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Research
Associations between the built environment and emotional, social and physical indicators of early child development across high and low socioeconomic neighbourhoodsEmerging evidence indicates that the built environment influences early child development. Access to, and the quality of, built environment features vary with the socioeconomic status (SES) of neighbourhoods. It has not yet been established whether the association between built environment features and early child development varies by neighbourhood SES.
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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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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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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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Implementing a combined individual placement and support and vocational peer work program in integrated youth mental health settingsTo describe the implementation and outcomes of a combined individual placement and support (IPS) and vocational peer work program for young people with mental ill-health.
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Whole-cell pertussis vaccine in early infancy for the prevention of allergy in childrenAtopic diseases are the most common chronic conditions of childhood. The apparent rise in food anaphylaxis in young children over the past three decades is of particular concern, owing to the lack of proven prevention strategies other than the timely introduction of peanut and egg.
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Maternal immune-related conditions during pregnancy may be a risk factor for neuropsychiatric problems in offspring throughout childhood and adolescenceEmerging research suggests that maternal immune activation (MIA) may be associated with an increased risk of adverse neurodevelopmental and mental health outcomes in offspring. Using data from the Raine Study, we investigated whether MIA during pregnancy was associated with increased behavioral and emotional problems in offspring longitudinally across development.
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Study protocol for Healthy Conversations @ Playgroup: a multi-site cluster randomized controlled trial of an intervention to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours in young children attending community playgroupsEarly childhood is a critical window for preventing obesity and chronic disease. Yet, 1 in 4 Australian children aged 5 years and under are affected by overweight or obesity; and significant proportions of children under 5 years fail to meet guidelines for diet quality, physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep.
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The longitudinal relationship between BOLD signal variability changes and white matter maturation during early childhoodIntra-individual transient temporal fluctuations in brain signal, as measured by fMRI blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) variability, is increasingly considered an important signal rather than measurement noise.
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The relationship between dog ownership, dog play, family dog walking, and pre-schooler social-emotional development: findings from the PLAYCE observational studyRegular physical activity provides children with health and developmental benefits. This study investigated if active play and walking with the family dog was associated with better social-emotional development in young children.