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Existing literature suggests that mixed race/ethnicity children are more likely to experience poor socioemotional wellbeing in both the US and the UK, although the evidence is stronger in the US. It is suggested that this inequality may be a consequence of struggles with identity formation, more limited connections with racial/ethnic/cultural heritage, and increased risk of exposure to racism. Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 13,734) and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ~ 6250), we examine differences in the socioemotional wellbeing of mixed and non-mixed 5/6 year old children in the UK and US and explore heterogeneity in outcomes across different mixed groups in both locations. We estimate a series of linear regressions to examine the contribution of factors that may explain any observed differences, including socio-economic and cultural factors, and examine the extent to which these processes vary across the two nations. We find no evidence of greater risk for poor socioemotional wellbeing for mixed race/ethnicity children in both national contexts. We find that mixed race/ethnicity children experience socio-economic advantage compared to their non-mixed minority counterparts and that socio-economic advantage is protective for socioemotional wellbeing. Cultural factors do not contribute to differences in socioemotional wellbeing across mixed and non-mixed groups. Our evidence suggests then that at age 5/6 there is no evidence of poorer socioemotional wellbeing for mixed race/ethnicity children in either the UK or the US. The contrast between our findings and some previous literature, which reports that mixed race/ethnicity children have poorer socioemotional wellbeing, may reflect changes in the meaning of mixed identities across periods and/or the developmental stage of the children we studied.

Background: The population of mixed ethnicity individuals in the UK is growing. Despite this demographic trend, little is known about mixed ethnicity children and their problem behaviours. We examine trajectories of behavioural problems among non-mixed and mixed ethnicity children from early to middle childhood using nationally representative cohort data in the UK., Methods: Data from 16 330 children from the Millennium Cohort Study with total difficulties scores were analysed. We estimated trajectories of behavioural problems by mixed ethnicity using growth curve models., Results: White mixed (mean total difficulties score: 8.3), Indian mixed (7.7), Pakistani mixed (8.9) and Bangladeshi mixed (7.2) children had fewer problem behaviours than their non-mixed counterparts at age 3 (9.4, 10.1, 13.1 and 11.9, respectively). White mixed, Pakistani mixed and Bangladeshi mixed children had growth trajectories in problem behaviours significantly different from that of their non-mixed counterparts., Conclusions: Using a detailed mixed ethnic classification revealed diverging trajectories between some non-mixed and mixed children across the early life course. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms, which may influence increasing behavioural problems in mixed ethnicity children., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

Purpose: Engaging in exploratory risky behaviors and experiencing poor mental health during early adolescence are important markers for poor health during adulthood. Prior research suggests protective effects from cognition, but less is known about the associations between early childhood cognition and early adolescent psychosocial well-being, as identified by self-esteem, mental health, and exploratory risky behaviors. This article investigates the extent that early adolescent psychosocial well-being at the age of 11 years is associated with patterns of cognitive skills measured across the first decade of a child's life., Methods: We used data collected from the four follow-up sweeps of the UK Millennium Cohort Study and utilized latent profile analysis to identify three discernible cognitive profiles (n = 16,899)., Results: We find cohort members in low-achieving profiles to be more likely to engage in exploratory risky behaviors-drinking, smoking, and antisocial conduct-and to have poor self-esteem and more problem behaviors, compared with their peers in high-achieving profiles. Socioeconomic and family psychosocial markers considerably attenuated these disadvantages., Conclusions: Understanding which adolescents have adverse psychosocial well-being has implications for the prevention of chronic diseases and for clinical care and policy., (Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Previous research on time trends of young people's mental health in Britain has produced conflicting findings: evidence for deterioration in mental health during the late 20th century followed by stability and slight improvement during the early 21st century is contrasted with evidence showing continued deterioration. The present study adds to the evidence base by assessing time trends in means, variances, and both low and high psychological distress scores covering a similar period., Methods: GHQ-12 (Likert scale) was regressed on time (adjusting for age) using a sample of young people aged 16-24 between 1991 and 2008 from the British Household Panel Study. Change in variance was assessed using Levene's homogeneity of variance test across 9-year intervals. Polarisation was assessed by a comparison of the prevalence of scores ≥1 standard deviation and ≥1.5 standard deviations above and below the pooled mean., Results: There was a small but significant increase in mean GHQ-12 among young women (b 0.048; 95% CI 0.016, 0.080) only. Variance increased significantly (p < 0.05) across 9-year intervals in seven out of nine comparisons for women and in six out of nine comparisons for men. There were significant increases in low (OR: 1.19; 95% CI 1.05, 1.35), high (OR: 1.27; 95% CI 1.13, 1.42), and very high scores (OR: 1.42; 95% CI 1.23, 1.64) for young women, and increases in low (OR: 1.39; 95% CI 1.21, 1.59) and very low (OR: 1.53; 95% CI 1.21, 1.92) scores for young men., Conclusions: The evidence suggests a polarisation of the psychological distress of young women in Britain between 1991 and 2008.

Purpose: Substantial evidence supports the hypothesis that parental well-being impacts upon child well-being and that this relationship is bidirectional. Here we explore how, in a large, nationally representative sample, both parents' mental distress relates over time to each other's mental distress and to their adolescent child's unhappiness, and vice versa., Methods: Analyses were conducted using data from waves one to five (2009/10-2014/15) of Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Understanding Society collects data on adults' mental distress (General Health Questionnaire), and on youths' (age: 10-15 years) unhappiness in relation to their school work, appearance, family, friends, school, and life as a whole. We use repeated-measures structural equation models to investigate the reciprocal relationships between both parents' distress and their child's unhappiness, using both longitudinal cross-lagged and nonrecursive contemporaneous specifications. The analytic sample is 1,883 triads (adolescent child, mother, and father) with data at two or more consecutive time points. Analyses are stratified by adolescent gender., Results: Our results show that parental mental distress predicts unhappiness of girls but not that of boys. Reciprocal associations of maternal and paternal mental distress are evident in families with an adolescent daughter. Unhappiness of adolescents does not predict their parents' mental distress. Results are similar whether examined contemporaneously or over time., Conclusions: Our findings support the suggestion that the family should be considered as a dynamic system, for instance when planning clinical interventions. This is particularly pertinent in families with an adolescent daughter present., (Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Differences in cognitive development have been observed across a variety of ethnic minority groups but relatively little is known about the persistence of these developmental inequalities over time or generations., Methods: A repeat cross-sectional analysis assessed cognitive ability scores of children aged 3, 5 and 7 years from the longitudinal UK Millennium Cohort Study (white UK born n=7630; Indian n=248; Pakistani n=328; Bangladeshi n=87; black Caribbean n=172; and black African n=136). Linear regression estimated ethnic differences in age normed scores at each time point. Multivariable logistic regression estimated within-group generational differences in test scores at each age adjusting stepwise for sociodemographic factors, maternal health behaviours, indicators of the home learning environment and parenting styles., Results: The majority of ethnic minority groups scored lower than the white UK born reference group at 3 years with these differences narrowing incrementally at ages 5 and 7 years. However, the black Caribbean group scored significantly lower than the white UK born reference group throughout early childhood. At 3 years, Pakistani, black Caribbean and black African children with UK born mothers had significantly higher test scores than those with foreign born mothers after baseline adjustment for maternal age and child gender. Controlling for social, behavioural and parenting factors attenuated this generational advantage. By 7 years there were no significant generational differences in baseline models., Conclusions: Ethnic differences in cognitive development diminish throughout childhood for the majority of groups. Cumulative exposure to the UK environment may be associated with higher cognitive development scores., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/)