The impact of childhood residential mobility on mental health outcomes in adolescence and early adulthood: a record linkage study.

Background Understanding the causes of poor mental health in early childhood and adolescence is important as this can be a significant determinant of mental well-being in later years. One potential and relatively unexplored factor is residential mobility in formative years. Previous studies have been relatively small and potentially limited due to methodological issues. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between early residential instability and poor mental health among adolescents and young adults in Northern Ireland.

Methods A Census-based record linkage study of 28% of children aged 0–8 years in 2001 in Northern Ireland (n=49 762) was conducted, with six monthly address change assessments from health registration data and self-reported mental health status from the 2011 Census. Logistic regression models were built adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES), household composition and marital dissolution.

Results There was a graded relationship between the number of address changes and mental ill-health (adjusted OR 3.67, 95% CIs 2.11 to 6.39 for 5 or more moves). This relationship was not modified by SES or household composition. Marital dissolution was associated with poor mental health but did not modify the relationship between address change and mental health (p=0.206). There was some indication that movement after the age of five was associated with an increased likelihood of poor mental health.

Conclusions This large study clearly confirms the close relationship between address change in early years and later poor mental health. Residential mobility may be a useful marker for children at risk of poorer mental health in adolescence and early adulthood

The Dynamics of Quadropoly: League Position in English Football between 1888 and 2010

The paper explores competitive balance in top tier English league football from its inception in 1888. It examines the extent to which finishing in the top four positions in successive seasons is the preserve of a small number of clubs. Using a range of statistical measures, the analysis shows that the current high levels of competitive imbalance are not new phenomena. The overall pattern approximates a ‘U curve’: current patterns parallel those in the 1890s. In the early years of English league football, differences in resources between clubs soon became apparent. Clubs from the larger conurbations generated consistently larger revenues than their counterparts in the smaller industrial towns. This was primarily the result of the larger crowds that they could attract to their home games. This enabled them to entice the best players to their clubs away from their smaller rivals. The introduction of the maximum wage in 1901 and the transfer system helped to stem these increasing inequalities between clubs. This coincided with a massive wave of new stadia construction which enabled all the clubs to compete on an increasingly level playing field. These conjunctural changes to English football before 1915 produced the era of relatively competitive football during the inter-war years. This continued until the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961. Since that time, competitive balance has reversed and become increasingly restricted. English top-tier football has re-entered an era of extreme competitive imbalance.

“It is through others that we become ourselves.” A study of Vygotskian play in Russian and Irish schools.

50 years after publishing his seminal work on play and its role in child development, Vygotskian theory is still highly influential in education, and particularly in early years. This paper presents two examples of full integration of Vygotskian principles into schools in two very different settings. Both report improvements in learning and in well-being, and exemplify the theory-practice-theory cycle, highlighting the development of new theoretical constructs arising out of putting theory firmly into practice. In both settings, the positive results have come from years of effort, in which school personnel who may have been skeptical at first, have been inspired by the impact of adopting Vygotskian play on the children they teach. The Northern Ireland study shows that at least some of the Golden Key principles (mixed-age play and enhanced home-school links) translate perfectly into very different cultural-historical contexts.

Reducing child conduct disordered behaviour and improving parent mental health in disadvantaged families: a 12 month follow-up and cost analysis of a parenting intervention

The effectiveness of the Incredible Years Basic parent programme (IYBP) in reducing child conduct problems and improving parent competencies and mental health was examined in a 12-month follow-up. Pre- to post-intervention service use and related costs were also analysed. A total of 103 families and their children (aged 32–88 months), who previously participated in a randomised controlled trial of the IYBP, took part in a 12-month follow-up assessment. Child and parent behaviour and well-being were measured using psychometric and observational measures. An intention-to-treat analysis was carried out using a one-way repeated measures ANOVA. Pairwise comparisons were subsequently conducted to determine whether treatment outcomes were sustained 1 year post-baseline assessment. Results indicate that post-intervention improvements in child conduct problems, parenting behaviour and parental mental health were maintained. Service use and associated costs continued to decline. The results indicate that parent-focused interventions, implemented in the early years, can result in improvements in child and parent behaviour and well-being 12 months later. A reduced reliance on formal services is also indicated.