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Don't Get Lost in Translation: Integrating Developmental and Implementation Sciences to Accelerate Real-World Impact on Children's Development, Health, and WellbeingTranslation of developmental science discoveries is impeded by numerous barriers at different stages of the research-to-practice pipeline. Actualization of the vast potential of the developmental sciences to improve children's health and development in the real world is imperative but has not yet been fully realized.
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The orofacial, oromotor, speech, and voice characteristics of adolescents in youth detention: a comparison of groups with and without prenatal alcohol exposureLanguage disorder is highly prevalent in youth justice; however, orofacial, oromotor, speech, and voice anomalies have been largely overlooked. There has been some documentation of these among individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), and adolescents with PAE are over-represented in youth justice.
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Accuracy of self-reported private health insurance coverageStudies on health insurance coverage often rely on measures self-reported by respondents, but the accuracy of such measures has not been thoroughly validated. This paper is the first to use linked Australian National Health Survey and administrative population tax data to explore the accuracy of self-reported private health insurance (PHI) coverage in survey data.
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Basic epidemiology of wellbeing among children and adolescents: A cross-sectional population level studyWellbeing and mental health are fundamental rights of children and adolescents essential for sustainable development. Understanding the epidemiology of child and adolescent wellbeing is essential to informing population health approaches to improving wellbeing and preventing mental illness.
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Associations between the human immune system and gut microbiome with neurodevelopment in the first 5 years of life: A systematic scoping reviewThe aim of this review was to map the literature assessing associations between maternal or infant immune or gut microbiome biomarkers and child neurodevelopmental outcomes within the first 5 years of life. We conducted a PRISMA-ScR compliant review of peer-reviewed, English-language journal articles.
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Mental health profiles and academic achievement in Australian school studentsThis study explored mental health profiles in Australian school students using indicators of well-being (i.e., optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness) and psychological distress (i.e., sadness and worries). The sample included 75,757 students (ages 8-18 years) who completed the 2019 South Australian Wellbeing and Engagement Collection.
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Use of administrative record linkage to examine patterns of universal early childhood health and education service use from birth to Kindergarten (age 4 years) and developmental vulnerability in the Preparatory Year (age 5 years) in Tasmania, AustraliaIn Australia, the health and education sectors provide universal early childhood services for the same population of children. Therefore, there is a strong imperative to view service use and outcomes through a cross-sectoral lens to better understand and address the service needs of young children and their families.
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Supporting Maternal and Child Mental Health Through Dietary Changes Focused on the Gut MicrobiotaGrowing evidence from preclinical studies, epidemiology, and randomized controlled trials supports a causal role for diet quality in mental disorder risk, and clinical psychiatric guidelines now place diet, along with other life-style behaviors, as foundational treatment targets for mood disorders.
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Informing Resource Allocation for Investment in Early Childhood: A Review of the International Peer-Reviewed EvidenceEarly childhood investment decisions represent critical policy frameworks that ideally reflect a strong evidence base. This review seeks to assess early childhood intervention priorities based on return on investment without limitation by health, education or social science sector.
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Psychometric Properties of the EQ-5D-Y-5L for Children With Intellectual DisabilityThe EQ-5D-Y-5L is a generic preference-based measure of health-related quality of life for children. This study aimed to describe the distributional properties, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity of the EQ-5D-Y-5L in children with intellectual disability (ID).
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Parental Perspectives on Children’s School Readiness: An Ethnographic StudySchool readiness is a construct used by educators and policy makers to describe a range of abilities that are beneficial for children transitioning to school. The association of socioeconomic disadvantage with developmental vulnerability when children start school is well established. Parents play a crucial role in supporting children’s transition to school and are acknowledged as their child’s first and foremost teacher.
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THINK BIG - Neurodevelopmental DisordersAmy Andrew Helen Jenny Martyn Melissa Videos Finlay-Jones Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew Leonard Downs Symons Licari BPsych(Hons), MPsych(
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‘It’s All About Context’: Building School Capacity to Implement a Whole-School Approach to BullyingStudent bullying behaviours are a significant social issue in schools worldwide. Whilst school staff have access to quality bullying prevention interventions, schools can face significant challenges implementing the whole-school approach required to address the complexity of these behaviours.
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Participant experiences of intervention to detect and manage familial hypercholesterolaemia in Australian general practice: A qualitative descriptive studyGeneral practitioners (GPs) are ideally placed to have a much larger role in detection and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) among their patients. The aim of this study was to seek the reflections of practice staff and newly diagnosed patients with FH on the implementation of an FH model of care in the general practice setting.
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Coping Compass: co-designing a brief online positive psychology programme for youth with chronic conditionsThis article presents a case study of a 12-month co-design process with young people (16–25) living with chronic health conditions to create an online, self-guided intervention based on positive psychology. Following an established framework for co-designing with vulnerable consumers, the co-design process was designed with stakeholders to promote accessibility and maximise youth engagement in the design of the programme.
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Adolescent education outcomes and maltreatment: The role of pre-existing adversity, level of child protection involvement, and school attendanceMaltreated children are at high risk for low educational achievement, however few studies have accounted for confounding risk factors that commonly co-occur (including child, family and neighbourhood risk factors) and results have been mixed, particularly for adolescents.
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Developing a smartphone application to support social connectedness and wellbeing in young people with cystic fibrosisThis study developed and tested a highly usable, and moderately acceptable, smartphone app to improve the psychosocial health of young people living with CF
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Heritability of Specific Language Impairment and Nonspecific Language Impairment at Ages 4 and 6 Years Across Phenotypes of Speech, Language, and Nonverbal CognitionNonverbal IQ is not on the same causal pathway as language impairments
News & Events
Early signs of mental health problems in young children under the spotlightDr Amy Finlay-Jones has been awarded the prestigious Healthway Fellowship for 2021.