Lucy Griffiths
Biographic Data
| ID | 4436809 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lucy Griffiths |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lucy |
| FAMILY NAME | Griffiths |
| SIGNATURE | GRIFFITHS L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Swansea University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9230-624X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1968 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Educational pathways and outcomes for care‐experienced children: A 16‐year longitudinal study
Children who are removed from their birth families during childhood—termed care‐experienced—can be at risk for lower educational attainment and poorer school experiences, often linked to deprivation and behavioural factors. However, research often uses aggregated measures that obscure the complexities of care (e.g. timing, and placements) and evidence is needed to understand the factors that could explain the link between care‐experience and atta…
Environmental phenotypes for healthy weight in children using population-based linked environment and health data: A cross-sectional observational study
BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is a major global health challenge, projected to affect one in three children worldwide by 2050. While individual and social factors contribute, increasing evidence highlights the built environment as a key determinant in shaping children's behaviours and weight outcomes. Evidence suggests that neighbourhood design, greenspace access, and food retail availability influence diet and physical activity, but most studies…
Children’s early care experiences and their educational attainment: A population data-linkage study in Wales
Care-experienced children are at risk of lower educational attainment. Duration of care is related to attainment, as is the type of placement(s) (e.g. foster care). To determine ‘what works’ for care-experienced children, our research examined: i) profiles of children on their care experiences, and ii) how these relate to educational attainment at age seven. Using anonymised, linked records in Wales, United Kingdom, we constructed an e-cohort of …
Understanding variations in the built environment over time to inform longitudinal studies of young children's physical activity behaviour - The Beaches project
We know relatively little about the role the neighbourhood built environment plays in promoting young children's physical activity, particularly its longitudinal effect either through repeated exposure to the same environment or through change in exposure by moving from one neighbourhood to another. This study characterised the neighbourhood environment of young children in the PLAYCE cohort study over three timepoints from 2015 to 2023. There we…
Ethnic Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System: A Welsh Linked Administrative Data Study for 2011–2020
Children’s chances of contact with the child welfare system at different stages vary significantly by their ethnicity. This study goes beyond recent UK studies on the scale of ethnic differences in children in care or on protection plans by improving data completeness through data linkage, considering the ethnic patterns in the wider population of children in need or receiving care and support, and reporting trends over time. We contribute to the…
Why social work needs to embrace data linkage research
Purpose Linked data can provide unique insights into both the need for social care services and the outcomes of intervention. Crucially, these insights will be based on much more representative coverage of the population of people receiving social care than is achieved by surveys and they are not subject to the reporting bias that can arise in relation to stigmatised services. Design/methodology/approach The opportunities are expanding for linkin…
Immunisation status of children receiving care and support in Wales: A national data linkage study
Background In the UK, a robust childhood immunisation programme ensures children are offered protection against serious infections; identifying inequalities in vaccination coverage is essential. This is one of the first data linkage studies to examine coverage of primary, as well as pre-school booster and second dose of MMR vaccines, in children receiving support from social care services across Wales. Methods By accessing records held within the…
Motor Competence between Children with and without Additional Learning Needs: A Cross-Sectional Population-Level Study
The aim of this study was to examine associations in motor competence between children with additional learning needs (ALN) and typically developing children. This cross-sectional study involved a nationally representative cohort of 4555 children (48.98% boys; 11.35 ± 0.65 years) from sixty-five schools across Wales (UK). Demographic data were collected from schools, and children were assessed using the Dragon Challenge assessment of motor compet…
A Socioecological Perspective of How Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour at Home Changed during the First Lockdown of Covid-19 Restrictions: The HomeSPACE Project
The COVID-19 pandemic forced school closures, resulting in home schooling, more time spent at home and fewer opportunities for physical activity (PA). This study explored factors influencing PA and sedentary behaviours (SB) within the home environment during the first lockdown, starting in March 2020. Twenty semi-structured interviews (20 parents and 23 children, 12 years ± 1.25) were conducted. Data were coded using thematic analysis on NVivo© a…
Use of Linked Administrative Children’s Social Care Data for Research: A Scoping Review of Existing UK Studies
Increasing access to children’s social care data presents enormous potential for research and policy evaluation, with opportunities increased where data can be anonymously linked to other sources of information, such as health and education data. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of all UK data linkage studies that have used routinely collected individual-level children’s social care administrative data. Six research d…
Born into care: Associations between area-level deprivation and the rates of children entering care proceedings in Wales
There is international concern about rising rates of children entering out-of-home care and what might be done to reduce the need for compulsory intervention in family life. Previous studies have analysed the associations with family-level variables, such as a presence of domestic abuse, parental mental health problems, and substance misuse in the parental household. Other studies have looked at multiple area-deprivation as a predictor of childho…
Scaling up research on family justice using large-scale administrative data: An invitation to the socio-legal community
This article outlines the value of administrative data for family justice research. Although socio-legal scholars have extended their research beyond purely theoretical or doctrinal analyses, studies using large-scale digital datasets remain few in number. As new opportunities arise to link large-scale administrative datasets across health, education, welfare and justice, it is vital that the community of family justice researchers and analysts a…
Associations between the Home Physical Environment and Children’s Home-Based Physical Activity and Sitting
It is important to understand the correlates of children's physical activity (PA) and sitting at home, where children spend significant time. The home social environment has an important influence; however, much less is known about the home physical environment. Therefore, the study aimed to assess relationships between the physical environment and children's sitting and PA at home. In total, 235 child-parent dyads were included in the analyses. …
Environmental influences on children's physical activity
BACKGROUND: This paper aims to assess whether 7-year-olds' physical activity is associated with family and area-level measures of the physical and socioeconomic environments. METHODS: We analysed the association of environments with physical activity in 6497 singleton children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study with reliable accelerometer data (≥2 days and ≥10 h/day). Activity levels were assessed as counts per minute; minutes of moderate to vig…
Modelling accelerometer data from 7-year old British children using functional analysis of variance
Background There is increasing evidence of the impact of physical activity (PA) in childhood on future health and well-being. The use of accelerometers in population-based studies provides objectively measured activity levels, although there are very few studies using this technology to collect data from young children. The resulting data are highly irregular trajectories and contains periods of activity reflecting multiple seasonal patterns, for…
Self-esteem and quality of life in obese children and adolescents: A systematic review
Although an increasing number of children and adolescents are becoming obese, the psychological morbidities associated with obesity are not well established. Existing reviews report modest associations between obesity and global self-esteem. However, none have examined how this affects multi-component assessments of self-esteem and quality of life in young people with defined obesity. A literature search identified 17 self-esteem and 25 quality o…
The impact of maternal employment on breast-feeding duration in the UK Millennium Cohort Study
Objective To examine the relationship of maternal employment characteristics, day care arrangements and the type of maternity leave pay to breast-feeding for at least 4 months. Design Cohort study. Setting Babies aged 9 months in the Millennium Cohort Study, born between September 2000 and January 2002. Subjects A total of 6917 British/Irish white employed mothers with singleton babies. Results Mothers employed part-time or self-employed were mor…
Do early infant feeding practices vary by maternal ethnic group
Objective To examine UK country and ethnic variations in infant feeding practices. Design Cohort study. Setting Infants enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study, born between September 2000 and January 2002. Subjects A total of 18 150 natural mothers (11 286 (8207 white) living in England) of singleton infants. Outcome measures Breast-feeding initiation, breast-feeding discontinuation and introduction of solid foods before 4 months. Explanatory va…
The Integration of the Probation and Prison Welfare Services
This article takes a critical look at the integration of the probation service with after‐care. It expresses the personal views and the difficulties experienced by two probation officers who attempted integration by serving a part of their time inside a prison and the rest outside as local after‐care officers. It also gives an indication of their approach to case work and to what they feel are the right priorities for prison welfare work. For suc…
Why social work needs to embrace data linkage research
Purpose Linked data can provide unique insights into both the need for social care services and the outcomes of intervention. Crucially, these insights will be based on much more representative coverage of the population of people receiving social care than is achieved by surveys and they are not subject to the reporting bias that can arise in relation to stigmatised services. Design/methodology/approach The opportunities are expanding for linkin…
Born into care: Associations between area-level deprivation and the rates of children entering care proceedings in Wales
There is international concern about rising rates of children entering out-of-home care and what might be done to reduce the need for compulsory intervention in family life. Previous studies have analysed the associations with family-level variables, such as a presence of domestic abuse, parental mental health problems, and substance misuse in the parental household. Other studies have looked at multiple area-deprivation as a predictor of childho…
Environmental influences on children's physical activity
BACKGROUND: This paper aims to assess whether 7-year-olds' physical activity is associated with family and area-level measures of the physical and socioeconomic environments. METHODS: We analysed the association of environments with physical activity in 6497 singleton children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study with reliable accelerometer data (≥2 days and ≥10 h/day). Activity levels were assessed as counts per minute; minutes of moderate to vig…
The Integration of the Probation and Prison Welfare Services
This article takes a critical look at the integration of the probation service with after‐care. It expresses the personal views and the difficulties experienced by two probation officers who attempted integration by serving a part of their time inside a prison and the rest outside as local after‐care officers. It also gives an indication of their approach to case work and to what they feel are the right priorities for prison welfare work. For suc…
The impact of maternal employment on breast-feeding duration in the UK Millennium Cohort Study
Objective To examine the relationship of maternal employment characteristics, day care arrangements and the type of maternity leave pay to breast-feeding for at least 4 months. Design Cohort study. Setting Babies aged 9 months in the Millennium Cohort Study, born between September 2000 and January 2002. Subjects A total of 6917 British/Irish white employed mothers with singleton babies. Results Mothers employed part-time or self-employed were mor…
Do early infant feeding practices vary by maternal ethnic group
Objective To examine UK country and ethnic variations in infant feeding practices. Design Cohort study. Setting Infants enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study, born between September 2000 and January 2002. Subjects A total of 18 150 natural mothers (11 286 (8207 white) living in England) of singleton infants. Outcome measures Breast-feeding initiation, breast-feeding discontinuation and introduction of solid foods before 4 months. Explanatory va…
Self-esteem and quality of life in obese children and adolescents: A systematic review
Although an increasing number of children and adolescents are becoming obese, the psychological morbidities associated with obesity are not well established. Existing reviews report modest associations between obesity and global self-esteem. However, none have examined how this affects multi-component assessments of self-esteem and quality of life in young people with defined obesity. A literature search identified 17 self-esteem and 25 quality o…
Modelling accelerometer data from 7-year old British children using functional analysis of variance
Background There is increasing evidence of the impact of physical activity (PA) in childhood on future health and well-being. The use of accelerometers in population-based studies provides objectively measured activity levels, although there are very few studies using this technology to collect data from young children. The resulting data are highly irregular trajectories and contains periods of activity reflecting multiple seasonal patterns, for…
Environmental influences on children's physical activity
BACKGROUND: This paper aims to assess whether 7-year-olds' physical activity is associated with family and area-level measures of the physical and socioeconomic environments. METHODS: We analysed the association of environments with physical activity in 6497 singleton children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study with reliable accelerometer data (≥2 days and ≥10 h/day). Activity levels were assessed as counts per minute; minutes of moderate to vig…
Associations between the Home Physical Environment and Children’s Home-Based Physical Activity and Sitting
It is important to understand the correlates of children's physical activity (PA) and sitting at home, where children spend significant time. The home social environment has an important influence; however, much less is known about the home physical environment. Therefore, the study aimed to assess relationships between the physical environment and children's sitting and PA at home. In total, 235 child-parent dyads were included in the analyses. …
Scaling up research on family justice using large-scale administrative data: An invitation to the socio-legal community
This article outlines the value of administrative data for family justice research. Although socio-legal scholars have extended their research beyond purely theoretical or doctrinal analyses, studies using large-scale digital datasets remain few in number. As new opportunities arise to link large-scale administrative datasets across health, education, welfare and justice, it is vital that the community of family justice researchers and analysts a…
A Socioecological Perspective of How Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour at Home Changed during the First Lockdown of Covid-19 Restrictions: The HomeSPACE Project
The COVID-19 pandemic forced school closures, resulting in home schooling, more time spent at home and fewer opportunities for physical activity (PA). This study explored factors influencing PA and sedentary behaviours (SB) within the home environment during the first lockdown, starting in March 2020. Twenty semi-structured interviews (20 parents and 23 children, 12 years ± 1.25) were conducted. Data were coded using thematic analysis on NVivo© a…
Use of Linked Administrative Children’s Social Care Data for Research: A Scoping Review of Existing UK Studies
Increasing access to children’s social care data presents enormous potential for research and policy evaluation, with opportunities increased where data can be anonymously linked to other sources of information, such as health and education data. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of all UK data linkage studies that have used routinely collected individual-level children’s social care administrative data. Six research d…
Born into care: Associations between area-level deprivation and the rates of children entering care proceedings in Wales
There is international concern about rising rates of children entering out-of-home care and what might be done to reduce the need for compulsory intervention in family life. Previous studies have analysed the associations with family-level variables, such as a presence of domestic abuse, parental mental health problems, and substance misuse in the parental household. Other studies have looked at multiple area-deprivation as a predictor of childho…
Immunisation status of children receiving care and support in Wales: A national data linkage study
Background In the UK, a robust childhood immunisation programme ensures children are offered protection against serious infections; identifying inequalities in vaccination coverage is essential. This is one of the first data linkage studies to examine coverage of primary, as well as pre-school booster and second dose of MMR vaccines, in children receiving support from social care services across Wales. Methods By accessing records held within the…
Motor Competence between Children with and without Additional Learning Needs: A Cross-Sectional Population-Level Study
The aim of this study was to examine associations in motor competence between children with additional learning needs (ALN) and typically developing children. This cross-sectional study involved a nationally representative cohort of 4555 children (48.98% boys; 11.35 ± 0.65 years) from sixty-five schools across Wales (UK). Demographic data were collected from schools, and children were assessed using the Dragon Challenge assessment of motor compet…
Understanding variations in the built environment over time to inform longitudinal studies of young children's physical activity behaviour - The Beaches project
We know relatively little about the role the neighbourhood built environment plays in promoting young children's physical activity, particularly its longitudinal effect either through repeated exposure to the same environment or through change in exposure by moving from one neighbourhood to another. This study characterised the neighbourhood environment of young children in the PLAYCE cohort study over three timepoints from 2015 to 2023. There we…
Ethnic Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System: A Welsh Linked Administrative Data Study for 2011–2020
Children’s chances of contact with the child welfare system at different stages vary significantly by their ethnicity. This study goes beyond recent UK studies on the scale of ethnic differences in children in care or on protection plans by improving data completeness through data linkage, considering the ethnic patterns in the wider population of children in need or receiving care and support, and reporting trends over time. We contribute to the…
Why social work needs to embrace data linkage research
Purpose Linked data can provide unique insights into both the need for social care services and the outcomes of intervention. Crucially, these insights will be based on much more representative coverage of the population of people receiving social care than is achieved by surveys and they are not subject to the reporting bias that can arise in relation to stigmatised services. Design/methodology/approach The opportunities are expanding for linkin…
Children’s early care experiences and their educational attainment: A population data-linkage study in Wales
Care-experienced children are at risk of lower educational attainment. Duration of care is related to attainment, as is the type of placement(s) (e.g. foster care). To determine ‘what works’ for care-experienced children, our research examined: i) profiles of children on their care experiences, and ii) how these relate to educational attainment at age seven. Using anonymised, linked records in Wales, United Kingdom, we constructed an e-cohort of …
Educational pathways and outcomes for care‐experienced children: A 16‐year longitudinal study
Children who are removed from their birth families during childhood—termed care‐experienced—can be at risk for lower educational attainment and poorer school experiences, often linked to deprivation and behavioural factors. However, research often uses aggregated measures that obscure the complexities of care (e.g. timing, and placements) and evidence is needed to understand the factors that could explain the link between care‐experience and atta…
Environmental phenotypes for healthy weight in children using population-based linked environment and health data: A cross-sectional observational study
BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is a major global health challenge, projected to affect one in three children worldwide by 2050. While individual and social factors contribute, increasing evidence highlights the built environment as a key determinant in shaping children's behaviours and weight outcomes. Evidence suggests that neighbourhood design, greenspace access, and food retail availability influence diet and physical activity, but most studies…
Medicine (14 works) · Environmental health (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Political science (8 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (7 works) · Population (7 works) · Cohort (6 works) · Demography (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Ethnic group (5 works)