GROWING UP IN IRELAND. KEY FINDINGS: INFANT COHORT AT 7/8 YEARS. NO. 3 SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, RELATIONSHIPS AND PLAY

This is the third in a series of Key Findings from the fourth wave of data collection from the Infant Cohort in Growing Up in Ireland. The families of just over 11,100 infants were first interviewed between September 2008 and March 2009, when the child at the centre of the study was 9 months old. They were re-interviewed when the child was 3 years old and again at 5 years of age. In 2016, a fourth wave of data was collected from the child’s primary caregiver (mainly their mother1), through a postal survey when the child was 7/8 years old. This Key Finding focuses on reports of children’s socio-emotional development and their behaviour, social skills, family relationships and play activities. Children’s progress in developing social and emotional skills is important for coping with relationships at school and at home, as well as being an important part of their overall well-being

GROWING UP IN IRELAND. KEY FINDINGS: COHORT ’08 AT 9 YEARS OLD. NO. 2 SCHOOL AND LEARNING. Cohort '08 November 2018

This series of Key Findings draws on information provided by the Cohort ‘08 9-year-old and his or her Primary Caregiver (usually the mother, and henceforth in this report referred to as the mother). The series is based on the 7,563 9-year-olds whose families participated in the study at ages 9 months, 3 years, 5 years and 9 years old. This Key Findings report is the second in a series from this latest round of data collection from Cohort ’08 at 9 years of age. It looks at children’s attitudes to school and specific school subjects and relates these to their family context and to their skills and dispositions at the age of 5. At the time of the survey, almost all children were in school. Of these, 9% were in second class, 66% were in third class and 24% were in fourth class.1 Out-of-school learning is also examined and mothers’ reports of their support for, and involvement in, their child’s education are discussed

GROWING UP IN IRELAND. KEY FINDINGS: INFANT COHORT AT 7/8 YEARS. NO. 1 SCHOOL AND LEARNING

This is the first in a series of Key Findings from the fourth wave of data collection from the Infant Cohort in Growing Up in Ireland. The families of just over 11,100 infants were first interviewed between September 2008 and March 2009, when the child at the centre of the study was 9 months old. They were re-interviewed when the child was 3 years old and again at 5 years of age. In 2016, a fourth wave of data was collected from the child’s primary caregiver (mainly their mother1) through a postal survey when the child was 7/8 years old. This Key Finding focuses on mothers’ reports of how their children were doing in terms of their schooling and learning. Children’s early experiences of the classroom, their transition to formal school and their acquisition of key skills such as literacy and numeracy typically have a lasting effect on their short- and long-term educational development. At the time of the postal survey 36% of the children in the study were 7 years old and the rest were 8 years old. At this stage, most of them had been in Primary School for 2-3 years. Overall, 69% started school in 2012 (mostly in September), the remainder in 2013. Just over 1% of the children were in Junior or Senior Infants, 32% were in First Class and 66% in Second Class. Just less than 1% were in third class, home-schooled or at a special school

GROWING UP IN IRELAND. KEY FINDINGS: COHORT ’08 AT 9 YEARS OLD. NO. 3 HEALTH AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. Cohort '08 November 2018

This series of Key Findings draws on information provided by the Cohort ‘08 9-year-old and his or her Primary Caregiver (usually the mother, and henceforth in this report referred to as the mother). The series is based on the 7,563 9-year-olds whose families participated in the study at ages 9 months, 3 years, 5 years and 9 years old. This Key Findings report is the third in the series from the latest round of data collection from Cohort ’08 and is the first report on the health and physical development of these children. It covers key health indicators as reported by the mother, such as general health, longstanding conditions and diet. It examines the children’s own reports of their physical activity as well as their measured weight status. In addition, it looks at how the health of the 9-year-olds varies by family circumstances and by the children’s health status at ages 3 and 5

GROWING UP IN IRELAND KEY FINDINGS: COHORT ’98 AT 20 YEARS OLD IN 2018/19 NO. 3 SOCIO-EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AND KEY RELATIONSHIPS AT AGE 20

This Key Findings report presents summary information on the lives and circumstances of the 20-year-olds from the fourth wave of interviews with Growing Up in Ireland’s older Cohort ’98 between August 2018 and June 2019. It focuses on life satisfaction, stress, depressive symptoms, self-reported aggression and coping strategies. It also describes key relationships for the young adult, including relationships with parents and friends, and dating relationships