The Prevention Of Anxiety And Related Disorders: Long Term Follow-up Of Temperamentally At-risk Preschoolers.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$391,476.00
Summary
Anxiety and related disorders such as depression provide a tremendous cost to the individual sufferer and to Australian society. While previous research has focussed on treatment of these conditions, little work has addressed the possibility of preventing these disorders before they interfere with an individual's life. There is growing evidence that children who are shy, withdrawn and inhibited at a very young age are more likely than other children to develop anxiety disorders in later childhoo ....Anxiety and related disorders such as depression provide a tremendous cost to the individual sufferer and to Australian society. While previous research has focussed on treatment of these conditions, little work has addressed the possibility of preventing these disorders before they interfere with an individual's life. There is growing evidence that children who are shy, withdrawn and inhibited at a very young age are more likely than other children to develop anxiety disorders in later childhood and a variety of related disorders in adulthood. In a previous NHMRC-funded grant, we have developed a brief parent education program to modify this personality style in young children. Early results are very promising and it appears that we have been able to help these withdrawn children to become more outgoing. This next proposal aims to follow these children over the coming years to see whether they are also less likely to develop mental health problems than children whose parents have not received the educational program are. We will be observing the children in a laboratory setting and at school at three, yearly intervals. At each point, we will compare withdrawn children whose parents have gone through the education program with those who haven't.Read moreRead less
The Development, Assessment And Treatment Of Early Indicators Of Psychopathy In Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$271,130.00
Summary
2.7 Significance - Lay description Conduct problems and antisocial behaviour cost Australian society millions of dollars every year directly through the mental health and criminal justice systems, indirectly through their association with substance abuse and other mental health problems, and associated disruptions to health, relationships, and personal and occupational functioning. Remediation is not effective once a chronic pattern has been established. Recently, research has shown that early s ....2.7 Significance - Lay description Conduct problems and antisocial behaviour cost Australian society millions of dollars every year directly through the mental health and criminal justice systems, indirectly through their association with substance abuse and other mental health problems, and associated disruptions to health, relationships, and personal and occupational functioning. Remediation is not effective once a chronic pattern has been established. Recently, research has shown that early signs of psychopathy in children predict chronic antisocial behaviour and lack of responsiveness to traditional treatments. The current research uses a combination of experimental, longitudinal, and treatment outcome studies to examine: the effectiveness with which early signs of a callous-unemotional temperamental style, hypothesised to be an early indicator of psychopathy, can be measured in children, causal factors and correlates of callous-unemotional traits, whether such traits pose a risk for chronic antisocial behaviour, the effects of callous-unemotional traits on responsiveness to traditional family-school based treatments, and the effectiveness of an innovative method for treating it in the early years. The project leads directly to a range of clinical assessment and treatment strategies for children at risk for chronic antisocial behaviour. The project has the potential to substantially improve the effectiveness of current treatment approaches to conduct problems in children that focus on family and school management.Read moreRead less
Positive Feeding Practices And Food Preferences In Very Early Childhood - A Primary Care Obesity Prevention Program
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,459,238.00
Summary
The more than 1:5 and rapidly increasing number of overweight Australian children are at a substantially increased risk of becoming fat adults resulting in increased illness, mortality, health care burden and costs. Adult eating habits are influenced and formed by food preferences and capacity to self-regulate in response to behaviours developed in childhood. Thus parent feeding practices in very early childhood are critical. This study aims to show that a program of parent education and peer su ....The more than 1:5 and rapidly increasing number of overweight Australian children are at a substantially increased risk of becoming fat adults resulting in increased illness, mortality, health care burden and costs. Adult eating habits are influenced and formed by food preferences and capacity to self-regulate in response to behaviours developed in childhood. Thus parent feeding practices in very early childhood are critical. This study aims to show that a program of parent education and peer support to initiate and maintain positive feeding practices in very young children (6-10 months) will (1) promote healthy eating behaviours and (2) prevent excess weight gain and overweight in children. A successsful intervention will provide evidence for policies and programs that can be implemented within a large primary care service to equip and support mothers-carers in developing the confidence and skills to introduce positive feeding practices in very early childhood. This is consistent with current community interest in early childhood as the foundation for health and well-being.Read moreRead less
Predictors And Correlates Of Developmental Language Problems: A Longitudinal Study From Infancy To Pre-school Age
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$537,750.00
Summary
Language impairment is a disabling condition, thought to affect between 7% and 15% of 4 year old children. It has serious and lasting implications for social and emotional development, cognition, behaviour and literacy. A link has been demonstrated between language impairment and later psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthood. Given the potential of enhancing the language development of young children, it is critical that effective prevention and early intervention programs are availab ....Language impairment is a disabling condition, thought to affect between 7% and 15% of 4 year old children. It has serious and lasting implications for social and emotional development, cognition, behaviour and literacy. A link has been demonstrated between language impairment and later psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthood. Given the potential of enhancing the language development of young children, it is critical that effective prevention and early intervention programs are available. However, current knowledge is liminted in that there are no entirely satisfactory methods for detecting children who at much younger ages, 8 months, 12 months, 2 years and 3 years, are at risk of later impairment. In this study we aim to: examine the risk factors (many are thought to exist) that contribute to language impairment learn more about the natural history of this disabling disorder in children between 8 months and 4 years of age Ultimately, we aim to identify early signs that might warn health professionals and parents of language impairment so that such problems can be detected much earlier. Early identification will mean that help is available at an earlier age to children who currently go on to have persisting and extremely disabling language impairment.Read moreRead less
Understanding How Language And Reading Problems Develop: A Population-based Longitudinal Study From Infancy To Age 7
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$667,507.00
Summary
Early language and reading problems are common and therefore significant public health problems. They are disabling and have life-long implications for oral and written communication skills, social and emotional well-being, cognition, behaviour, academic achievement and employment. This study will address the following three problems: 1. To date no study has documented how language and reading problems develop from infancy (8 months) through to school age (7 years). 2. Little is known about risk ....Early language and reading problems are common and therefore significant public health problems. They are disabling and have life-long implications for oral and written communication skills, social and emotional well-being, cognition, behaviour, academic achievement and employment. This study will address the following three problems: 1. To date no study has documented how language and reading problems develop from infancy (8 months) through to school age (7 years). 2. Little is known about risk factors, identified early in infancy and childhood, that can be reliably used to predict language and reading problems later in childhood. 3. The relationships between language difficulties and reading problems are poorly understood. Therefore, we currently have no satisfactory methods for reliably detecting which children at much younger ages are at risk of later language disorders or reading problems. Without this information it is impossible to develop effective prevention and early intervention programs. These programs are critical if we are to: a) Prevent language and reading problems from occurring, thereby reducing the prevalence of the problem b) Intervene early in childhood, thereby reducing in the longer term the burden and cost associated with language and reading problems. The proposed study builds on an existing substantial investment by the NHMRC in the Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS). It will provide a world-first description of the evolution of language difficulties and reading problems from infancy through to school age within a single population cohort.Read moreRead less
Gudaga Project: Understanding The Health, Development, And Service Use Of Aboriginal Children In An Urban Environment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,424,845.00
Summary
The Gudaga project is a birth cohort of Aboriginal children that will be followed from 18 months to 5 years and describe their health, development and service (health and children's) use. This is the first study of its kind in Eastern Australia. The research team are working closely with stakeholders in Aboriginal health care including the Aboriginal community to implement the research. The research will contribute to services for Aboriginal children in the local and wider community.
Assessment And Prevention Of The Early Signs Of Anxiety And Depression In Children.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$149,363.00
Summary
Anxiety and depression are common mental health problems and children rate them as their most common emotional problems. Recent research has indicated that brief psychotherapy programs are effective in reducing these problems in 8 to 14 year olds, however, the earliest signs of these problems are detectable in the preschool years. Thus there is an urgent need for adequately evaluated community prevention programs to address the promotion of sound mental health in much younger children. The aim o ....Anxiety and depression are common mental health problems and children rate them as their most common emotional problems. Recent research has indicated that brief psychotherapy programs are effective in reducing these problems in 8 to 14 year olds, however, the earliest signs of these problems are detectable in the preschool years. Thus there is an urgent need for adequately evaluated community prevention programs to address the promotion of sound mental health in much younger children. The aim of this study is to conduct a comprehensive controlled trial of a community based programme for the detection and prevention of early signs of internalising disorders (i.e., shyness, fears and anxiety, depression). It is hypothesised that by intervening when children are young with the aim of improving parent-child interaction patterns, children will be steered towards a more competent and resilient approach to life. The study consists of three major components. First, we will evaluate the psychometric properties and predictive validity of the best available measures of teachers', parents' and children's' perceptions of the child's adjustment status. Second, we will follow-up the full cohort of preschool children to test which combination of the measures best predicts internalising disorders after 2 years. Third, we will conduct a controlled trial with a sample of the larger cohort to evaluate the effects of a brief parent and teacher training programme on children's adjustment. The major questions of this project are: a) Can we successfully identify children in a community preschool setting and under the age of 6 who are at risk of developing internalizing disorders? b) What assessment measures are the most reliable and valid predictors of the development of internalising disorders in this age group? c) What are the short-term and medium-term effects of a parent and teacher prevention program on children stratified according to risk for internalising disorders?Read moreRead less
The Effect Of Iron Supplementation In Pregnancy On Child Cognitive Development
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$91,562.00
Summary
During fetal life the brain grows very rapidly and animal studies have shown that inadequate iron nutrition of mothers during pregnancy can result in permanent structural and developmental problems in the offspring. Although this has not been examined in human infants, new studies suggest that the iron stores of the mother in pregnancy are an important determinant of the baby's iron stores during the first year of life. It may be that the critical period where iron nutrition influences later dev ....During fetal life the brain grows very rapidly and animal studies have shown that inadequate iron nutrition of mothers during pregnancy can result in permanent structural and developmental problems in the offspring. Although this has not been examined in human infants, new studies suggest that the iron stores of the mother in pregnancy are an important determinant of the baby's iron stores during the first year of life. It may be that the critical period where iron nutrition influences later development is in fetal life (during pregnancy). We have the opportunity to test whether iron nutrition in fetal life influences childhood development by assessing the cognitive abilities of children who were in our earlier study of iron supplementation in pregnancy. Our aim is to assess the children at 4 years to determine if iron nutrition in pregnancy predicts development. This may change the dietary advice we give pregnant women to ensure they give their babies the best start in life.Read moreRead less
Behavioural And Neuropsychiatric Aspects Of Transition To Severe Conduct Disorder In Adolescence.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$343,100.00
Summary
Conduct disorder represents an enormous cost to Australian society directly via the mental health and forensic systems, and indirect costs via its associations with other mental health problems, relationship problems, impaired social functioning, and substance use problems. Behavioural-family-based treatment have good success rates with young children with cooperative parents, however, there are a minority who progress to chronic problems despite this. Risk and resilience factors identifying chr ....Conduct disorder represents an enormous cost to Australian society directly via the mental health and forensic systems, and indirect costs via its associations with other mental health problems, relationship problems, impaired social functioning, and substance use problems. Behavioural-family-based treatment have good success rates with young children with cooperative parents, however, there are a minority who progress to chronic problems despite this. Risk and resilience factors identifying chronic patterns in early childhood are the key to early intervention. In previous research, this research team showed for the first time that callous-unemotional traits, a feature of chronic psychopathy, could be measured in children as young as 4 years, and was predictive of a range of negative outcomes. However, it was also found that the key neuropsychiatric markers characteristic of psychopathy, including reward dominance-punishment insensitivity and deficits in affective empathy, did not exist in conduct problem children prior to adolescence. Around the time of puberty, it appears that important changes occur in cognitive-affective processing styles that are associated with the adult form of psychopathy and antisocial behaviour. Thus, this research raises critical questions about the development of severe antisocial behaviour (or psychopathy) through the childhood to adolescent years. Our evidence indicates that early adolecence may be the period when intrapsychological characteristics representing chronic risk become concrete. The current research will be the first to map the development common neuropsychiatric markers (affective empathy, punishment insensitivity) of severe antisocial processes through the late childhood-adolescent period. The findings will have clear implications for models of antisocial behaviour and clinical approaches to working with conduct problem children and adolescents.Read moreRead less
Solving The Jigsaw! Understanding Biological And Environmental Effects On ADHD Through Discordant Mononozygotic Twins
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$557,500.00
Summary
The recent Child and Adolescent component of the National Mental Health Survey identified Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) as the most common behavioural problem among Australian children. Since 1991 our Australian Twin ADHD Project (ATAP) has developed as one of the world's largest programs on the genetics of ADHD, and in 2001 we published the first text on this topic. In this grant we turn the focus onto environmental influences with the question Why can one identical twin have A ....The recent Child and Adolescent component of the National Mental Health Survey identified Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) as the most common behavioural problem among Australian children. Since 1991 our Australian Twin ADHD Project (ATAP) has developed as one of the world's largest programs on the genetics of ADHD, and in 2001 we published the first text on this topic. In this grant we turn the focus onto environmental influences with the question Why can one identical twin have ADHD, while the other twin has no difficulties? Using the unique resources of the Australian Twin Registry and the WA Twin Child Health Study, we shall work across the country to find over 100 identical twin pairs who are very different in ADHD. In this way, each ADHD affected twin has an unaffected 'control twin', offering a powerful means for comparing the two. Such a study is really only possible in Australia, as no other country has such twin resources for research. The questions we want to consider with these children include the following 1- Twins have a more difficult time before and at birth. To what extent do these problems contribute to differences between the twins? 2- Are there differences in specific aspects of brain functioning? 3- Is it that one twin grows out of their ADHD but the other does not? If so, what distinguishes the children? 4- What is it like growing up with a twin who has ADHD, when you have no difficulties yourself? 5- When one twin has ADHD symptoms, is the family more likely to seek help, as they can see how different this child is form the other twin? Obviously identical twins in wehich only one has ADHD are a very unique group. By covering all aspects of development, from brain functioning to service utilisation, the hope is that this study will provide invaluable insights into this common condition which will help all children and families where the diagnosis of ADHD has been made.Read moreRead less