External Publications Using GUI Data
Authors ↑ | Year | Title | Link | Journal/Book | Abstract |
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Madden, D. | 2020 | BMI mobility and obesity transitions among children in Ireland | Open | Economics & Human Biology | |
This paper examines mobility and changes in Body Mass Index (BMI) for a sample of Irish children/adolescents across three waves of the longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland dataset. Particular attention is paid to transitions across the key BMI thresholds of overweight and obesity. Analysis is carried out by gender and by maternal education. In general, mobility is observed, with intra-generational rank-rank BMI coefficients of around 0.63 compared to coefficients of around 0.77 for the mothers of the children over the same time period. Across the distribution as a whole there is relatively little variation by gender and maternal education. However there a gender difference in terms of mobility out of obesity with the Shorrocks mobility index across categories of normal weight/overweight/obesity taking a value of 0.56 for females as opposed to 0.71 for males. This relative lack of mobility is more observed in later rather than earlier adolescence. | |||||
Madden, D. | 2024 | Mental health in Ireland during the Covid pandemic: Evidence from two longitudinal surveys | Open | PLOS ONE | |
Background Methods Results Conclusion | |||||
Maher, G.M., O'Keefe, G.W., O'Keefe, L.M., Matvienko-Sikar, K., Dalman, C., Kearney, P.M., McCarthy, F.P. & Khashan, A.S. | 2020 | The Association Between Preeclampsia and Childhood Development and Behavioural Outcomes | Open | Maternal and Child Health Journal | |
Objectives Methods Results Conclusions for Practice | |||||
Maitre, B., Russell, H., Smyth, E. | 2014 | The dynamics of child poverty in Ireland: Evidence from the Growing Up in Ireland survey | Open | ESRI Research Series 121 | |
Mari, G., Keizer, R. | 2021 | Parental Job Loss and Early Child Development in the Great Recession | Open | Child Development | |
The study examines whether and why parental job loss may stifle early child development, relying on cohort data from the population of children born in Ireland in 2007–2008 (N = 6,303) and followed around the time of the Great Recession (2008–2013). A novel approach to mediation analysis is deployed, testing expectations from models of family investment and family stress. Parental job loss exacerbates problem behavior at ages 3 and 5 (.05–.08 SDs), via the channels of parental income and maternal negative parenting. By depressing parental income, job loss also hampers children’s verbal ability at age 3 (.03 SDs). This is tied to reduced affordability of formal childcare, highlighting a policy lever that might tame the intergenerational toll of job loss. | |||||
Martin, R., Murphy, J., Molina-Soberanes, D., Murtagh, E.M. | 2022 | The clustering of physical activity and screen time behaviours in early childhood and impact on future health-related behaviours: a longitudinal analysis of children aged 3 to 8 years | Open | BMC Public Health | |
Background Methods Results Conclusions | |||||
Masukume, G., O'Neill, S.M., Baker, P.N., Kenny, L.C., Morton, S.M.B., Khashan, A.S. | 2018 | The impact of caesarean section on the risk of childhood overweight and obesity: new evidence from a contemporary cohort study | Open | Scientific Reports | |
Caesarean section (CS) rates are increasing globally and exceed 50% in some countries. Childhood obesity has been linked to CS via lack of exposure to vaginal microflora although the literature is inconsistent. We investigated the association between CS birth and the risk of childhood obesity using the nationally representative Growing-Up-in-Ireland (GUI) cohort. The GUI study recruited randomly 11134 infants. The exposure was categorised into normal vaginal birth (VD) [reference], assisted VD, elective (planned) CS and emergency (unplanned) CS. The primary outcome measure was obesity defined according to the International Obesity Taskforce criteria. Statistical analysis included multinomial logistic regression with adjustment for potential confounders. Infants delivered by elective CS had an adjusted relative risk ratio (aRRR) = 1.32; [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01–1.74] of being obese at age three years. This association was attenuated when macrosomic children were excluded (aRRR = 0.99; [95% CI 0.67–1.45]). Infants delivered by emergency CS had an increased risk of obesity aRRR = 1.56; [95% CI 1.20–2.03]; this association remained after excluding macrosomic children. We found insufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between elective CS and childhood obesity. An increased risk of obesity in children born by emergency CS, but not elective, suggests that there is no causal effect due to vaginal microflora. | |||||
Matvienko-Sikar, K., Murphy, G., Murphy, M. | 2017 | The role of prenatal, obstetric, and post-partum factors in the parenting stress of mothers and fathers of 9-month old infants'. | Open | Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology | |
Introduction Methods Results Discussion Keywords | |||||
Mc Evoy, D., Brannigan, R.E., Walsh, C., Arensman, E., Clarke, M. | 2023 | Identifying high-risk subgroups for self-harm in young people | Open | European Journal of Public Health | |
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, and the interactions between, multiple risk factors for self-harm in heterogeneous AYA individuals. In this study, we conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) of three waves from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) longitudinal cohort study at ages 13, 17 and 20 to identify homogenous subgroups of AYA individuals who exhibit similar risk markers for self-harm at these three time points. Then, we evaluated the risk that these subgroups ever self-harmed by age 17, self-harmed at age 20, or were persistently self-harming across both time points. The most at-risk group appeared to be the individuals aged 17 who had been diagnosed with depression/anxiety. Compared to the low-risk-marker group, the ‘diagnosed with depression/anxiety’ group had a 30-fold risk of self-harm at age 17, and 32-fold risk of persistently self-harming by age 20. The ‘undiagnosed but high depression’ group at this time point was also at significant risk of self-harm. This research enables us to understand which risk markers tend to co-occur together and will help to identify high-risk groups for self-harm both clinically and in the community. An investigation of risk markers like this can potentially be used in the design of public health interventions to reduce the burden of self-harm, and indeed suicide, in young people. Key messages • These identifiable sub-groups can inform intervention policies and strategies for prevention programmes both in clinical and non-clinical settings like schools. | |||||
McAuley, C., McKeown, C., Merriman, B. | 2012 | Spending Time with Family and Friends: Children’s Views on Relationships and Shared Activities | Open | Child Indicators Research | |
Sociologists of childhood have stressed the importance of children’s experience in the present and children as agents who actively construct their own lives and influence relationships with family and friends. Current thinking in the field of child well-being emphasises the need to consult children as experts in their own lives. Findings from research with children have led to important insights about what contributes to well-being. Relationships with family and friends have been found to be central to well-being whilst bullying by peers deeply impacts on their well-being. Shared activities appear to be the context for children to not only master competences but also learn about and negotiate relationships. The Growing Up in Ireland interviews with 9 year old children were re-analysed with a view to exploring these crucial domains and how they impact on the children’s well-being. The children were found to have a wide circle of family connections and were particularly close to their mothers although also close to their fathers. Grandparents played a significant role in their lives and their relationships with siblings were often positive but did fluctuate. Reasons for closeness centred around trust. Lack of availability due to work was a key contributor to children feeling less close to a family member. The children were involved in a wide range of structured activities after school and at the weekend, This was usually balanced with free time although some ‘hurried’ children had frenetic lifestyles. Involvement in unstructured activities such as free play was particularly associated with time with friends and choice. Friendship was characterised by sharing and trust. On the other hand, bullying by peers had been experienced by many of the children and almost all were conscious of the danger of becoming bullied. The wider issues of work-family balance and its impact on children, the predominance of bullying and children’s right to be heard are reflected upon. | |||||
McAvoy, H., Kabir, Z., Reulbach, U., McDaid, O., Metcalfe, O., Clancy, L. | 2013 | A Tobacco-Free Future – an all-island report on tobacco, inequalities and childhood. | Open | Institute of Public Health / TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland | |
A Tobacco-Free Future – An all-island report on tobacco, inequalities and childhood 2013 reveals declines in smoking rates among both children and pregnant women over the past decade, both North and South of the border. This report published by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) and the TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland (TFRI), shows that while tobacco control measures are being successful, disadvantaged children are at particular risk of tobacco-related harms. Children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances face a number of threats to their health and development. Protecting children from the burden of tobacco related harm from both active and passive smoking is a priority action in enhancing population health and reducing health inequalities. Population health strategies on the island of Ireland are increasingly focussing on addressing the root causes of health inequality through social determinants of health approaches and through focussing on early childhood as a key period for intervention. At the same time, governments in both jurisdictions are working to enhance their approaches to effective tobacco control. The World Health Organization considers that there are three key ‘windows of exposure’ in terms of tobacco-related harm in childhood – in the womb (associated with active or passive smoking by the mother), directly through children taking up smoking and through exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) in indoor and outdoor environments. This report presents findings on these three windows of exposure based on a range of data sources in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The central aim of the report is to contribute to knowledge on the exposure of children to the harmful effects of tobacco smoke at various stages of their development. The findings of the report can support policy makers and service providers in their efforts to make tobacco-free childhoods a reality on the island of Ireland. | |||||
McConkey, R., Swift, A., Titterington, J. | 2021 | Changes in Children’s Speech and Language Difficulties from Age Five to Nine: An Irish National, Longitudinal Study | Open | Environmental Research and Public Health | |
In many countries, information on the prevalence of persistent speech and language disorders in early childhood is sparse due to the lack of nationally representative samples and longitudinal studies. Secondary analysis of data collected on over 7500 Irish children at ages 5 and 9 years, found that the prevalence of speech and language difficulties reported by the primary caregivers of Irish children decreased from one in six at age 5 to one in 12 at age 9. However, one in 20 children were reported to have difficulties at both ages. Regression analysis compared children with difficulties at both age 5 and age 9 to those who had been reported to have them at age 5 but no longer had such difficulties at age 9. Children with speech and language difficulties at both age 5 and age 9 were more likely to have two or more developmental impairments as well as current or past hearing impairments. Teachers and parents also reported a greater number of social-emotional difficulties. Family characteristics did not differ significantly across the two groupings. At best, up to one third of the children at ages 5 and 9 with speech and language difficulties had two or more contacts with a speech and language therapists in the preceding 12 month period. Increased support to these children, their parents and teachers would seem to be warranted. Keywords | |||||
McCoy, S., Banks, J. | 2012 | Simply Academic? Why children with special educational needs don't like school. | Open | European Journal of Special Needs Education | |
International studies have raised concerns about the academic and social implications of inclusive policies on school engagement and successful learning and, in particular, on the ways in which friendships are formed between students with SEN and other students. This article stems from research findings which show that Irish children with special educational needs like school less than their peers without SEN in mainstream settings. Using data from a large scale longitudinal study of 8578 9-year-olds, this paper uses a child centred research approach to investigate why this is the case particularly when they are in receipt of supports. To do this, we focus on processes underlying their dislike of school such as their academic engagement and social/peer relations. We measure academic engagement by looking at their interest in the subjects mathematics and reading and the extent to which they complete their homework. We examine the social/peer relations of students with special educational needs by assessing the extent to which they report liking their teacher. Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Scale and the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale we also examine the nature of peer relations among children with special educational needs in mainstream settings. Both academic engagement and social engagement play a central role in understanding the broader school engagement of children with special educational needs. By simultaneously examining the role of academic and social relations in shaping the engagement of children with SEN, the analysis provides a unique opportunity to fundamentally assess the barriers to true inclusion for children with special needs. Keywords | |||||
McCoy, S., Banks, J., Shevlin, M. | 2016 | Insights into the Prevalence of Special Educational Needs | Open | Cherishing All the Children Equally? Children in Ireland 100 Years on from the Easter Rising | |
Chapter 8 examines aspects of provision for children with special educational needs and considers their inclusion within Irish mainstream education in recent years. It considers how much of the education and care of children with special needs in the early decades of the 20th century was provided by religious orders before going on to discuss how, since the early 1990s, there has been a substantial shift in focus from segregated educational provision towards a more inclusive view of special education, mainly delivered within mainstream schools. In particular, the chapter considers the proportion of children with special educational needs and variations in levels according to the background characteristics of the children in question. | |||||
McCoy, S., Banks, J., Shevlin, M. | 2012 | School matters: How context influences the identification of different types of special educational needs | Open | Irish Educational Studies | |
Despite dramatic changes in Irish special education policy during the last decade, there is little understanding of the factors influencing how special educational needs (SEN) are identified and whether identification varies across different school contexts. International research has tended to focus on how individual child characteristics influence SEN identification. Less attention has been given to other factors such as teacher characteristics or school social mix. Using data from the nine-year-old cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland study, this article examines which children are most likely to be identified with different SEN types taking into account student social background characteristics, teacher characteristics and school social mix. Findings show that children attending highly disadvantaged school contexts are far more likely to be identified with behavioural problems and less likely to be identified with learning disabilities than children with similar characteristics attending other schools. It seems that ‘behavioural’ issues take precedence over learning difficulties in these schools pointing to a culture of care/containment rather than academic progress. Keywords | |||||
McCoy, S., Byrne, D. | 2022 | Shadow Education uptake among final year students in Irish secondary schools: Wellbeing in a high stakes context | Open | ESRI Working Paper 724 | |
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 Growing Up in Ireland data, alongside narratives from in-depth case study research in 10 schools. Framed within a social reproduction approach, we show how access to SE as an educational resource is socially stratified, accessible to those with greater levels of family resources, and those attending schools with higher socio-economic student intakes. SE is viewed as an investment, particularly among students with average and above average levels of prior attainment, while high attaining students are less likely to use SE. Perhaps reflecting the normalisation of SE in the Irish context, students do not directly link engagement in such tuition to their socio-emotional wellbeing. | |||||
McCoy, S., Byrne, D. | 2024 | Shadow Education Uptake in Ireland: Inequalities and Wellbeing in a High-Stakes Context | Open | British Journal of Educational Studies | |
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 Growing Up in Ireland data, alongside narratives from in-depth case study research in 10 schools. Framed within a social reproduction approach, we show how access to SE as an educational resource is socially stratified, accessible to those with greater levels of family resources, and those attending schools with higher socio-economic student intakes. SE is viewed as an investment, particularly among students with average and above average levels of prior attainment, while high attaining students are less likely to use SE. Perhaps reflecting the normalisation of SE in the Irish context, students do not directly link engagement in such tuition to their socio-emotional wellbeing. | |||||
McCoy, S., Byrne, D., Banks, J. | 2012 | Too much of a good thing? Gender, ‘concerted cultivation’ and unequal achievement in primary education. | Open | Child Indicators Research | |
It is well established that cultural and economic resources imparted to children vary significantly by social class. Literature on concerted cultivation has highlighted the way out-of-school activities can reproduce social inequalities in the classroom. Within this literature however, little attention has been given to the role of gender in concerted cultivation. In this paper, we use data from the first wave of the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study to consider how both social class and gender influence the out-of-school activities of children. Moreover, we examine how out-of-school activities, class and gender impact on children’s school engagement and academic achievement. We find that while childrearing logics tend to operate within social class categories, there is an additional cultural aspect of gender in the uptake of different types of out-of-school activities. Our findings suggest the need to move beyond explanations of concerted cultivation to explain gender differences in mathematics and reading attainment. | |||||
McCoy, S., Byrne, D., O’Connor, P. | 2022 | Gender stereotyping in mothers’ and teachers’ perceptions of boys’ and girls’ mathematics performance in Ireland | Open | Oxford Review of Education | |
Parents’ and teachers’ beliefs and evaluations of young people are important. Using a feminist institutionalist perspective, and drawing on rich data from one in seven nine-year-old children in Ireland, this paper examines mothers’ (who make up the overwhelming majority of primary care-givers) and teachers’ perceptions of boys’ and girls’ mathematics performance. The evidence shows that girls’ mathematics performance is underestimated by both relative to boys’. Mother’s gender bias was evident among high performing children, at all levels of children’s academic self-concept, and among mothers with at least third level education. While the judgements reflect children’s actual performance and engagement, a notable gender gap remains. It is suggested that the results reflect gender stereotypes: overestimating boys’ and underestimating girls’ mathematics achievements. The article indicates the importance of the informal dimension of institutions and the part played by women in the effective devaluation of girls by endorsing gendered stereotypes. Women teachers are less likely to rate children highly in mathematics, taking account of performance: arguably reflecting their own lack of confidence in mathematics assessment. The findings raise concerns for girls’ futures since mathematics is seen as an indicator of intelligence. Given the move towards teacher-assessed grading during COVID-19, understanding, and challenging, gender-stereotyping is pressing. | |||||
McCoy, S., Carroll, E., Ye, K. | 2024 | ‘Embracing Diversity in all its Forms’: The Voluntary Secondary Sector in Irish Education | Open | ESRI Research Series 182 | |
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 sites of contestation over deep social questions like the place of faith and secularism in public institutions and the best path to ensuring young people thrive, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. While many of these challenges resonate across the second-level sector as all schools grapple with the difficulties and opportunities of educating young adults in today’s Ireland, the focus of this report is on the voluntary secondary school sector. The report presents rich evidence from a mixed-method research study across 21 voluntary secondary schools. The research was commissioned by the Joint Managerial Body for Voluntary Secondary Schools (JMB), with the research questions designed to examine the features and experiences of students, teachers and school leaders across the voluntary sector. However, the study allows for comparisons between experiences in voluntary secondary schools and other sectors. In particular, the survey of students undertaken in this study is compared to the nationally representative longitudinal study Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) and the International Student Assessment (PISA study) on 15 year olds in Ireland and across the European Union (EU). This approach allows for a deep exploration of the voluntary secondary sector, while also placing experiences in a national and international context. |