External Publications Using GUI Data

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
There is mixed evidence from correlational studies that breastfeeding impacts children’s development. Propensity score matching with large samples can be an effective tool to remove potential bias from observed confounders in correlational studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of breastfeeding on children’s cognitive and noncognitive development at 3 and 5 years of age.

METHODS
Participants included ∼8000 families from the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal infant cohort, who were identified from the Child Benefit Register and randomly selected to participate. Parent and teacher reports and standardized assessments were used to collect information on children’s problem behaviors, expressive vocabulary, and cognitive abilities at age 3 and 5 years. Breastfeeding information was collected via maternal report. Propensity score matching was used to compare the average treatment effects on those who were breastfed.

RESULTS
Before matching, breastfeeding was associated with better development on almost every outcome. After matching and adjustment for multiple testing, only 1 of the 13 outcomes remained statistically significant: children’s hyperactivity (difference score, –0.84; 95% confidence interval, –1.33 to –0.35) at age 3 years for children who were breastfed for at least 6 months. No statistically significant differences were observed postmatching on any outcome at age 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS
Although 1 positive benefit of breastfeeding was found by using propensity score matching, the effect size was modest in practical terms. No support was found for statistically significant gains at age 5 years, suggesting that the earlier observed benefit from breastfeeding may not be maintained once children enter school.

This paper examines patterns of continuity and change in the texture, meanings and rhythms of family relationships between young (school-aged) children and their grandparents in Ireland, from the first half of the twentieth century through 2008, focusing on memories and contemporary experiences of grandparent/grandchild relationships from a ‘child’s eye’ perspective. The paper is based on a qualitative longitudinal analysis of two major datasets:
(1) Life Histories and Social Change, which consists principally of life history interviews with three twentieth century birth cohorts of Irish people and
(2) the Growing Up in Ireland Qualitative Study which consists of semistructured interviews with a sub-sample of children born at the turn of the twenty-first century (and their parents) in one of the two birth cohorts that form part of a prospective national panel study.

None of the many critical moments in Ireland’s often tumultuous history was more significant or defining than the Easter Rising of 1916. Central to the Rising was the Proclamation of Independence, in which Pádraig Pearse declared the new nation’s resolve to cherish all its children equally. CHERISHING ALL THE CHILDREN EQUALLY? brings together contributions from a range of disciplines to shed light on the processes of child development and to investigate how that development is influenced by a variety of demographic, family and socio-economic factors. Making extensive use of research and data that have emerged over recent years from the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study of children, the book considers whether or not all children can participate fully and equitably in contemporary Irish society. It asks whether or not we do, in fact, cherish all our children equally in modern Ireland, regardless of their family circumstances, health or ethnic background.

TABLES OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Changing Perceptions and Experiences of Childhood, 1916-2016
3. Children and Families, Then & Now
4. Is Family Structure a Source of Inequality in Children’s Lives?
5. Parental Investment & Child Development
6. Inequalities in Access to Early Care and Education in Ireland
7. Inequalities from the Start? Children’s Integration into Primary School
8. Insights into the Prevalence of Special Educational Needs
9. The Experiences of Migrant Children in Ireland
10. Social Variation in Child Health & Development: A Life-course Approach
11. Child Access to GP Services in Ireland: Do User Fees Matter?
12. Anti-Social Behaviour at Age 13
13. Child Economic Vulnerability Dynamics in the Recession
14. Concluding Observations

This study examined the role of neighbourhood characteristics in explaining socioeconomic inequalities in child mental health (the total difficulties score from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) using data from Cohort ’08 of Growing Up in Ireland Waves 3 (age 5; baseline) and 5 (age 9; follow-up). Twenty neighbourhood items were grouped into neighbourhood safety, built environments, cohesion, interaction, and disorder. Data were analysed using regression, single and multiple mediation, and network psychometric analyses. We found that neighbourhood safety, cohesion, interaction, and disorder were associated with child mental health. These four domains separately (by up to 18 %) or in concert (by up to 23 %) partially explained socioeconomic inequalities in child mental health. Built environments may explain socioeconomic inequalities in mental health in urban children only. Findings from network analysis indicated that specific concerns over “people being drunk or taking drugs in public” and “this is a safe neighbourhood” had the strongest connections with child mental health. Improving neighbourhood characteristics may be important to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in child mental health in Ireland.

Although an increasing proportion of people in Ireland are living in stepfamilies, little research has explored the dynamics within these families. Drawing on data from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study (9-year-old cohort), this paper aims to compare family processes within stepmother (n=89) and stepfather families (n=295). No stepfathers were primary caregivers to their stepchild(ren), whereas stepmothers tended to assume this role. Stepmothers were less romantically happy than either stepfathers or biological mothers in stepfather families and experienced more interparental conflict than stepfathers. They also had less close and more conflicted relationships with their stepchild(ren) than mothers in stepfather families. These findings are in line with previous research and point to the applicability of international research to stepfamilies in Ireland. The findings suggest that stepmother families may face particular challenges and may benefit from parenting and relationship support.

Previous research has tended to classify stepfamilies based on self-report of their familial relationships. However, some stepfamily members do not identify as being part of a stepfamily, leading to the exclusion of certain stepfamilies from stepfamily research. Using data from the first national cohort study of children in Ireland, the aim of this study was to compare the characteristics of self-identifying stepfamilies with those of non-self-identifying stepfamilies, a group about which little is known. The analysis revealed that in approximately 10% of stepfamilies, neither parent declared their stepfamily status (n = 34, N = 288 stepfamilies). No differences emerged between self-identifying and non-self-identifying stepfamilies in the quality of the parent–child or spousal relationships. Non-self-identifying stepfamilies were less likely to be complex, and were more likely to be stepmother and simple stepfamilies than self-identifying stepfamilies. These findings suggest that non-self-identifying stepfamilies constitute a significant minority of stepfamilies who may exhibit unique structural characteristics.

Keywords: stepfamily; family  relationships; identity; stepchildren; stepparents; membership status

Children born preterm have poorer outcomes than children born full-term, but the caregiving environment can ameliorate some of these differences. Recent research has proposed that preterm birth may be a plasticity factor, leading to better outcomes for preterm than full-term infants in higher quality environments. This analysis uses data from two waves of an Irish study of children (at 9 months and 3 years of age, n = 11,134 children) and their caregivers (n = 11,132 mothers, n = 9998 fathers) to investigate differences in how caregiving affects social, cognitive, and motor skills between full-term, late preterm, and very preterm children. Results indicate that parental emotional distress and quality of attachment are important for child outcomes. Both being born very preterm and late preterm continue to be risk factors for poorer outcomes at 3 years of age. Only fathers’ emotional distress significantly moderated the effect of prematurity on infants’ cognitive and social outcomes—no other interactions between prematurity and environment were significant. These interactions were somewhat in line with diathesis stress, but the effect sizes were too small to provide strong support for this model. There is no evidence that preterm birth is a plasticity factor.

Background
Tobacco use is closely linked to social and health inequalities, including economic vulnerability, morbidity, and premature death. Young adults with disabilities experience significant social and material hardships, which may be exacerbated by tobacco use. Limited research exists on smoking and e-cigarette use in this population. This study examines the prevalence of disability among young adults in Ireland, compares smoking and e-cigarette use between those with and without disabilities, identifies protective and risk factors, explores shared risk factors, and evaluates disability as an independent risk factor for smoking and e-cigarette use.

Methods
We analysed weighted data from 4,729 20-year-olds in the Growing Up in Ireland Cohort ’98 study who were present in Waves 1 (2008), 3 (2016), and 4 (2019). Current smoking, e-cigarette use, disability (excluding mental ill-health) and all other variables were assessed at Wave 4, while peer smoking data were drawn from Wave 3. Analyses were conducted using SPSS version 27.

Results
18.1% of participants reported a disability, which was associated with significantly higher smoking (41.8% vs. 36.7%) and e-cigarette use (16.1% vs. 12.9%). Protective factors against both behaviours included being female (OR 0.87 for smoking, OR 0.57 for e-cigarettes), later smoking initiation (OR 0.35, OR 0.62), living in two-parent families (OR 0.83, OR 0.70), and physical activity (smoking only). Risk factors included having peers who smoked (OR 3.67 for smoking; OR 2.36 for e-cigarette use) and caregivers who smoked (OR 1.48, OR 1.48), being employed at age 20 (OR 1.58, OR 1.48), and social media engagement (smoking only). Young adults with disabilities were significantly more likely to experience risk factors (e.g., earlier smoking initiation, caregivers who smoked, one-parent families, employment) but were less likely to have peers who smoked or engage with social media. Disability was independently associated with a higher likelihood of smoking (by 54%) and e-cigarette use (by 36%) after adjusting for protective and risk factors.

Conclusion
Higher smoking and e-cigarette use in 20-year-olds with disabilities adds further inequality to their lives. Increased awareness, targeted surveys and focused prevention and therapeutic interventions are required to reduce inequalities in this population and hasten the tobacco endgame.

A large body of international literature has documented a correlation between nontraditional family structure and poorer child outcomes, yet researchers continue to disagree as to whether the association represents a true causal effect. This article extends this literature by employing propensity score matching using the first wave of data from the Growing up in Ireland child cohort study. We argue that the Irish case is of particular interest given the highly selective nature of non-marriage. We find that, on average, non-marriage has negative effects on a child educational development at age 9 but the effects are smaller in relation to health outcomes and the child’s self-concept. However, selection effects account for a non-trivial proportion of the differences in child outcomes across lone-mother and cohabiting families although hidden bias remains an important issue. This has important implications for policies which promote marriage as the key to child development as it appears that much of the benefits of marriage are not related to marriage per se but to the socio-economic background of mothers.

The purpose of this report is to investigate the known correlation between non-traditional family structures and poor outcomes for children.

Discussions of this topic often focus on the distinction between two-parent families and one-parent families but this distinction can be misleading. In the Irish case, the crucial distinction is between children raised by parents who are married and children raised by a lone-parent who has never been married. The focal point here is non-marriage.

This is important since non-marriage appears to be highly selective because the least privileged groups in Irish society are more likely to have children outside of marriage and at a relatively early age.

This argument suggests that selection bias accounts for much of the association between family structure and child outcome i.e. growing up in a non-traditional family has little ‘direct’ or ‘causal’ effect on a child’s outcome. A large body of literature exists which documents a correlation between non-traditional family structure and poorer child development but researchers disagree as to whether this association represents a true causal effect.

The primary objective of the current study, therefore, is to test this selection argument and to examine the extent to which selection effects can account for differences in child wellbeing in various family types.

Psychotic experiences (PEs) are common in early adolescence and are associated with nonpsychotic psychopathology. However, not all adolescents with PEs have subsequent psychopathology, and vice versa. To date, factors mediating the relationship between PEs and psychopathology have been understudied. The aims of this study were to investigate the bidirectional relationship between PEs and psychopathology in adolescence and to investigate potentially malleable mediators of these relationships. Data from 2 waves (age 13 and 17 years) of Cohort ’98 of the Growing Up in Ireland study were examined (n = 6,206). Using KHB pathway decomposition, we investigated the following as potential mediators of the relationship between psychopathology and PEs: parent-child relationship (conflict and positive), self-concept, and child-peer relationship (alienation and trust). Supplementary counterfactual mediation and sensitivity analyses were conducted. Early adolescents with psychopathology had twofold increased odds of late adolescent PEs (internalizing problems: odds ratio [OR] = 2.03, 95% confidence interval [CI; 1.56, 2.62]; externalizing problems: OR = 1.99, CI [1.51, 2.60]). Parent-child conflict explained between 23% and 34% of the associations between internalizing and externalizing problems and subsequent PEs. Early adolescents with PEs had increased odds of late adolescent psychopathology (internalizing problems: OR = 2.01, CI [1.61, 2.50]; externalizing problems: OR = 1.70, CI [1.25, 2.31]). Self-concept alone accounted for 52% of the relationship between PEs and subsequent internalizing problems. There is a bidirectional heterotypic relationship between psychopathology and PEs. Parent-child conflict and self-concept are important characteristics that mediate a proportion of the relationship between PEs and psychopathology. Interventions targeting parent-child conflict in the context of psychopathology and self-concept in the context of PEs may assist in reducing the incidence of poorer outcomes.

Background
Psychotic experiences (PEs) are commonly reported in adolescence and are associated with a range of negative outcomes. Few targets for intervention for PEs have been identified. One potential target is self-concept: an individual’s beliefs about his/her personal attributes. Improvements in self-concept have been shown to reduce psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia but no study has investigated the relationship between changes in self-concept and risk of PEs in the general population.

We aimed to investigate: (a) the relationship between child and adolescent self-concept and adolescent PEs; and (b) whether changes in self-concept between childhood and adolescence were associated with risk of adolescent PEs.

Method
Using data from age 9 and age 13 (n = 7,423) of the child cohort (Cohort’98) from the Growing Up in Ireland study we investigated the relationship between self-concept at age 9 and age 13 and PEs at age 13. PEs were measured using the Adolescent Psychotic Symptoms Screener and self-concept was measured using the Piers Harris-II. Using a stratified analysis, we investigated the relationship between change in self-concept between age 9 and age 13 and the risk of PEs at age 13. Additionally we investigated changes across the six self-concept subscales.

Results
Psychotic experiences were reported by 13% of participants at age 13. ‘Very low’ self-concept at age 9 was associated with an increased risk of PEs at age 13 (Adjusted-OR: 2.74, CI: 1.80–4.19), and ‘High’ self-concept at age 9 was associated with a decreased risk of PEs at age 13 (Adjusted-OR: 0.77, CI: 0.60–0.97). The stratified analysis indicated that improvements in self-concept reduced the odds of adolescent PEs and decline in self-concept increased the odds of adolescent PEs. This effect was noted across the majority of the self-concept subscales.

Conclusions
There is a strong relationship between self-concept and PEs. The antecedents of low self-concept may be a useful target for preventative psychiatry. Broad-spectrum interventions targeting self-concept in childhood may help to reduce the incidence of PEs in adolescence

Background
Childhood adversity (CA) is commonly associated with an increased risk of subsequent psychopathology. It is important to identify potential mediators of this relationship which can allow for the development of interventions. In a large population-based cohort study we investigated the relationship between CA and late adolescent psychopathology and early adolescent candidate mediators of this relationship.

Methods
We used data from three waves (n = 6039) of Cohort 98′ of the Growing up in Ireland Study (age 9, 13 and 17). We used doubly robust counterfactual analyses to investigate the relationship between CA (reported at age-9) with psychopathology (internalizing and externalizing problems), measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at age-17. Counterfactual and traditional mediation was used to investigate the mediating effects of the parent-child relationship, peer relations, self-concept, computer usage and physical activity.

Results
CA was associated with an increased risk of internalizing and externalizing problems at age-17. Parent-child conflict mediated 35 and 42% of the relationship between CA and late adolescent externalizing problems and internalizing problems, respectively. Self-concept and physical activity mediated an additional proportion of the relationship between CA and internalizing problems. These results were robust to unmeasured confounding.

Conclusions
Parent-child conflict explains more than a third of the relationship between CA and later psychopathology. Self-concept and physical activity explain the additional proportion of the relationship between CA and internalizing problems. This suggests that these factors may be good targets for intervention in young people who have experienced CA to prevent subsequent psychopathology.

Keywords
Childhood adversity, parent-child conflict, psychopathology, self-concept and physical activity

In an effort to promote optimal health in all children, 24-hour movement guidelines that provide specific recommendations for physical activity, screen-time, and sleep have been developed (≥ 1 hour of physical activity, ≤ 2 hours of screen-time, 9-11 hours of sleep). Children who meet the recommendations for these health behaviours are less likely to be obese than those who do not meet them. This study compared the degree to which children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children met the newly developed 24-hour movement guidelines. A propensity-score matched sample of 72 children (36 children with ASD, 36 TD children) from the “Growing Up in Ireland” study was included in the analysis. Based on parents’ completion of time-use diaries, fewer children with ASD, compared to TD children, met the recommendations for screentime (58.3% vs. 80.6%, p=0.07, V=0.24) and physical activity (41.7% vs. 69.4%, p=0.03, V=0.28). Children with ASD were most likely to meet two guidelines (44.4%), whereas TD children most commonly met all three guidelines (55.6%). The findings highlight the breadth of health behaviours that require intervention among children with ASD. The current study suggests that examining the movement behaviours that constitute a 24-hour period for children with ASD may be useful to inform interventions to reduce their risk for sub-optimal health.

Keywords: Physical activity; Screen-time; Sleep; Autistic; exercise; sedentary behaviour; health; overweight; obesity

The prevalence of obesity in children is rapidly rising, leading to many serious consequences worldwide. In 2005, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe issued recommendations and guidelines for regular collection of data on weight, height, and waist and hip circumference in children worldwide in order to monitor prevalence trends of growth, overweight and obesity. The Department of Health and the Health Service Executive commissioned the National Nutrition Surveillance Centre, based at the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science in University College Dublin, to carry out this surveillance work in the Republic of Ireland.

This report presents the findings from three waves of the WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative survey in the Republic of Ireland in 2008, 2010 and 2012. In 2008, 163 randomly selected primary schools participated in this project and in the first round the protocol as set out by the WHO for participating countries was followed. The target age was children aged exactly 7 years. In the subsequent two waves, the same WHO protocol was followed and the same schools were contacted again and this time, as well as 7-year-olds, 9-year-olds were also selected for participation in the second round. In the third round, 7-year, 9-year, as well as 11-year-olds were included.

This means that there are three cross-sectional surveys of 7-year-old children, two cross-sectional surveys of 9-year-olds and one cross-sectional comparison group of 7-, 9- and 11-year-old children. Using a unique identifier there are also two cohort groups of the same children followed on two separate occasions from ages 7 to 9 and ages 9 to 11, respectively. In this report, we also compare the data on 9-year-old children to the findings from the Growing Up in Ireland Cohort study.

The aim of this study was to examine the role of different types of home learning activities, such as reading, singing, painting, playing games, and letters and numbers (ABCs and 123 s), in the development of nonverbal reasoning skills in young children. Although much previous research has focused on the role of the home learning environment in the development of language and numeracy skills, few studies have explored other aspects of cognitive development such as nonverbal reasoning. The data were drawn from the Growing Up in Ireland study, a nationally representative longitudinal birth cohort study. We examined whether learning activities were associated with scores on standardized nonverbal reasoning and vocabulary tests of the British Ability Scales in a sample of 9793 3-year-old children. The regression models also controlled for other factors that potentially influence cognitive development such as the parent–child relationship and maternal education. The findings indicate that activities such as reading, games, and painting/drawing have a small but statistically significant association with nonverbal reasoning scores, as well as with vocabulary scores, even after controlling for other factors in the model. Teaching the alphabet or numbers did not make significant contributions to the model. The findings of the study highlight the importance of considering the role of different types of home learning activities, as well as other environmental factors, in different aspects of cognitive development. We consider the implications of the findings for theories of cognitive development and for supporting cognitive development in young children.

The aim of this study was to identify, using cluster analysis, novel sleep phenotypes in a population based cohort of infants, and to explore the associations between infant sleep profiles and their mothers’ health and well-being. 11,134 mothers of 9-month old infants were interviewed as part of the Growing Up in Ireland National Longitudinal study and reported on their health and infant’s sleep patterns. 16 infant sleep variables were recorded together with measures of parental stress, depression, health and well-being. Multiple iterations of a two-step hierarchical cluster analysis were carried out to identify the optimum number of clusters and the subset of parental-reported sleep variables required to identify distinct sleep profiles. Four distinct sleep profiles were identified based on the following variables; (1) infant sleep duration at night, (2) parental sleep duration, (3) does baby wake during night (yes, no)? (4) Usual sleep location for most of the night and, (5) parental reporting of problem infant sleep patterns. This identified two less favorable profiles with both infants and mothers sleeping less and where mothers are more likely to report their infants’ sleep patterns as problematic. Mothers of infants belonging to these sleep profiles were more likely to have higher levels of stress, depressive symptoms, and poorer self-reported health than other sleep profiles. Breastfeeding was associated with both groups and rates were highest in a group of infants that were more likely to co-sleep with their parents and have diverse ethnic backgrounds. This study demonstrates, for the first time, two infant sleep profiles with distinct phenotypical frameworks that are significantly associated with maternal stress, depression, and poorer self-report of health.

Objective
To longitudinally investigate body mass index (BMI) in young children in Ireland and identify factors and critical time points associated with changes in BMI.

Study design
Data on 11 134 children were collected in the nationally representative Growing Up in Ireland infant cohort study. Height and weight were measured at 9 months, 3 years, and 5 years of age. Multilevel regression was used to identify risk factors associated with changes in BMI over time (n = 10 377), combining a unique set of covariates collected from the child and the 2 main caregivers (usually the mother and father).

Results
The proportion of children ≥85th percentile of World Health Organization growth criteria was 39% at 9 months, 44% at 3 years, and 30% at 5 years. Children born large for gestational age (13%) and those with rapid infant weight gain (25%) consistently had higher BMI. Low average BMIs were consistently seen in children born small for gestational age (10%) or before 37 weeks (7%). Smaller variations in BMI existed for other factors including ethnicity, household structure, caregiver weight status, breastfeeding, sex, socioeconomic status, sleeping hours, childcare, and region.

Conclusions
In this study, differences at birth and in infancy appear to be most strongly associated with variation in BMI at all ages. Nevertheless, belonging to a number of other high-risk groups cumulatively could lead children to develop critical weight states. Policy-makers should target families with interventions before and during pregnancy when dominant risk factors are still modifiable. Longer-term follow-up of children may be needed to study associations later in childhood.

Keywords
Growing Up in Ireland, body mass index, childhood obesity, growth trajectories, multilevel modelling

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 internalising and externalising MHS were examined.

Method
A community sample of 7507 young children (ages 3, 5 and 9) from the Growing Up in Ireland cohort study was derived for further analyses. Parallel-process linear growth curve and latent growth mixture modelling were deployed.

Results
The results indicated that the linear growth model was a good approximation of children’s MHS development (CFI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.03). The growth mixture modelling revealed three classes of joint internalising and externalising MHS trajectories (VLMR = 92.51, p < 0.01; LMR = 682.19, p < 0.01; E = 0.86). The majority of the children (83.49%) belonged to a low-risk class best described by a decreasing trajectory of externalising symptoms and a flat low trajectory of internalising MHS. In total, 10.07% of the children belonged to a high-risk class described by high internalising and externalising MHS trajectories, whereas 6.43% of the children were probable members of a mild-risk class with slightly improving yet still elevated trajectories of MHS. Adjusting for socio-demographics, child and parental health, multinomial logistic regressions indicated that hostile parenting was a risk factor for membership in the high-risk (OR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.18–1.85) and mild-risk (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.21–2.04) classes. Consistent (OR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.62–0.90) parenting style was a protective factor only against membership in the mild-risk class.

Conclusions
In short, the findings suggest that a non-negligible proportion of the child population is susceptible to being at high risk for developing MHS. Moreover, a smaller proportion of children was improving but still displayed high symptoms of MHS (mild-risk). Furthermore, hostile parenting style is a substantial risk factor for increments in child MHS, whereas consistent parenting can serve as a protective factor in cases of mild-risk. Evidence-based parent training/management programmes may be needed to reduce the risk of developing MHS.