News and opinion

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

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News

Did the Baby Boomers fulfil their childhood dreams?

30 April 2018

In 1969, more than 10,000 11-year-olds, taking part in the National Child Development Study (NCDS), were asked to write an essay imagining what their lives would be like at 25. Fast forward 50 years, and we contacted a number of study members to share their essay with them and see how their lives had unfolded. 

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.

Automated Content Analysis: special training session

14 December 2017

To coincide with the release of the National Child Development Study’s Age 11 essays, CLS hosted a special tutorial on automated content analysis to help enable researchers to make the most of this new data. The session covered the fundamentals of using the Differential Language Analysis Toolkit (DLATK) and was led by H. Andrew Schwartz (Stony Brook University).

News

Childhood IQ predicts how much people earn in their fifties, study finds

4 May 2017

The mental capacity of 11-year-olds helps predict their financial success in later life, according to findings from the 1958 British birth cohort.

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

Childless women more likely to begin menopause early, study finds

25 January 2017

Women who have never given birth or been pregnant have double the odds of reaching the menopause before the age of 40, compared to those who have been pregnant.

News

Childhood abuse and neglect has negative effect on living standards in middle age, study finds

11 January 2017

People who experience maltreatment during childhood are more likely to be unemployed and less likely to own their homes by age 50.

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

Being social can help to keep your mind sharp as you age, study finds

20 December 2016

People who take part in community activities are more likely to have better memory and problem-solving skills in later middle age, according to new findings from the National Child Development Study (NCDS).

News

Welfare benefits may boost children’s cognitive development

14 December 2016

More generous benefits for families in Britain may explain better test scores for some children compared to the United States, according to research using the National Child Development Study (NCDS).

News

Hyperactive children at higher risk of psychological distress in adulthood, study shows

5 December 2016

Children who are hyperactive are more likely to report poor mental health when they are adults, according to findings from the National Child Development Study (NCDS).

News

Childhood bullying linked to use of mental health services in later life

23 November 2016

Child victims of bullying become greater users of mental health services in later life, according to findings from the National Child Development Study (NCDS).

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Ryan Bradshaw
Senior Communications Officer

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

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