ to F), and indicators with insufficient data were graded as incomplete. Of…
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The gut microbiome in social anxiety disorder: evidence of altered composition and function
The microbiome-gut-brain axis plays a role in anxiety, the stress response and social development, and is of growing interest in neuropsychiatric conditions. The gut microbiota shows compositional alterations in a variety of psychiatric disorders including depression, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia but studies investigating the gut microbiome in social anxiety…