Social-Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes in Early Adolescence Cohort ‘98
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Growing Up in Ireland National Longitudinal Study of Children SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL OUTCOMES IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE COHORT ‘98 REPORT 8 Growing Up in Ireland National Longitudinal Study of Children SoCiaL-EmotioNaL aNd BEhaviouraL outComES iN EarLy adoLESCENCE Elizabeth Nixon The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders or of either of the two institutions involved in preparing the report. Growing Up in Ireland • Social-Emotional and BEhavioural outcomES in Early adolEScEncE Copyright © Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 2021 Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Block 1, Miesian Plaza, 50-58 Baggot Street Lower, Dublin 2 D02 XW14 Published by The Stationery Office, Dublin ISBN 9781446880555 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holder. For rights of translation or reproduction, applications should be made to the Head of Communications, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Block 1, Miesian Plaza, 50-58 Baggot Street Lower, Dublin 2 2 acknowlEdgEmEntS aCKNoWLEdGEmENtS A detailed report such as this represents a culmination of a large body of work by a group of dedicated colleagues which includes the interviewers who visit households and colleagues in the Growing Up in Ireland operations and data teams, without whom there would be no data to analyse. Independent reviewers, colleagues in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), and members of the Growing Up in Ireland Steering Group provided very useful feedback on earlier drafts of this report. I thank them for their input and insight. Thanks also to colleagues Dorothy Watson, Emer Smyth, Aisling Murray, Desmond O’ Mahony and Rebecca McClintock for their assistance at various points throughout the process. Finally, the author wishes to express gratitude to the thousands of young people and their families who continue to take part in the Growing Up in Ireland study. Their commitment, especially at a busy time in the life-course such as this, is a valuable contribution to the national data infrastructure. 3 Growing Up in Ireland • Social-Emotional and BEhavioural outcomES in Early adolEScEncE CoNtENtS LiSt oF TABLES 6 LiSt oF FiGurES 8 EXECutivE Summary 9 ChaPtEr 1: iNtroduCtioN aNd outLiNE 17 1.1 Adolescence and the Pubertal Transition 18 1.2 Parent and Peer Relationships during Adolescence 21 1.3 Emotional and Behavioural Well-Being among Adolescents 25 1.4 The Present Study 29 ChaPtEr 2: mEthod 31 2.1 Participants 32 2.2 Measures 32 2.2.1 Emotional and Behavioural Well-being 32 2.2.2 Antisocial and Risky Behaviour 33 2.2.3 Pubertal Status 34 2.2.4 Parent-Child Relationships 34 2.2.5 Peer Relationships 36 2.2.6 Family Contextual Variables 37 2.3 Data Analysis 38 ChaPtEr 3 FiNdiNGS i: SoCiaL, EmotioNaL aNd BEhaviouraL outComES amoNG 13-yEar-oLdS 39 3.1 How Well are Young People Faring? 40 3.2 Continuity and Change in Outcomes from 9 Years to 13 Years 44 ChaPtEr 4 FiNdiNGS ii: PrEdiCtiNG SoCiaL, EmotioNaL aNd BEhaviouraL outComES at 13 yEarS 47 4.1 What Factors Predict Social, Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes at 13 Years? 48 4.1.1 Pubertal Status 48 4.1.2 Parenting and Family Relationships 50 4.1.3 Monitoring, Disclosure and Child’s Perception of Control 57 4.1.4 Parental Responsiveness, Demandingness and Autonomy-granting 59 4.1.5 Friendship and Peer Relationships 66 4.2 Which Factors are most Important? 71 4.3 Which Factors are Associated with Stability and Change in Outcomes from 9 Years to 13 Years? 83 4 contEntS ChaPtEr 5: diSCuSSioN 89 5.1 Study Limitations 90 5.2 How are Young Adolescents Faring in terms of Social, Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes at 13 Years? 90 5.3 To What Extent is there Change or Stability in Social, Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes between 9 Years and 13 Years? 95 5.4 Which Factors are Associated with Social, Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes? 95 5.4.1 Internalising Difficulties and Depressed Mood 95 5.4.2 Externalising Difficulties and Antisocial Behaviour 97 5.4.3 Smoking, Alcohol Consumption and Experimenting with Drugs 99 5.4.4 The Role of Pubertal Status 100 5.5 Which Factors are Associated with Stability and Change in Social, Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes? 100 5.6 Conclusions 101 rEFErENCES 103 aPPENdiX a 113 5 Growing Up in Ireland • Social-Emotional and BEhavioural outcomES in Early adolEScEncE LiSt oF TABLES Table 2.1: Cronbach alphas for total SDQ and sub-scales at Wave 1 and Wave 2 33 Table 2.2: Cronbach alphas for sub-scales of the Pianta Child-Parent Relationship Scale 35 Table 2.3: Cronbach alphas for monitoring, disclosure and control sub-scales (Wave 2) 35 Table 2.4: Cronbach alphas for responsiveness, demandingness and autonomy-granting sub-scales of the Parenting Styles Inventory, based on Growing Up in Ireland data at Waves 1 and 2 36 Table 3.1: Descriptive statistics for the SDQ and SMFQ scales at Wave 2 40 Table 3.2: Descriptive statistics for the SDQ and SMFQ scales for girls and boys 41 Table 3.3: Frequency of antisocial behaviours of 13-year-olds 42 Table 3.4: Percentage of antisocial behaviours among those who had a score of 3 or above on the antisocial behaviour scale 43 Table 3.5: Mean (SD) scores for the SDQ scales at Wave 1 and Wave 2 45 Table 3.6: ‘At risk of difficulty status’ on SDQ at Wave 2, according to SDQ status at aveW 1 45 Table 4.1: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to timing of puberty for boys 48 Table 4.2: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to timing of puberty for girls 49 Table 4.3: Descriptive statistics for the Pianta Child-Parent Relationship Scale 50 Table 4.4: Descriptive statistics for change scores in the Pianta Child-Parent Relationship Scale 51 Table 4.5: Percentage of sample with scores above and below selected cut-offs on the Pianta conflict and closeness sub-scales 51 Table 4.6: Percentage (Ns) of sample according to classification of mother-child conflict across Waves 1 and 2 52 Table 4.7: Percentage (Ns) of sample classified into stable or transitioning groups in terms of father-child conflict, mother-child closeness and father-child closeness 52 Table 4.8: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in conflict in the mother-child relationship 52 Table 4.9: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in conflict in the father-child relationship 53 Table 4.10: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in closeness in the mother-child relationship 53 Table 4.11: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in closeness in the father-child relationship 54 Table 4.12: Descriptive statistics for the monitoring, disclosure and control sub-scale 57 Table 4.13: Correlation coefficients for monitoring, disclosure and control and the outcome variables 58 Table 4.14: Descriptive statistics for the Parenting Styles Inventory 59 Table 4.15: Descriptive statistics for change scores in the Parenting Styles Inventory 60 Table 4.16: Percentage of sample with scores below selected cut-offs on the Parenting Styles Inventory to indicate low responsiveness and low demandingness 60 Table 4.17: Percentage (Ns) of sample classified into stable or transitioning groups in terms of mothers’ responsiveness, mothers’ demandingness, fathers’ responsiveness and fathers’ demandingness 61 Table 4.18: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in mothers’ responsiveness 61 6 contEntS Table 4.19: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in fathers’ responsiveness 62 Table 4.20: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in mothers’ demandingness 62 Table 4.21: Mean (SD) scores for the outcome measures according to category of change or stability in fathers’ demandingness 62 Table 4.22: Correlation coefficients for child report on autonomy granting and key outcome variables 65 Table 4.23: Mean (SD) for children on key outcome variables, according to number of friends 67 Table 4.24: Descriptive statistics for the trust and alienation sub-scales 69 Table 4.25: Correlation coefficients for alienation, trust and outcome measures 69 Table 4.26: Predictor variables used in regression models 72 Table 4.27: Standardised regression coefficients and significance levels from regression models predicting SDQ scores among girls from two-parent households 73 Table 4.28: Standardised regression coefficients and significance levels from regression models predicting SDQ scores among boys from two-parent households 75 Table 4.29: Standardised regression coefficients and significance levels from regression models predicting SMFQ scores and antisocial behaviour scores among girls from two-parent households 77 Table 4.30: Standardised regression coefficients and significance levels from regression models predicting SMFQ scores and antisocial behaviour scores among boys from two-parent households 78 Table 4.31: P-values and odds ratios from logistic regression models predicting smoking behaviour for boys and girls from two-parent households 79 Table 4.32: P-values