news 2021

New research into child maltreatment has highlighted the links with ongoing mental health disorders, even into middle and older age adulthood. The new study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in the Lancet Regional Health - Europe, finds that child maltreatment was associated with a wide range of mental health conditions in later life, even if they were not diagnosed of any in early adulthood.

36% of 9-year-olds and 51% of 13-year-olds say they are willing to have a COVID-19 vaccination compared to 78% of 17-year-olds, finds a major study co-led by UCL, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The study, published today in EClinicalMedicine, is the only large-scale study to ask children and adolescents about their willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and found that the younger you are the less likely you are to want a COVID-19 vaccination.

Children who experience sexual or physical abuse or are neglected are more likely to die prematurely as adults, according to a new study analysing data from the 1950s to the present by researchers at UCL and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in BMJ Open , found that adults who reported experiencing sexual abuse by the age of 16 had a 2.6 times higher risk of dying in middle age - that is, between 45 and 58 - than those who did not report sexual abuse.

Social inequality can incite collective violence in an experimental setting, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, was conceived following the London riots of 2011, as researchers sought to understand the origins of antisocial group behaviour. The findings are published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B .

This Australian study trialled a parent-mediated therapy, iBASIS-VIPP, which was developed by the study's UK collaborators, led by Professor Jonathan Green from The University of Manchester. The use of iBASIS-VIPP reduced clinician autism diagnoses at age three by two-thirds. This is the first evidence that a pre-emptive intervention during infancy can lead to a significant reduction in the social communication difficulties characteristic of autism, and reduced likelihood of a clinician autism diagnosis in early childhood.

New research from the suggests that autistic individuals are less likely to identify as heterosexual and more likely to identify with a diverse range of sexual orientations than non-autistic individuals. The findings have important implications for the healthcare and support of autistic individuals. The results are published in the journal Autism Research .

Care experienced children in Scotland have poorer health and higher average rates of mortality when compared to children in the general population, according to a new study. The study - led by the University of Glasgow and published in BMJ Open - also showed substantial differences in health outcomes and health service use between care experienced children and children in the general population.

Researchers based at the University of Glasgow have launched a new study which will look at how South Asian women in Scotland get help for domestic abuse, and their experiences of the criminal justice system. The study will fill a vital gap in our understanding of how race, culture, social, education and community factors play into victim/survivors' decision-making on which services to access and when, as well as their perceptions of justice, and the justice system.

A new report raises concerns about the policing of the pandemic and shows that racially minoritised communities have been most harshly affected - being more likely to be stopped by the police, threatened or subject to police violence and falsely accused of rule-breaking and wrong-doing.

Young adults aged 18 to 24 are at the highest risk of becoming overweight or developing obesity in the next decade of their life compared to adults in any other age group, and obesity prevention policies should target this group, finds a new study co-led by researchers at UCL. The study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology , found that being a young adult is a more important risk factor for weight gain than sex, ethnicity, geographic region, or socioeconomic area characteristics.

Up to one in seven (14%) children and young people who caught SARS-CoV-2 may have symptoms linked to the virus 15 weeks later, suggest preliminary findings from the world's largest study on long Covid in children, led by UCL and Public Health England researchers.

A child's educational success depends on the genes that they haven't inherited from their parents, as well as the genes they have, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the study confirms that genes a person inherits directly are most likely to contribute to their achievements in education.

The number of young migrants travelling alone is increasing globally and more needs to be done to protect them from the devastating long-term health impacts they could face, a new UCL-led study has found. The findings, published in  The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health , highlight the shortand long-term health challenges of unaccompanied minors (UAMs - those aged under 18 who are travelling without a parent or legal guardian), who often go under the radar.

"Geography of disillusion" poses a major challenge for democratic countries across the continent, according to researchers. As disenchantment rises in European hinterlands, democratic politics risks being eroded from within Davide Luca A new study reveals the extent of the political divide opening up between city and countryside right across Europe, with research suggesting that political polarisation in the 21st century may have a lot to do with place and location.

New analysis from Ricky Kanabar and Paul Gregg highlights the growing importance of family background in explaining wealth inequalities in Great Britain. Last updated on Thursday 5 August 2021 A growing gulf between the haves and have-nots in Britain means that parental wealth today matters more than at any point in the past when it comes to explaining differences in offspring wealth.

A study involving nearly half a million people in China reveals a clear link between cooking with wood or coal, and an increased risk of major eye diseases that can lead to blindness, according to a report published today in PLOS Medicine . About half the world's population - 3.8 billion individuals - are exposed to household air pollution from cooking using 'dirty' solid fuels, such as coal and wood.

Children who live in the most deprived UK areas see far higher increases in body fat between the ages of seven and 17 compared to those from most advantaged areas, finds a new study by UCL researchers. In the study, published in The Lancet Public Health , researchers found boys from the most deprived areas have a 3% higher fat mass index (FMI)* at age seven compared to those from the most advantaged areas, and by 17 it is 23% higher.

More than one in three British adults are suffering from two or more chronic health conditions in middle age, such as recurrent back problems, mental ill-health, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high-risk drinking, according to UCL researchers. The new study, published in  BMC Public Health,  shows that among Generation X - adults born in 1970 - those who grew up in poorer families are at much greater risk of having multiple long-term health problems in their late 40s.

Older people in the poorest sector of the population were more than twice as likely to feel isolated and lonely during the first lockdown than the richest, finds a new study led by researchers from UCL and the University of Manchester. The researchers analysed data from 4,709 older men and women aged over 50 living in England who are part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to explore changes in the experiences of social isolation and loneliness during the pandemic.

For the first time, researchers have used machine learning to successfully measure attachment in children - the vital human bond that humans first develop as infants to their caregivers. In new multi-disciplinary research, led by the University of Glasgow and published in PLOS ONE, the study team present a quick and easy way to measure attachment through a computer game, that has the potential to be used in largescale public health monitoring.