House-moves "bad" for children?

Tuesday February 7th, 2012

Children who move home frequently in childhood face an increased risk of poor health in later life, researchers warned today.

Drug addiction is a particular hazard from having an unsettled childhood, the Scottish researchers say.

Although frequent moving was strongly linked to single parent households and those with remarriages, the researchers say drug addiction is a risk independently of these situations.

The findings come from a 20 year study of some 850 people in the west of Scotland, reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The researchers found no link between frequent moving and physical health.

But it was linked to psychological distress, heaving drinking and smoking starting in the teenage years.

Some of this may be explained by the effect of moving school, according to Professor Alistair Leyland, of the Medical Research Council's public health unit in Glasgow, Scotland.

He writes: "Illicit drug use during adolescence and adulthood was independently associated with the frequency of house moves during childhood, even after taking account of parental background and levels of affluence and the number of school moves."

The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health February 7 2012

Tags: Child Health | General Health | Mental Health | UK News

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