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Research

The reciprocal relationship between psychiatric and substance use disorders is well-known, yet it remains largely unknown whether mental health morbidity causally leads to addictive behaviours. This paper utilises a fixed effects instrumental variables model, which is identified by time-varying sources of plausibly exogenous variations in mental health, and a nationally representative panel dataset from Australia to present robust evidence on the causal impact of mental distress on cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking behaviours.

Research

Few studies have examined associations between gender non-conformity (GNC) in childhood or adolescence and mental health outcomes later in life. This study examined associations between GNC and mental health over multiple time points in childhood and adolescence, and GNC in childhood and/or adolescence and mental health in adulthood.

Research

Parenting is a rewarding experience but is not without its challenges. Parents of Autistic children face additional challenges, and as a result can experience lower levels of wellbeing and more mental health problems (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress). Previous studies have identified concurrent correlates of wellbeing and mental health.

Research

The dual-factor model of mental health proposes that high wellbeing and low distress are necessary to define mental health. This study used latent profile analysis to identify mental health profiles in a sample of 3,587 Australian grade 6 students and explored the association between mental health profiles and school outcomes measured in grades 7 and 9.

News & Events

A study by researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia has found Aboriginal mothers are at a significantly greater risk of preventable death than other Australia

Research

The vast and growing challenges for human health and all life on Earth require urgent and deep structural changes to the way in which we live. Broken relationships with nature are at the core of both the modern health crisis and the erosion of planetary health. A declining connection to nature has been implicated in the exploitative attitudes that underpin the degradation of both physical and social environments and almost all aspects of personal physical, mental, and spiritual health.

News & Events

Three outstanding young researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia have been named Raine Fellows and received valuable Raine Priming Grants to support their child health research.

The Healing Kids, Healing Families team strives to understand how trauma and adverse circumstances can impact a child and their family, and how we can help them to recover from these experiences.

News & Events

A project that aims to understand and support the mental health of Australians with complex gender-affirmation experiences has received the $150,000 Embrace Big Idea Grant for 2024.

News & Events

The Kids Research Institute Australia warmly welcomes youth mental health researcher Associate Professor Kathryn Modecki.