Minister Fitzgerald launches a new report from Growing Up in Ireland on infant development and the impact of parenting and family contexts

Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has today welcomed the publication of the latest series of research findings from the ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ longitudinal study of children which is commissioned and funded by her Department.

The findings published today focus on infant development and the role of parenting and family contexts.

Responding to the findings Minister Fitzgerald said ‘this research is a further contribution to a body of research emerging from Growing Up in Ireland that provides a rich description of the factors, relating to parenting and the home environment, that influence child development and outcomes’.

The Minister, noting the important role of parenting and family contexts for infant development, re-iterated her commitment to delivering reforms and service developments to support Ireland’s children and families.

The latest findings from the Growing Up in Ireland show that:

· The number of weeks of pregnancy at which infants were born was one of the strongest predictors of infant developmental outcomes.

· Being born prematurely (i.e. at a younger gestational age) was related to a lower overall development score.

· Parental sensitivity, both mothers and fathers, was positively associated with infant developmental outcomes, such that having a more sensitive parent was associated with a higher development score, although the magnitude of these associations was relatively small.

· Factors such as child temperament and parental depression or stress were found to be predictors of parental sensitivity.

· Parental stress was found to be associated with difficult infant temperament, as well as contextual factors such as the perception of support and martial satisfaction.

Growing Up in Ireland is the first national longitudinal study of children in Ireland. Over the course of 2006-2014, the study has monitored the development of almost 20,000 children, an infant cohort of 11,100 9-month olds and a child cohort of 8,570 9-year olds. The aim of Growing Up in Ireland is ‘to study the factors, which contribute to or undermine the well-being of children in contemporary Irish families, and, through this, contribute to the setting of effective and responsive policies relating to children and to the design of services for children and their families’. Two waves of data collection have been completed for both the infant cohort (at age 9 months and then 3 years) and the child cohort (at age 9 years and then 13 years) and reports of the findings have been published. A third wave of data collection of the infant cohort (at age 5 years) is currently being undertaken and will complete Phase 1 of the Study.

Minister Fitzgerald also stated “the recent Government decision extending the duration of the study until 2019 will allow for continued tracking of critical transition points in children and young people’s lives including providing further insight into key issues relating to children, young people and their family circumstances”.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) focuses on harmonising policy issues that affect children in areas such as early childhood care and education, youth justice, child welfare and protection, children and young people’s participation in decision-making, research on children and young people, youth work and cross cutting initiatives for children and young people. To that end, Growing Up in Ireland makes an important and valuable contribution.