Child Development Study (child + development_study)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Kinds of Child Development Study

  • national child development study


  • Selected Abstracts


    Assessing interaction effects in linear measurement error models

    JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 1 2005
    Li-Shan Huang
    Summary., In a linear model, the effect of a continuous explanatory variable may vary across groups defined by a categorical variable, and the variable itself may be subject to measurement error. This suggests a linear measurement error model with slope-by-factor interactions. The variables that are defined by such interactions are neither continuous nor discrete, and hence it is not immediately clear how to fit linear measurement error models when interactions are present. This paper gives a corollary of a theorem of Fuller for the situation of correcting measurement errors in a linear model with slope-by-factor interactions. In particular, the error-corrected estimate of the coefficients and its asymptotic variance matrix are given in a more easily assessable form. Simulation results confirm the asymptotic normality of the coefficients in finite sample cases. We apply the results to data from the Seychelles Child Development Study at age 66 months, assessing the effects of exposure to mercury through consumption of fish on child development for females and males for both prenatal and post-natal exposure. [source]


    Birthweight and paternal involvement predict early reproduction in British women: Evidence from the National Child Development Study

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
    Daniel Nettle
    There is considerable interest in the mechanisms maintaining early reproduction in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in developed countries. Previous research has suggested that differential exposure to early-life factors such as low birthweight and lack of paternal involvement during childhood may be relevant. Here, we used longitudinal data on the female cohort members from the UK National Child Development Study (n = 3,014,4,482 depending upon variables analyzed) to investigate predictors of early reproduction. Our main outcome measures were having a child by age 20, and stating at age 16 an intended age of reproduction of 20 years or lower. Low paternal involvement during childhood was associated with increased likelihood of early reproduction (O.R. 1.79,2.25) and increased likelihood of early intended reproduction (O.R. 1.38,2.50). Low birthweight for gestational age also increased the odds of early reproduction (O.R. for each additional s.d. 0.88) and early intended reproduction (O.R. for each additional s.d. 0.81). Intended early reproduction strongly predicted actual early reproduction (O.R. 5.39, 95% CI 3.71,7.83). The results suggest that early-life factors such as low birthweight for gestational age, and low paternal involvement during childhood, may affect women's reproductive development, leading to earlier target and achieved ages for reproduction. Differential exposure to these factors may be part of the reason that early fertility persists in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. We discuss our results with respect to the kinds of interventions likely to affect the rate of teen pregnancy. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Does Voting History Matter?

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009
    Analysing Persistence in Turnout
    Individuals who vote in one election are more likely to vote in the next. Yet modelling the causal relationship between past and current voting decisions is intrinsically difficult, as this positive association can exist due to habit formation or unobserved heterogeneity. This article overcomes this problem using longitudinal data from the British National Child Development Study (NCDS) to examine voter turnout across three elections. It distinguishes between unobserved heterogeneity caused by fixed individual characteristics and the initial conditions problem, which occurs when voting behavior in a previous, but unobserved, period influences current voting behavior. It finds that, controlling for fixed effects, unobserved heterogeneity has little impact on the estimated degree of habit in voter turnout; however, failing to control for initial conditions reduces the estimate by a half. The results imply that voting in one election increases the probability of voting in a subsequent election by 13%. [source]


    The Returns to Academic and Vocational Qualifications in Britain

    BULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2002
    Lorraine Dearden
    This paper uses data from the 1991 sweep of the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and the 1998 Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide a comprehensive analysis of the labour market returns to academic and vocational qualifications. The results show that the wage premia from academic qualifications are typically higher than from vocational qualifications. However, this gap is reduced somewhat, when we control for the amount of time taken to acquire different qualifications. This is particularly important for vocational courses, which generally take shorter time periods to complete. In the paper we also investigate how returns vary by gender, subsequent qualifications, and the natural ability of individuals. Finally, by comparing the NCDS results with those from the LFS, we estimate the bias that can result from not controlling for factors such as ability, family background and measurement error. The results reveal that the estimated returns in the NCDS equations controlling for ability, family background and measurement error are similar to the simple OLS estimates obtained with the LFS, which do not control for these factors. This suggests that the biases generally offset one another. [source]


    Migration, family structure and children's well-being: a multi-level analysis of the second generation of the 1958 Birth Cohort Study

    CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 4 2002
    Georgia Verropoulou
    The relationship between moving home, family structure and children's well-being, is examined in the National Child Development Study (NCDS) Second-Generation. Well-being is measured as attainment in maths and reading, and on two behavioural assessments. Multivariate multi-level modelling allows for heterogeneity both within and between families. We find little to no association between moving home and children's well-being. Associations between family living arrangements and children's development appear to be mediated by human, financial and social capital, but not, on average, worsened by geographical mobility. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]