Morton
Biographic Data
| ID | 24288 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Morton |
| FAMILY NAME | Morton |
| SIGNATURE | MORTON |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Auckland |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2231-7020 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 47 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 56 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 47 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Experiences in times of Covid ‐19
The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures on child and family functioning requires ongoing investigation to understand its far‐reaching effects. This study investigated the experiences of 10‐year‐old children ( n = 2421) from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort during some of the strictest pandemic‐related lockdown measures of 2020, with the aim of examining the effects of these measures on several aspects…
Examining the association between mothers’ life logistics and screen time of children aged 4 – 5 years old
The recent proliferation of mobile technology has dramatically changed the media landscape experienced by today’s preschool children, which presents an opportunity to re-appraise the predictors of screen time for children in this age group. Previous research conducted by Beyens and Eggermont has shown mothers’ life logistics to be longitudinally predictive of one- to fouryear-old children’s hours of TV viewing. Their Observed Life Logistics Model…
How mothers talk to their children about failure, mistakes and setbacks is related to their children's fear of failure
BackgroundMany people fear failure and making mistakes. This fear can be transmitted from parents to children, suggesting that parental communication regarding failures and setbacks may play a critical role in shaping a child's perception of mistakes.AimsIn this study, we investigated how everyday parent-child conversations about setbacks influence children's fear of making mistakes.SampleDrawing on the large pre-birth Growing Up in New Zealand c…
Evaluating the long-term effects of income assistance for material hardship among families with children
These findings provide insight into the associations between early childhood income supports and reductions in the likelihood of experiencing material hardship in the long-term, to emphasise the potential for such interventions to have longstanding effects. By elucidating the associations between benefit receipt and subsequent material hardship, this research gives direction for policy interventions and timely support for families
Daily Temperatures and Child Hospital Admissions in Aotearoa New Zealand
The influence of global climate change on temperature-related health outcomes among vulnerable populations, particularly young children, is underexplored. Using a case time series design, we analysed 647,000 hospital admissions of children aged under five years old in New Zealand, born between 2000 and 2019. We explored the relationship between daily maximum temperatures and hospital admissions across 2139 statistical areas. We used quasi-Poisson…
Proximal Processes and Contextual Factors Associated with Early Socio-emotional Competence Development
Talking, praising and teaching
The foundational skills that children begin formal schooling with are subject to persistent inequities, and can have long-term academic, occupational and health consequences. Early learning is conceptualised as encompassing social, emotional, behavioral and motor functioning in addition to more traditional formal academic skills. Within a large, diverse, longitudinal child cohort - Growing Up in New Zealand - the aims of the current study were to…
Maternal reminiscing during middle childhood
The way that mothers talk about the past (reminisce) with young children is linked to key memory, language, and socioemotional outcomes. The present research explored the role of a range of child, maternal, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that predict maternal reminiscing style, with a particular focus on maternal personality and child temperament. A total of 1,404 mother-child dyads from the prebirth longitudinal cohort study Growing Up in N…
Are distinct modes of using digital technologies evident by age eight? Implications for digital divides
Child feeding indexes measuring adherence to New Zealand nutrition guidelines
New Zealand (NZ) lacks nationally representative or generalisable information on the dietary intakes of pre‐schoolers. We used Growing Up in New Zealand cohort data to i) develop child feeding indexes (CFIs) based on National Food and Nutrition Guidelines for 2‐ and 4.5‐year‐olds; ii) describe the cohort adherence to the guidelines at 2 ( n = 6046) and 4.5 years ( n = 5889) and; iii) assess the CFIs’ convergent construct validity, by exploring as…
The Association Between Persistence and Change in Behavioral Difficulties During Early to Middle Childhood and Cognitive Abilities at Age 8
We investigated the association between persistence and change in behavioral difficulties during early to middle childhood and several cognitive outcomes. We observed 3904 8-year-olds enrolled in the longitudinal study Growing Up in New Zealand (50% male/female; 23% Māori, 9% Pacific Peoples, 13% Asian, 2% Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, 9% Other, 43% European). The NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery was used to assess cognitive functioning at …
Demographic discrepancies between administrative-prioritisation and self-prioritisation of multiple ethnic identifications
Prenatal Stress and Early Childhood Body Mass Index
Do Patterns of Levels of Socio-emotional Competence During Early Childhood Predict Executive Function at 4.5 Years
Classifying multiple ethnic identifications
The burgeoning global multi-ethnic population, in conjunction with the importance of accurate ethnic group counts for research and policy purposes, make classification of multiple ethnic responses a complex but important issue. There are numerous possible
The Association Between Persistence and Change in Early Childhood Behavioural Problems and Preschool Cognitive Outcomes
Growing up Healthy in Families Across the Globe
The Growing Up Healthy in Families Across the Globe project is an international collaboration examining the potential for harmonised analysis using five longitudinal studies (from New Zealand, Ireland and Scotland). All five studies follow the lives of children, are interested in the dynamics of family change and work to inform policy to potentially improve population well-being across the life-course. Comparative analysis from harmonised longitu…
Physical Conflict During Pregnancy
Participants were 5,831 women in their third trimester of pregnancy, part of a large, longitudinal, pre-birth national cohort study. Women reported on their experience of pushing and shoving, throwing or breaking objects within their relationship over the past month. Univariable regression models examined the association of a large number of potential risk and protective factors. Those significant at the univariable level were carried forward int…
What About Us? Exploring the Challenges and Sources of Support Influencing Black Students' STEM Identity Development in Postsecondary Education
Nickolaus A. Ortiz, Terrell R. Morton, Monica L. Miles, ReAnna S. Roby, What About Us? Exploring the Challenges and Sources of Support Influencing Black Students’ STEM Identity Development in Postsecondary Education, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 88, No. 3 (Summer 2019), pp. 311-326
Effects of folic acid food fortification scenarios on the folate intake of a multi-ethnic pregnant population
Objective To simulate effects of different scenarios of folic acid fortification of food on dietary folate equivalents (DFE) intake in an ethnically diverse sample of pregnant women. Design A forty-four-item FFQ was used to evaluate dietary intake of the population. DFE intakes were estimated for different scenarios of food fortification with folic acid: (i) voluntary fortification; (ii) increased voluntary fortification; (iii) simulated bread ma…
Caesarean section delivery and childhood obesity
BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have reported conflicting results in the association between Caesarean section (CS) birth and childhood obesity. Many of these studies had small sample sizes, were unable to distinguish between elective/planned and emergency CS, and did not adjust for the key confounder maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI). We investigated the association between CS delivery, particularly elective/planned and childhood …
Psychological Distress Among Resident and Nonresident Fathers
When fathers live away from their children, taking an active paternal role may become challenging and can add to paternal psychological distress. In a large ( N = 3,980) diverse cohort, we found that nonresident fathers are more likely to be psychologically distressed than resident fathers (27.4% vs. 15.2%) and more likely to report wanting a change in the level of involvement they have in their child's life (76.6% vs. 58.1%). Nonresident fathers…
Te Reo Māori
This study assessed the status of te reo Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand, in the context of New Zealand English. From a broadly representative sample of 6327 two-year-olds ( Growing Up in New Zealand ), 6090 mothers (96%) reported their children understood English, and 763 mothers (12%) reported their children understood Māori. Parents completed the new MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory short forms for te reo Māori…
Prenatal stress exposure and early childhood BMI
OBJECTIVES: The primary purpose of this study was to (i) examine associations between prenatal objective vulnerability and subjective stress, and (ii) investigate the relationships between prenatal vulnerability and subjective stress and early childhood BMI at 24- and 54- months of age after controlling for covariates. METHODS: The Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) longitudinal study provided information on 5839 pregnant women and their children …
Wear-Time Compliance with a Dual-Accelerometer System for Capturing 24-h Behavioural Profiles in Children and Adults
To advance the field of time-use epidemiology, a tool capable of monitoring 24 h movement behaviours including sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour is needed. This study explores compliance with a novel dual-accelerometer system for capturing 24 h movement patterns in two free-living samples of children and adults. A total of 103 children aged 8 years and 83 adults aged 20-60 years were recruited. Using a combination of medical dress…
Childhood Socioeconomic Position, Educational Attainment, and Adult Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Objectives. We assessed the associations of childhood socioeconomic position with cardiovascular disease risk factors (smoking, binge alcohol drinking, and being overweight) and examined the roles of educational attainment and cognitive functioning in these associations. Methods. Data were derived from a cohort study involving 7184 individuals who were born in Aberdeen, Scotland, between 1950 and 1956; had detailed records on perinatal characteri…
What About Us? Exploring the Challenges and Sources of Support Influencing Black Students' STEM Identity Development in Postsecondary Education
Nickolaus A. Ortiz, Terrell R. Morton, Monica L. Miles, ReAnna S. Roby, What About Us? Exploring the Challenges and Sources of Support Influencing Black Students’ STEM Identity Development in Postsecondary Education, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 88, No. 3 (Summer 2019), pp. 311-326
Early life predictors of childhood intelligence
Objective: To identify the early life predictors of childhood intelligence. Design: Cohort study of 10 424 children who were born in Aberdeen (Scotland) between 1950 and 1956. Results: Social class of father around the time of birth, gravidity, maternal age, maternal physical condition, whether the child was born outside of marriage, prematurity, intrauterine growth, and childhood height were all independently associated with childhood intelligen…
Demographic discrepancies between administrative-prioritisation and self-prioritisation of multiple ethnic identifications
Classifying multiple ethnic identifications
The burgeoning global multi-ethnic population, in conjunction with the importance of accurate ethnic group counts for research and policy purposes, make classification of multiple ethnic responses a complex but important issue. There are numerous possible
Pregnant partners
We describe the demography, health, pregnancy behaviours, family histories, and intentions for their children, of the 4401 partners who were enrolled antenatally into Growing Up in New Zealand, New Zealand’s new birth cohort study. The prospective fathers and their pregnant partners had similar demographics. Amongst the prospective fathers there were high rates of obesity, although the majority described themselves as healthy. Higher rates of ant…
How mothers talk to their children about failure, mistakes and setbacks is related to their children's fear of failure
BackgroundMany people fear failure and making mistakes. This fear can be transmitted from parents to children, suggesting that parental communication regarding failures and setbacks may play a critical role in shaping a child's perception of mistakes.AimsIn this study, we investigated how everyday parent-child conversations about setbacks influence children's fear of making mistakes.SampleDrawing on the large pre-birth Growing Up in New Zealand c…
Student engagement in very large classes
The rapid growth in the student population observed in higher education over the past 10–15 years in some countries has coincided with an increased recognition of student engagement and its value in developing knowledge. Active learning approaches have the potential to promote student engagement with lectures, but this becomes more challenging as class sizes increase. This study investigates student engagement from the teachers’ perspective, to i…
Association between childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position and pregnancy induced hypertension
Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension may indicate a tendency towards endothelial and metabolic abnormalities leading to future cardiovascular disease. Childhood socioeconomic adversity is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk but the association with pregnancy induced hypertension is unknown. Aim: To examine the association of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position with pregnancy induced hypertension. Design: Histori…
Experiences in times of Covid ‐19
The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures on child and family functioning requires ongoing investigation to understand its far‐reaching effects. This study investigated the experiences of 10‐year‐old children ( n = 2421) from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort during some of the strictest pandemic‐related lockdown measures of 2020, with the aim of examining the effects of these measures on several aspects…
Maternal reminiscing during middle childhood
The way that mothers talk about the past (reminisce) with young children is linked to key memory, language, and socioemotional outcomes. The present research explored the role of a range of child, maternal, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that predict maternal reminiscing style, with a particular focus on maternal personality and child temperament. A total of 1,404 mother-child dyads from the prebirth longitudinal cohort study Growing Up in N…
Growing up Healthy in Families Across the Globe
The Growing Up Healthy in Families Across the Globe project is an international collaboration examining the potential for harmonised analysis using five longitudinal studies (from New Zealand, Ireland and Scotland). All five studies follow the lives of children, are interested in the dynamics of family change and work to inform policy to potentially improve population well-being across the life-course. Comparative analysis from harmonised longitu…
Colonial Discourse, Postcolonial Theory
This chapter deals with work published in the field of Colonial and Postcolonial Theory in 2005 and is divided into two sections: 1 . Books; 2 . Journals
Colonial Discourse, Postcolonial Theory
This chapter deals with work published in the field of Colonial and Postcolonial Theory in 2003 and is divided into two sections: 1. Books; 2 Journals.
Association between childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position and pregnancy induced hypertension
Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension may indicate a tendency towards endothelial and metabolic abnormalities leading to future cardiovascular disease. Childhood socioeconomic adversity is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk but the association with pregnancy induced hypertension is unknown. Aim: To examine the association of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position with pregnancy induced hypertension. Design: Histori…
Early life predictors of childhood intelligence
Objective: To identify the early life predictors of childhood intelligence. Design: Cohort study of 10 424 children who were born in Aberdeen (Scotland) between 1950 and 1956. Results: Social class of father around the time of birth, gravidity, maternal age, maternal physical condition, whether the child was born outside of marriage, prematurity, intrauterine growth, and childhood height were all independently associated with childhood intelligen…
Childhood Socioeconomic Position, Educational Attainment, and Adult Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Objectives. We assessed the associations of childhood socioeconomic position with cardiovascular disease risk factors (smoking, binge alcohol drinking, and being overweight) and examined the roles of educational attainment and cognitive functioning in these associations. Methods. Data were derived from a cohort study involving 7184 individuals who were born in Aberdeen, Scotland, between 1950 and 1956; had detailed records on perinatal characteri…
Colonial Discourse, Postcolonial Theory
This chapter deals with work published in the field of Colonial and Postcolonial Theory in 2005 and is divided into two sections: 1 . Books; 2 . Journals
Colonial Discourse, Postcolonial Theory
This chapter deals with work published in the field of Colonial and Postcolonial Theory in 2006 and is divided into two sections: 1. Books; 2. Journals.
Colonial Discourse, Postcolonial Theory
This chapter deals with work published in the field of Colonial Discourse, Postcolonial Theory during 2007 and is divided into two sections: 1. Journals; 2. Books.
Student engagement in very large classes
The rapid growth in the student population observed in higher education over the past 10–15 years in some countries has coincided with an increased recognition of student engagement and its value in developing knowledge. Active learning approaches have the potential to promote student engagement with lectures, but this becomes more challenging as class sizes increase. This study investigates student engagement from the teachers’ perspective, to i…
Pre- And Postnatal Drivers of Childhood Intelligence
This study seeks to investigate what influences intelligence in early childhood. The Singapore Cohort Study of the Risk Factors of Myopia (SCORM) is used to assess determinants of childhood IQ and changes in IQ. This longitudinal data set, collected in 1999, includes a wealth of demographic, socioeconomic and prenatal characteristics. The richness of the data allows various econometric approaches to be employed, including the use of ordered and m…
Adherence to nutritional guidelines in pregnancy
Objective To determine adherence to nutritional guidelines by pregnant women in New Zealand and maternal characteristics associated with adherence. Design A cohort of the pregnant women enrolled into New Zealand’s new birth cohort study, Growing Up in New Zealand. Setting Women residing within a North Island region of New Zealand, where one-third of the national population lives. Subjects Pregnant women ( n 5664) were interviewed during 2009–2010…
Pregnant partners
Pregnant partners
We describe the demography, health, pregnancy behaviours, family histories, and intentions for their children, of the 4401 partners who were enrolled antenatally into Growing Up in New Zealand, New Zealand’s new birth cohort study. The prospective fathers and their pregnant partners had similar demographics. Amongst the prospective fathers there were high rates of obesity, although the majority described themselves as healthy. Higher rates of ant…
Estimating language skills in Samoan- and Tongan-speaking children growing up in New Zealand
The MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory (short form) was adapted for Samoan and Tongan speakers in New Zealand. The adaptation process drew upon language samples from Samoan and Tongan parent–child dyads with 20- and 26-month-old children and adult informants. The resulting 100-word language inventories in Samoan and Tongan, plus a single question about word combinations, were then administered to over 600 mothers of 2-year-olds i…
A Longitudinal Study of Pre-pregnancy and Pregnancy Risk Factors Associated with Antenatal and Postnatal Symptoms of Depression
Child-care nutrition environments
Objective: To describe nutrition environments in formal child care for 3- and 4-year-olds. Design: Cross-sectional online survey of nutrition-related child-care policy and practice. Written nutrition policies were analysed using the Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool. Setting: Licensed child-care services in the Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waikato regions of New Zealand. Subjects: Eight hundred and forty-seven services (private and community …
Green space and pregnancy outcomes
I hardly see my baby
Combining motherhood and paid work presents a significant challenge for many women. We asked 2388 working New Zealand mothers of infants about their biggest highlight and challenge since the birth of their child. Thematic analysis revealed the top three reported highlights were Enjoyment of the Child (40%), Child Development (29%) and Attributes of the Child (16%). The top three challenges included Time Management (24%), difficulties with materna…
Te Reo Māori
This study assessed the status of te reo Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand, in the context of New Zealand English. From a broadly representative sample of 6327 two-year-olds ( Growing Up in New Zealand ), 6090 mothers (96%) reported their children understood English, and 763 mothers (12%) reported their children understood Māori. Parents completed the new MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory short forms for te reo Māori…
Prenatal stress exposure and early childhood BMI
OBJECTIVES: The primary purpose of this study was to (i) examine associations between prenatal objective vulnerability and subjective stress, and (ii) investigate the relationships between prenatal vulnerability and subjective stress and early childhood BMI at 24- and 54- months of age after controlling for covariates. METHODS: The Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) longitudinal study provided information on 5839 pregnant women and their children …
Wear-Time Compliance with a Dual-Accelerometer System for Capturing 24-h Behavioural Profiles in Children and Adults
To advance the field of time-use epidemiology, a tool capable of monitoring 24 h movement behaviours including sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour is needed. This study explores compliance with a novel dual-accelerometer system for capturing 24 h movement patterns in two free-living samples of children and adults. A total of 103 children aged 8 years and 83 adults aged 20-60 years were recruited. Using a combination of medical dress…
Agreement between Future Parents on Infant Feeding Intentions and Its Association with Breastfeeding Duration
Maternal intentions are believed to have the strongest influence on infant feeding. However, what has rarely been studied, are the associations of maternal and partner intentions, and the influence these factors have on infant feeding. Our objective was to describe breastfeeding intentions of pregnant women and their partners, agreement about these intentions, and whether this agreement is associated with breastfeeding initiation and duration. Th…
Transitions in Smoking Across a Pregnancy
Pre-school nutrition-related behaviours at home and early childhood education services
Objective Pre-school nutrition-related behaviours influence diet and development of lifelong eating habits. We examined the prevalence and congruence of recommended nutrition-related behaviours (RNB) in home and early childhood education (ECE) services, exploring differences by child and ECE characteristics. Design Telephone interviews with mothers. Online survey of ECE managers/head teachers. Setting New Zealand. Subjects Children ( n 1181) aged…
Determinants of folic acid supplement use outside national recommendations for pregnant women
Objective To evaluate the sociodemographic and lifestyle factors associated with insufficient and excessive use of folic acid supplements (FAS) among pregnant women. Design A pregnancy cohort to which multinomial logistic regression models were applied to identify factors associated with duration and dose of FAS use. Setting The Growing Up in New Zealand child study, which enrolled pregnant women whose children were born in 2009–2010. Subjects Pr…
Antenatal and Postnatal Determinants of Behavioural Difficulties in Early Childhood
Medicine (31 works) · Psychology (29 works) · Demography (18 works) · Developmental psychology (18 works) · Cohort (14 works) · Demography (14 works) · Environmental health (14 works) · Population (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Pregnancy (11 works)