Seven-year national study of children begins

A study of 18,000 children spanning over seven years was unveiled today by the Minister for Children Brian Lenihan.

The first national longitudinal study of children in Ireland will collect data from 10,000 infants currently aged nine months and from 8,000 nine-year-olds on two separate occasions over the next seven years.

The €24 million study - funded by the Office of the Minister for Children - is intended to identify the key factors that enable children do well in life and to inform the Government's National Children's Strategy.

The research will be carried by a consortium led by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the Children's Research Centre at Trinity College, Dublin.

Mr Lenihan said: "We know that the roots of many problems in adolescence and adulthood can be found in early childhood."

He said: "The study would provide a database for a comprehensive understanding of Irish children's development in the current social, economic and cultural environment."

The Minister said that longitudinal data are essential to answer many of the questions facing policy-makers and researchers today. The first results of the study will be available in 18 months to two years.

Dr Sinéad Hanafin, Head of Research at the Office of the Minister for Children said the findings from longitudinal studies in other countries have led to significant changes in the lives of children.

Data compiled from a longitudinal study relating to changes in infant sleeping positions led to a significant reduction in sudden infant death syndrome in the United Kingdom.

Similarly targeted language support rather than learning support for immigrant children in Canada led to higher academic achievement two years later, Dr Hanafin said.

Prof James Williams of the ESRI said the main objective of the study would be to identify which factors most help or hinder children's development and to establish effects of early child experience on later life.

"The fact that families will be interviewed twice in the course of the project, will allow us to track changes in the lives of these children and provide very strong evidence-based input to policy formation," he added.