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Parenting style has been highlighted as an important factor in child and adolescent outcomes for a range of indicators including health and educational achievement. The fostering of a positive self-concept and closer parental monitoring of school involvement are two of the suggested mechanisms by which parenting style may affect educational achievement. In recent years, much research has tended to focus on adolescents and there is considerably less information for middle childhood. This paper looks at the role of maternal parenting style (based on child-reports) on academic achievement for a large sample of 9-year-old children who took part in the Growing Up in Ireland study. It shows that an authoritative parenting style was associated with higher scores on measures of reading and maths relative to neglectful or uninvolved styles, however the expected advantage over an authoritarian parenting style did not emerge (and tended to reverse post-adjustment for mediators), and other socio-demographic characteristics such as maternal education were stronger predictors. Adjustments for possible mediating variables had a complex effect on the earlier models and suggest that authoritative parenting may have an indirect effect through both parental monitoring and the promotion of positive self-concept, especially the latter.

Keywords
parenting style, academic achievement, middle childhood, self-concept

The Growing Up in Ireland Infant Cohort dataset (n = 11,134) includes information on fertility treatments for over 400 infants. IVF (28.1 %) and IVF-related treatments (17.8 %) were the most frequent, but there was also a high percentage following clomiphene citrate alone (31.5 %). Infants born following fertility treatment were much more likely to be in higher income families, and this relationship was not accounted for by older mothers in wealthier families. Analysis of fertility-treatment pregnancies among Irish infants, controlling for income and maternal age, shows a greater risk of multiple birth and low birth-weight, although the latter appears to be largely related to the former especially for IVF-type treatments.

This study uses a nationally representative sample of 9-month-old infants and their families from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study to investigate if reading to infants is associated with higher scores on contemporaneous indicators of cognitive development independently of other language-based interactions between parent and infant, such as showing them pictures or talking to them. Reading to infants had an independent positive effect on scores for both the problem-solving and communication subscales of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), while the positive effect of showing pictures was independent only for communication scores. The effects of both of these activities were, however, less substantial than the positive effect observed for the more informal activity of frequently talking to the infant while doing other things; and this was observed for both communication and problem-solving. The analyses were robust to adjustment for several other factors including maternal education, gestational age, non-parental care, breastfeeding, attachment and presence of siblings. The findings highlight the potential of reading and talking to infants, not just for language and literacy development but also for other aspects of cognitive development.

Chapter 6 provides a detailed discussion of the history of childcare provision in Ireland throughout the 20th century before investigating trends in non-parental childcare for infants in the first few years of life. The role of the Free Pre-school Year, a major policy shift in the Irish context, is also discussed.

The objective was to identify determinants of uptake and maintenance of active school travel (AST) over 4 years in children aged 9 at baseline. Data from wave 1 (n=8502) and 2 (n=7479) of the Growing Up in Ireland study were analysed. At 9- and 13-years 25% and 20% engaged in AST. Children were more likely to maintain or take-up AST if they lived in an urban area. Change in distance to school influenced both maintenance and adoption of AST, with a negative impact seen for increased distance between 9 and 13 years and a positive impact seen for decreased distance. Some factors which predict uptake and maintenance of AST are modifiable and can inform intervention development.

Objective
To explore whether the associations between developmental delays in the first year of life and psychosocial outcomes in preschool children are affected by participation in organized sport.

Study design
Data were obtained from the infant cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland project. Parents reported on child development (Ages and Stages Questionnaire) at age 1 year, psychosocial characteristics (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) at ages 3 and 5 years, and engagement in organized sport at age 5 years. Data were analyzed using mixed models.

Results
At age 1 year, 15% of the cohort was classified as having developmental delays. These children exhibited more behavioral difficulties (0.55, ±0.27; mean difference, ±95% confidence limits [CL]) (P < .0001) and fewer prosocial behaviors (−0.54, ±0.11) (P < .0001) at age 3 years. For boys in this group, engagement in sport was associated with a significant decrease in behavioral difficulties between ages 3 and 5 years (−0.44, ±0.39) (P = .03). Compared with those classified as lacking regular engagement (ie, never engaging, or engaging <1 hour/week), the relative effect of sport on changes in behavioral difficulties for boys with developmental delays was statistically significant (0.70, ±0.59) (P = .02). Participation in sport was not associated with significant changes in behavioral difficulties for girls, or a significant change in prosocial behaviors for boys or girls.

Conclusions
Regular participation in sport by boys could attenuate some of the behavioral difficulties associated with early development. Lack of opportunities for engaging in sport could negatively affect boys’ behavioral regulation in the preschool period.

Background
While it has been purported that excessive screen time can lead to behavioral problems, it has also been suggested that children with behavioral dysregulation receive more access to screens to manage problematic behavior. In this study, both temporally stable and longitudinal associations between screen time and externalizing and internalizing behaviors across childhood are examined to directly address this issue of directionality.

Methods
Data are from a prospective cohort of 10,172 Irish children, collected between 2010 and 2018 when children were ages 3, 5, 7, and 9. Children’s screen time (hours/day) and externalizing and internalizing behaviors (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) were assessed via caregiver report. Random-intercepts cross-lagged panel models were used to estimate longitudinal bidirectional associations while controlling for temporally stable (i.e., ‘time-invariant’ or ‘trait-like’) differences between children.

Results
Temporally stable differences between children were observed for both screen time and behavior problems. Longitudinal trajectories for screen time lacked stability; however, and externalizing and internalizing behaviors stabilized increasingly during later childhood. Greater externalizing and internalizing behaviors at age 3 were directionally associated with increased screen time at age 5. Greater screen time at ages 3 and 5 was directionally associated with increased internalizing behaviors at ages 5 and 7, respectively. More screen time at age 7 was directionally associated with fewer internalizing behaviors at age 9. Screen time was not associated with later externalizing behaviors.

Conclusions
Bidirectional associations between screen time and internalizing behaviors were observed for preschoolers. Directional associations between screen time and internalizing difficulties were observed across childhood. These findings can inform screen use guidelines and family media planning at different ages and stages of development.

The objective of this study was to explore the extent to which the association between screen time and psychosocial development in preschool children differed between the sexes and according to their frequency of engagement in physical activity. Data are based on a prospective cohort of Irish children, collected between 2010 and 2013 when children were ages 3 (n=9786) and 5 years (n=9001). Children’s screen time (h/day), psychosocial development (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), and physical activity (bouts/week) were assessed via caregiver report. The magnitude of the association between screen time and changes in behavioural difficulties differed significantly between the sexes. For boys, the association between increased screen time and the onset of behavioural problems coincided directly with a reduction in their frequency of engagement in physical activity. The association between screen time and changes in behavioural difficulties was not moderated by girls’ engagement in physical activity, however; and there was no difference in the association between screen time and prosocial behaviours at different frequencies of engagement in physical activity for either boys or girls.

Conclusions
Results support recommendations to establish greater balance between physical activity and sedentary behaviours in token economy systems to minimise the negative effects of excessive screen time.