GROWING UP IN SCOTLAND: THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND EXPERIENCES OF 3 YEAR OLD CHILDREN LIVING IN SCOTLAND IN 2007/08 AND 2013

This report uses data from the Growing Up in Scotland Study to compare the circumstances and experiences of children aged 3 in Scotland in 2007/08 with those at the same age in 2013.It looks at child health and development and parental health as well as other aspects that could be compared including television viewing. The report considers how these vary by socio-economic characteristics: household income; area deprivation; maternal age and parental level of education.


Footnotes

1. For more information on the GUS survey design and recruitment of the cohorts, see Bradshaw et al., 2013.

2. If there is any difference between the questions, this is clearly noted in the relevant section.

3. The GUS sample is generated in two stages. The first stage randomly selects geographic areas or clusters and the second stage selects individuals within those clusters. The standard errors are adjusted to take account of the geographic clustering of the sample at the first stage. For more information see Bradshaw et al., 2013.

4. A multi-agency, bottom-up quality improvement programme that aims to improve outcomes for children and their families in Scotland through supporting the use of improvement methodology in children's service planning, service delivery and effective interventions.

5. For further information about SIMD, see Appendix A.

6. The respondent was asked to provide information on the nature and level of any school and post-school qualifications they and their partner, where applicable, had obtained. Qualifications are grouped according to their equivalent position on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework which ranges from Access 1 to Doctorate. These are further banded to create the following categories:
Degree-level academic or vocational qualifications, Higher Grades or equivalent vocational qualification (eg. SVQ 3), Upper-level Standard Grades (grades 1 to 4) or equivalent vocational qualification (eg. SVQ 1 or 2), Lower-level Standard grades (grades 5 to 7) or equivalent vocational qualifications (eg. Access 1 or 2, National Certificates). The highest qualification is defined for each parent and a household level variable can also be calculated. In couple families this corresponds to the highest classification amongst the respondent and his/her partner (Bradshaw et al., 2013).

7. Living in a couple household does not necessarily mean that the child lived with both biological parents.

8. Logistic regression analysis was carried out. For more information see Appendix C.

9. When the children were 10 months old, 13% of BC1 children and 12% of BC2 children had a long-term health condition.

10. At age 10 months, prevalence of longstanding illnesses and disabilities was higher among BC2 children born to mothers aged 30 and over (13%) than those aged under 30 (10%) (Bradshaw et al, 2013).

11. Prior to the age 3 interview, BC1 families were last interviewed when the child was aged 2, while BC2 families were last interviewed when the child was aged 10 months.

12. Logistic regression analysis was undertaken to test the relationship between parental education and number of accidents. Results are given in Appendix C.

13. GUS also routinely collects information on children's social, emotional and behavioural development using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Whilst this data is available for BC2 at age three, there is no corresponding data from BC1 until age 4.

14. Full results are available on request.

15. At the time of the interview, in BC1 83% of children were aged 34 months and 16% were aged 35 months. The remaining 1% were aged 33 months. In BC2, 37% of children were aged 34 months, 56% were aged 35 months, 3% were aged 36 months, 2% were 37 months and the remaining 1% were between 38 and 41 months.

16. Note the reference period varies slightly on this question between the cohorts. In BC1, parents were asked how easy or difficult they had found arranging suitable childcare for the child in the last year. For BC2, the reference period was the last two years.

17. For example, 83% of parents in BC1 and 87% in BC2 agreed or strongly agreed that they felt close to most of their family. 87% in BC1 and 89% in BC2 agreed that their friends took notice of their opinions and 76% in BC1 and 78% in BC2 said they "got enough help" from family and friends. Note BC1 questions were asked at age 3, BC2 at age 4.

18. Responses were on a five point scale ranging from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree'.

19. All items asked of parents in BC2 when the child was aged 3 were also asked of parents in BC1 when the child was aged 4. A reduced set of three items was also asked of parents in BC1 when the child was aged 2. We have opted for the fuller comparison available using the BC1 age 4 data.

20. That is the proportion who selected 'disagree' or 'disagree strongly' combined.

21. Both BC1 and BC2 were asked the question: 'Does this condition or illness reduce your ability to carry out day-to-day activities?' BC1 had the response options 1) Yes 2) No, whilst BC2 parents had the following response options 1) Yes, a lot 2) Yes, a little 3) Not at all.

22. http://www.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms/indicator/smoking

Contact

Email: Liz Levy

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