Controlled trial of a family intervention for children bullied by peers. Bullying by peers begins as early as pre-school and affects a tenth of Australian children almost every day. This has serious ongoing consequences including increased risk of mental health problems, onset of health problems, development of negative school attitudes and behaviour problems and loss of friendships. This study is a controlled trial of a family program to assist children and parents to reduce the incidence and i ....Controlled trial of a family intervention for children bullied by peers. Bullying by peers begins as early as pre-school and affects a tenth of Australian children almost every day. This has serious ongoing consequences including increased risk of mental health problems, onset of health problems, development of negative school attitudes and behaviour problems and loss of friendships. This study is a controlled trial of a family program to assist children and parents to reduce the incidence and impact of bullying. If successful, such a program could provide relief to many children and families struggling with bullying and save untold millions of dollars lost to future mental health demands.Read moreRead less
Physiological, bahavioural and functional motor abilities in children with undifferentiated tongue movements during speech. A subgroup of children with speech disorders who have difficulty moving parts of their tongue independently during speech has been identified. This study aims to investigate if this is a unique phenomenon of the tongue during speech, or indicative of more generalized patterns of motor movement. This will enable us to explore the similarities between patterns of movement in ....Physiological, bahavioural and functional motor abilities in children with undifferentiated tongue movements during speech. A subgroup of children with speech disorders who have difficulty moving parts of their tongue independently during speech has been identified. This study aims to investigate if this is a unique phenomenon of the tongue during speech, or indicative of more generalized patterns of motor movement. This will enable us to explore the similarities between patterns of movement in the articulators during speech and non-speech tasks and the upper limb. In turn, this will inform the debate about motor control mechanisms for speech and other body movements, which would lead to more effective treatment regimes.Read moreRead less
Risk factors for the development of paediatric anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are common and debilitating forms of disability affecting Australian children. This project blends strategic basic research with clinical application to advance our understanding of the causes of these disorders. By examining underlying child- and parent-based mechanisms by which children at greatest risk for these disorders transition to anxiety-disordered status, this project will lead to improved prevention an ....Risk factors for the development of paediatric anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are common and debilitating forms of disability affecting Australian children. This project blends strategic basic research with clinical application to advance our understanding of the causes of these disorders. By examining underlying child- and parent-based mechanisms by which children at greatest risk for these disorders transition to anxiety-disordered status, this project will lead to improved prevention and treatment strategies, which will improve the lives of affected children and their families and significantly reduce the financial burden on the Australian health care system.Read moreRead less
Dynamic social systems and adolescent alcohol/tobacco use: A new cusp catastrophe model. This research will substantially improve our understanding of the development of adolescent high-risk behaviours. It will directly inform multimodal prevention strategies by demonstrating how substance use, peer factors, and parent relationships unfold over time. This is much needed because most prevention strategies are too simplistic to address complex precursors to alcohol/tobacco use. The research wil ....Dynamic social systems and adolescent alcohol/tobacco use: A new cusp catastrophe model. This research will substantially improve our understanding of the development of adolescent high-risk behaviours. It will directly inform multimodal prevention strategies by demonstrating how substance use, peer factors, and parent relationships unfold over time. This is much needed because most prevention strategies are too simplistic to address complex precursors to alcohol/tobacco use. The research will benefit health researchers in and beyond Australia who seek to understand behaviours that do not adhere to conventional assumptions. Collaboration with researchers from leading national and international centres will enhance Australia's research reputation and will attract postgraduates and researchers to Australia.Read moreRead less
The evaluation of a parenting intervention to prevent adverse developmental outcomes for children following family breakdown. This project will be a major step forward in providing an evidence-base for interventions with divorced parents in Australia. Family Transitions Triple P - Positive Parenting Program is a theoretically based intervention that addresses the Australian Government's emphasised need of providing families with strategies to resolve relationship disputes and reduce the emotion ....The evaluation of a parenting intervention to prevent adverse developmental outcomes for children following family breakdown. This project will be a major step forward in providing an evidence-base for interventions with divorced parents in Australia. Family Transitions Triple P - Positive Parenting Program is a theoretically based intervention that addresses the Australian Government's emphasised need of providing families with strategies to resolve relationship disputes and reduce the emotional costs to families experiencing divorce. Once evaluated for effectiveness, the collaboration of this project with Relationships Australia will enable the program to be readily accessible to the divorced parents in Australia.Read moreRead less
Stuttering in childhood: Patterns of recovery and persistence. This project will benefit the 1 in 20 Australian children who stutter and their families. We will learn for the first time how stuttering impacts on child development in the early school years and document the relationship between stuttering and other childhood conditions. The study will produce much needed information about recovery from stuttering and stuttering persistence. Therefore new knowledge will result to inform the scienti ....Stuttering in childhood: Patterns of recovery and persistence. This project will benefit the 1 in 20 Australian children who stutter and their families. We will learn for the first time how stuttering impacts on child development in the early school years and document the relationship between stuttering and other childhood conditions. The study will produce much needed information about recovery from stuttering and stuttering persistence. Therefore new knowledge will result to inform the scientific community and provide professionals and families with much needed evidence-based information about stuttering progression. Together this information will inform intervention approaches and help direct resources to those children who need them most. Read moreRead less
Development of rapid, online motor control in children. Movement is the primary means by which young children develop understanding of the world. The studies described in this project will provide important insights into the development of movement skill in children and the underlying causes of motor impairment. In particular we aim to understand how thought and action are coordinated in children, supporting the ability to perform more efficient movements. Hence, our work will inform the traini ....Development of rapid, online motor control in children. Movement is the primary means by which young children develop understanding of the world. The studies described in this project will provide important insights into the development of movement skill in children and the underlying causes of motor impairment. In particular we aim to understand how thought and action are coordinated in children, supporting the ability to perform more efficient movements. Hence, our work will inform the training and practice of movement educators and physical therapists, transcending some of the myths of clinical theory. This work will have important implications for identifying and training children at risk for motor impairment. Read moreRead less
Examining the work-family interface: The impact of a worksite parenting intervention on family and occupational outcomes and objective performance measures. This study will contribute to strengthening the evidence-base for work-family balance policies and practices. There have been few controlled studies examining the effects of workplace interventions targeting working parents. The study will increase our knowledge of the relationship between work-family conflict and occupational functioning. I ....Examining the work-family interface: The impact of a worksite parenting intervention on family and occupational outcomes and objective performance measures. This study will contribute to strengthening the evidence-base for work-family balance policies and practices. There have been few controlled studies examining the effects of workplace interventions targeting working parents. The study will increase our knowledge of the relationship between work-family conflict and occupational functioning. It will enable conclusions to be drawn about the efficacy of a specific strategy to enhance working parents ability to manage their respective work and family roles in a cost effective manner. Such evidence will usefully inform both the scientific literature on the effects of work-family balance issues and policy development in the area.Read moreRead less
Designing family-friendly work environments: An evaluation of a worksite parenting intervention for working women with young children. This project will investigate the influence of family factors on organisational well-being, and evaluate the implementation of an intervention which aims to decrease family risk factors and enhance family protective factors, to benefit the work domain. It is expected that family factors will predict work outcomes and that the intervention will significantly impro ....Designing family-friendly work environments: An evaluation of a worksite parenting intervention for working women with young children. This project will investigate the influence of family factors on organisational well-being, and evaluate the implementation of an intervention which aims to decrease family risk factors and enhance family protective factors, to benefit the work domain. It is expected that family factors will predict work outcomes and that the intervention will significantly improve family and work functioning, compared to a control group. Due to the increasing prevalence of working mothers in the workforce, this research will provide important information to organisations for the purpose of policy development in the area of balancing work and family demands.
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