Research round-up – April to June 2019

Are boys more sensitive to the state of the local job market when choosing their GCSE subjects? And why are migrant and ethnic minority mothers at increased risk of mental ill health?

Do children’s levels of daily exercise vary by family background or ethnicity? And why are children from disadvantaged backgrounds at greater risk of being bullied?

Researchers from around the world have been using CLS study data to tackle these and other key questions.

This quarter we have added 26 new papers to the CLS Bibliography, a searchable database of research based on the 1958, 1970, Next Steps and millennium cohort studies. The research addresses pertinent questions in the fields of child development, education and social mobility, to health and wellbeing, families, and ageing.

Each month we find and add new research to our bibliography, and each quarter we will be compiling a round-up of recent academic papers using CLS study data. If you have a paper to add to the bibliography, please contact us.

Featured research

Academic self-belief helps to raise pupils’ GCSE grades, new study finds

Young people of all academic abilities are more likely to fare better in their GCSE exams if they have confidence in their school work, new research shows. The UCL Institute of Education study analysed data from Next Steps, a study of 16,000 people born in 1989-90 who attended secondary school in England.

The most able pupils with the greatest confidence in their school work were 19 per cent more likely to achieve five ‘good’ GCSE passes than similarly able young people who had the least self-belief. Among the least able pupils, those who reported the most academic self-belief were 15 per cent more likely than those with the least confidence to gain five ‘good’ GCSE passes.

Child development

Influence of birthweight on childhood balance: Evidence from two British birth cohorts by Paola Matiko Martins Okuda, Walter Swardfager, George B. Ploubidis, Melissa Pangelinan, Hugo Cogo-Moreira was published in Early Human Development (National Child Development Study and 1970 British Cohort Study)

Is socioeconomic inequality in postnatal depression an early-life root of disadvantage for children? by Jemimah Ride was published in The European Journal of Health Economics (Millennium Cohort Study)

Understanding social inequalities in children being bullied: UK Millennium Cohort Study findings by Melisa Campbell , Viviane S. Straatmann, Eric T. C. Lai, Joanne Potier, Snehal M. Pinto Pereira, Sophie L. Wickham, David C. Taylor-Robinson was published in PLOS ONE (Millennium Cohort Study)

Children and Young People Living Through a Serious Family Illness: Structural, Interpersonal and Personal Perspectives by Jane Payler, Victoria Cooper and Stephanie Bennett was published in Children and Society (Millennium Cohort Study)

Education

The determinants of student loan take-up in England by Ariane de Gayardon, Claire Callender and Francis Green was published in Higher Education (Next Steps)

The role of local labour market conditions and pupil attainment on post-compulsory schooling decisions by Elena Meschi, Joanna Swaffield and Anna Vignoles was published in the International Journal of Manpower (Next Steps)

Schools and Attitudes Toward Economic Equality by Jane Gingrich was published in Policy Studies Journal (1970 British Cohort Study)

Families

Intergenerational transmission of family adversity: Examining constellations of risk factors by Ingrid Schoon, Gabriella Melis was published in PLOS ONE (1970 British Cohort Study)

Health

Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood-to-adulthood BMI tracking in three British birth cohorts by Tom Norris, David Bann, Rebecca Hardy & William Johnson was published in the International Journal of Obesity (National Child Development Study and 1970 British Cohort Study)

Environmental and social determinants of acute rheumatic fever: a longitudinal cohort study by J. W. Cannon, M. Abouzeid, N. de Klerk, C. Dibben, J. R. Carapetis and J. M. Katzenellenbogen was published in Epidemiology and Infection (National Child Development Study)

The roles of non-cognitive and cognitive skills in the life course development of adult health inequalities by Jennifer L. Carter, Marcus Richards, Matthew Hotopf and Stephani L. Hatcha was published in Social Science and Medicine (National Child Development Study)

Are there sensitive neighbourhood effect periods during the life course on midlife health and wellbeing? by Stephen Jivraj, Paul Norman, Owen Nicholas and Emily T. Murray was published in Health and Place (National Child Development Study and 1970 British Cohort Study)

Are active children and young people at increased risk of injuries resulting in hospital admission or accident and emergency department attendance? Analysis of linked cohort and electronic hospital records in Wales and Scotland by Lucy J. Griffiths, Mario Cortina-Borja , Karen Tingay, Amrita Bandyopadhyay, Ashley Akbari, Bianca L. DeStavola, Helen Bedford, Ronan A. Lyons, Carol Dezateux was published in PLOS ONE (Millennium Cohort Study)

Family structure trajectories and early child health in the UK: Pathways to health by Lidia Panico, Melanie Bartley, Yvonne J Kelly, Anne McMunn and Amanda Sacker was published in Social Science and Medicine (Millennium Cohort Study)

Light drinking during pregnancy: Social advantages explain positive correlates with child and early adolescent adjustment by Anna Barbuscia, Jeremy Staff, George B. Ploubidis, Emla Fitzsimons and Jennifer Maggs was published in Addictive Behaviours (Millennium Cohort Study)

Maternal educational inequalities in measured body mass index trajectories in three European countries by Cathal McCrory, Siobhan Leahy, Ana Isabel Ribeiro, Silvia Fraga, Henrique Barros, Mauricio Avendano, Paolo Vineis and Richard Layte was published in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology (Millennium Cohort Study)

Socioeconomic and ethnic differences in children’s vigorous intensity physical activity: a cross-sectional analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study by R Love, J Adams, A Atkin, E Van Sluijs was published in Epidemiology (Millennium Cohort Study)

Mental health and wellbeing 

Adult mood problems in children with neurodevelopmental problems: evidence from a prospective birth cohort followed to age 50 by Alishia Addicoat, Ajay K. Thapar, Lucy Riglin, Anita Thapar and Stephan Collishaw was published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (National Child Development Study)

The Impact of the London Bombings on the Wellbeing of Adolescent Muslims by Arne Risa Hole and Anita Ratcliffe was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Economics (Next Steps)

Intrinsic Religiosity, Personality Traits, and Adolescent Risky Behaviors by Silvia Mendolia, Alfredo Paloyo and Ian Walker was published in The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy (Next Steps)

Internalising and externalising behaviour profiles across childhood: The consequences of changes in the family environment by Afshin Zilanawala, Amanda Sacker and Yvonne Kelly was published in Social Science and Medicine (Millennium Cohort Study)

Emotional difficulties and self-harm among British adolescents with and without disabilities: Cross sectional study by Eric Emerson, Tania King, Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Allison Milner, Zoe Aitken, Joanne Arciulia and Anne Kavanagh was published in Disability and Health Journal (Millennium Cohort Study)

Migration, ethnicity and mental health: evidence from mothers participating in the Millennium Cohort Study by L. Moore, H. Jayaweera, M. Redshaw and M. Quigley was published in Public Health (Millennium Cohort Study)

Cross-cohort change in adolescent outcomes for children with mental health problems by Ruth Sellers, Naomi Warne, Andrew Pickles, Barbara Maughan, Anita Thapar and Stephan Collishaw was published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (National Child Development Study and Millennium Cohort Study)

Peer problems, bullying involvement, and affective decision-making in adolescence by Eirini Flouri and Efstathios Papachristou was published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology (Millennium Cohort Study)