How well are Australian infants and children aged 4 to 5 years doing?

This report presents an analysis of the data from the first wave of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to explore the wellbeing of over 10,000 Australian infants and children. This report presents an analysis of the data from the first wave of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to explore the wellbeing of 5,107 children in the infant cohort of the study and the 4,983 children, aged 4 to 5 years, in the child cohort. Wave 1 of LSAC includes measures of multiple aspects of children\u27s early development. These developmental measures are summarised in the LSAC Outcome Index, a composite measure which includes an overall index as well as three separate domain scores, tapping physical development, social and emotional functioning, and learning and cognitive development. This report explores five specific aspects of infants\u27 and children\u27s experiences, exposures and environments in relation to their Outcome Index scores: * key sociodemographic characteristics covering the child, mother, family and neighbourhood * non-parental care experiences * child health—prenatal and postnatal experiences and exposures * maternal physical and mental health * the early educational experiences of the child cohort in the home and out-of-home contexts. This paper is by Melissa Wake, Ann Sanson, Donna Berthelsen, Pollyanna Hardy, Sebastian Misson, Katherine Smith, Judy Ungerer and the LSAC Research Consortium

Research on children, families and communities

The main aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology model has been used to guide the design of empirical research on children, families and communities. We will show how the model shapes the kinds of research questions that are asked how it influences specifically what researchers measure and when assessments occur. The social ecology model has had a broad influence on developmental research. Its impact can be seen in the design of very large-scale, longitudinal studies as well as in smaller scale projects

What can the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children tell us about infants' and 4 to 5 year olds' experiences of early childhood education and care?

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Childcare Policy to Promote Child Wellbeing

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Parent reactions to childhood phenylketonuria

Parents play a prominent role in the early management of phenylketonuria (PKU). This study examines parent trauma reactions to PKU, the nature of parent concerns out PKU, and social relationship variables predicting parent trauma reactions. Questionnaires were completed by 65 mothers and 61 fathers of children aged 3 months to 12 years. Most parents reported mild levels of trauma. Intrusive reactions were more common than avoidant reactions. More mothers than fathers reported clinical levels of trauma (12% vs. 5%). Trauma scores were moderately correlated with PKU concerns. For mothers, higher levels of trauma reactions were associated with younger age of the child, perception of their partner as less caring, and smaller support networks. For fathers, higher trauma reactions were associated with younger age of self and non-English-speaking background. Results indicate the relevance of a trauma model to understanding the experience of parents caring for a child with PKU.16 page(s

Implications of resolving the diagnosis of PKU for parents and children

Objective: To examine resolution of the diagnosis among parents of children with phenylketonuria (PKU) as a mechanism of adjustment for parents and children. Methods: Reaction to diagnosis interviews were conducted with 52 mothers and 47 fathers of 55 children with PKU aged 2-12 years. The parents also completed questionnaires assessing their personal adjustment (stress symptoms), their child' s adjustment (behavior problems), and coping variables (personal hopefulness and coping strategies). Results: Most mothers (69%) and fathers (77%) were resolved to their child' s diagnosis. Lower levels of parent stress were explained by higher personal hopefulness (14% of the variance for mothers and 21% for fathers) and resolution of the diagnosis (15% of the variance for mothers and 6% for fathers) after taking account of demographic variables and severity of the child' s PKU. Parent resolution, however, did not contribute independently to the variance explained in child behavior problems after taking account of coping variables and severity of PKU. Conclusions: Resolution of the diagnosis of PKU is a strong indicator of parent adjustment, and assessment of parent reactions should be considered an integral component of clinical care. Further research is warranted in relation to the implications of parent resolution for the child' s response to PKU through different development stages and the effectiveness of interventions in aiding parent resolution.12 page(s

Attachment, behavioral inhibition, and anxiety in preschool children

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Maternal depression: relations with maternal caregiving representations and emotional availability during the preschool years

This longitudinal study aimed to determine whether maternal depression was related to caregiving behavior and further whether this relationship was mediated and/or moderated by maternal caregiving representations. Ninety-two mothers were assessed for symptoms of depression when their children were 4, 12, and 15 months, and later at 4 years of age. At 4 years of age, mothers' caregiving representations of their child and their relationship were examined using the Parent Development Interview (PDI), and aspects of maternal behaviors were rated during mother-child play interactions using the Emotional Availability Scales (EA). The experience of chronic maternal depression was related to lower levels of maternal sensitivity, and this association was mediated by mothers' impaired capacity to take their child's perspective. The link between depression and lower maternal sensitivity was also moderated by perspective taking, indicating that poor perspective taking had a negative impact on sensitivity only for chronically depressed mothers. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that mothers' representational models are affected by cognitive distortions associated with depression, and these distortions interfere with a mother's capacity to interact sensitively with her child.18 page(s

The effect of maternal depression and marital adjustment on young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems

Background: The present study aimed to clarify the circumstances under which maternal depression is associated with adverse outcomes in pre-school-aged children, and to explore the additional impact of the marital relationship in a socio-economically low-risk sample. Methods: Ninety-two mothers recruited into a longitudinal study were assessed for symptoms of depression when their children were 4, 12 and 15 months, and later at 4 years of age. At 4 years of age, mothers were also asked to report on marital adjustment. Mothers, fathers and pre-school teachers were asked to report on children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. Results: Children exposed to chronic maternal depression were rated by their parents as significantly more problematic on internalizing and externalizing behaviours. This association was not mediated or moderated by low marital satisfaction. No parent-reported effects were evident for children exposed to transient depression. Ten per cent of the children had internalizing scores in the clinical range, and 7% had externalizing scores in the clinical range. Almost all of the children with clinically elevated scores had been exposed to chronic maternal depression. Teacher reports of internalizing behaviours corroborated parent reports; however, teachers tended to report significantly lower levels of behaviour problems. Although there was a tendency for teachers to rate children exposed to any depression as more problematic on internalizing behaviours the subgroup differences were not significant. Conclusions: Findings confirm that depression chronicity is important in determining child behavioural outcomes and that depression effects cannot be accounted for by low marital adjustment. Results are discussed with reference to transmission of risk modelsand treatment implications are considered."10 page(s

Postnatal depression and the quality of mother-infant interactions during the second year of life

Although a large body of evidence points to an association between postnatal depression and non-optimal mother-infant interactions, empirical research findings are mixed. This study investigated the impact of maternal postnatal depression, depression chronicity, and infant gender on mothers' behaviour and speech in interaction with their 15-month-old infants in a sample of generally well-educated, middle-class mothers. When mothers who had experienced postnatal depression (n=77) were compared with mothers who had not (n=35), few differences in the quality of interactions were found. However, mothers who had experienced postnatal depression were more likely than never depressed mothers to demonstrate signs of intrusiveness in interaction with their infants. Neither depression chronicity nor infant gender modified this association. Results are discussed with respect to the characteristics of the sample, measurement issues and models of cumulative risk.10 page(s