Policy makers can use information they gathered as part of a Growing Up in Ireland study to decide how family supports should be offered.

New research on the effect a 16% drop in income has had on children shows teenagers in particular have been left with long term scars.

There is evidence that parenting styles change during times of stress, becoming more harsh.

For children that means they see less warmth and get less hugs for example.

And at home, parents tend to struggle within their own relationship being harder on each other, short and snappy.

Those changes can bring mental health issues, with young people living in families under financial strain more likely to display behavioural issues in school, and suffer poor academic results.

Researchers say families who contributed to the research saw a tripling of unemployment; a 16% drop in income and 10% unable to pay their bills, their mortgages or rent payments.

Families faced severe consequences, including losing their homes.

But the research also offers opportunities, giving insights into the kind of interventions that would be helpful - such as parenting programmes and financial supports.

Professor Richard Layte of Trinity College Dublin, one of the authors of a new Growing Up in Ireland study spoke to Newstalk's Breakfast Show about a new set of findings concerning the impact of recession on families between 2008-2011: