News and opinion

Welcome to our news and blogs.  Here you’ll find the latest developments and insights from across our four longitudinal studies.

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News

Timing of parents’ split matters for children’s mental health, new research reveals

17 January 2019

Children who experience a family break-up in late childhood and early adolescence are more likely to have emotional and behavioural problems than those living with both parents, according to a new study.

News

Cognitive achievement of second generation immigrants less likely to be restricted by social disadvantage nowadays, study finds

18 October 2018

Children born to immigrant parents tended to trail behind their peers in reading and maths in the 1970s and 1980s, largely due to their social background.

News

Greener neighbourhoods may be good for children’s brains

10 September 2018

Children living in urban greener neighbourhoods may have better spatial working memory, according to new research by UCL Institute of Education (IOE).

News

Children from lower social classes up to 5kg heavier than their more advantaged peers

21 March 2018

Disadvantaged children born at the start of the 21st century weighed up to 5kg more in their childhood and early teenage years than those from more privileged backgrounds, a new study has found.

News

Children who try smoking or drinking early are less well-adjusted

17 May 2017

Eleven-year-olds who have tried cigarettes or alcohol show signs of switching off from school and are more likely to get into trouble, according to findings from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

News

Mothers’ depression more harmful than poverty for children’s mental health, study finds

13 March 2017

Up to 1 in 5 children in the poorest fifth of families display symptoms of mental illness, compared to 1 in 20 children from the richest homes. But according to a new study, mothers’ mental health matters even more.

News

Mothers’ depression more harmful for children with poor cognitive ability, study finds

9 March 2017

Support for children with emotional and behavioural problems may be more effective if targeted at those with both cognitive difficulties and depressed mothers, new findings suggest.

News

Older mothers have positive influence on children’s cognitive development, study finds

24 February 2017

Children born to older mothers tend to show the most cognitive ability nowadays, when in previous generations they typically showed less promise.

News

Low birth weight less of a disadvantage for today’s generation, study finds

11 January 2017

The negative effect of low birth weight on cognitive ability has decreased dramatically for children born at the turn of the millennium, compared to the Baby Boomers and Generation X before them.

News

Bereaved children bottle up their feelings, study says

24 November 2016

Children who lose a parent are less likely to talk about their feelings, according to findings from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

News

Children’s development boosted when parents supervise homework, according to new study

22 November 2016

Eleven-year-olds who have someone at home making sure they finish their homework before taking part in other activities, such as watching TV, score higher on cognitive assessments than those who do not.

News

Skipping breakfast and irregular bedtimes linked to obesity in childhood, study finds

11 November 2016

Children who eat breakfast and have a regular bedtime routine are less likely to become overweight or obese during childhood, according to findings from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

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Ryan Bradshaw
Senior Communications Officer

Phone: 020 7612 6516
Email: r.bradshaw@ucl.ac.uk

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