Archives: Publications

Epidemiological evidence suggests that obesity and depression are highly co-morbid. In a national cohort study, we examined whether parents caring for children with disabilities were more likely to be classified as obese compared to parents of children without disabilities and if obesity was associated with depressive symptoms or child behaviour characteristics. Using data from the Growing Up in Ireland National Longitudinal Study of Children (2006 to date), 627 parents of children with developmental disabilities were compared with 7941 parents of typically developing children on objectively measured levels of obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2), depression, health behaviours, chronic health conditions, socio-demographic and child behavioural characteristics. Parents of children with disabilities were more likely to be classified as obese compared to control parents (24.5% vs. 19.6%, p = 0.005, Cramer’s V < 0.1). Depression was not associated with obesity. However, the odds of obesity increased with increasing child problem behaviour (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.03–1.06). Over half (57%) of obese parents caring for children with disabilities reported trying to lose weight often or very often. This study has confirmed, in a population-based sample, the high risk of obesity in parents caring for children with disabilities after adjusting for the presence of depression and other health behaviours; increasing child problem behaviours were predictive of obesity. Importantly, given the negative health correlates of obesity, it is imperative that health professionals pay attention to weight issues in these parents and support their efforts in managing these issues.

Background
The aim of this study was to use a social-ecological approach to examine the influence of individual, social, and environmental factors on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and screen-time in a sample of 9-year-old children in Ireland.

Methods
The sample was 1509 boys and girls from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) national study. MVPA, screen time, and individual, social, and environmental variables were assessed via questionnaires completed by children, their parents, and their teachers. Multiple regression was used to identify factors that correlated with children’s MVPA and screen-time levels.

Results
For boys, factors such as activity with friends (P < .0001) and popularity (P < .01) were associated with MVPA, while factors such as BMI (P < .01) and MVPA (P < .01) were associated with screen time. Similarly for girls, factors such as activity with friends (P < .0001) and sociability were associated with MVPA, however factors such as BMI (P < .05), and access to play space (P < .05) were more closely associated with screen time.

Conclusion
Social factors were more closely associated with MVPA, while individual factors were significantly correlated with screen time for both boys and girls. Correlates differed for boys and girls, suggesting that interventions should consider both the target population as well as the activity behavior.

This paper explores the role of antenatal care in determining mode of birth in the Irish healthcare system using data from the Growing Up in Ireland study. Results indicate that midwifery-led antenatal care is independently associated with significantly higher rates of normal delivery and significantly lower rates of elective caesarean section relative to consultant-led care in both the public and private sectors. Given concerns over increasing rates of caesarean section, our results are consistent with calls nationally and internationally for further investment in midwifery-led antenatal care services, and for stricter regulation of the actors, both providers and patients, engaged in the private antenatal care pathway.

This study investigated trajectories of concomitant internalising, externalising, and peer problems, and associated risk factors for group-membership, using a person-centered approach to better understand heterogeneity in subgroups identified. A cohort of 7,507 children in Ireland was followed from infancy to late childhood (50.3%, males; 84.9% Irish). The parent-version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used when children were 3, 5, 7 and 9 years of age. Information on antecedent risk factors was collected when children were 9 months. Group-based multi-trajectory modelling and multinomial logistic regression were used. Six subgroups of children with distinct profiles were identified, evidencing both homotypic and heterotypic comorbidity. No support of a ‘pure’ internalising, externalising or peer problems group was found in any identified trajectory group. Difficulties in one problem domain indicated the presence of difficulty in another problem domain for all children in elevated groups. Risk factors associated with group-membership were complex, with only three common factors across elevated groups: prenatal exposure to smoking, maternal education, and maternal stress. Specific risk factors for group-membership included low birth weight, sex, maternal age, maternal depression, family composition, social class, medical card status and quality of attachment. Despite some overlap in predictors, the combination of predictors specific to each group would suggest tailored programming. For children with the most acute problems, programming targets should include families with boys, born with low birth weight, exposed to smoking prenatally, with mothers who have lower levels of education, postnatal depression, increased stress and fewer financial resources.

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

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.