Gary Robinson

Parenting for Child Development: The development and preliminary pilot of a parenting intervention to reduce violence against children in Papua New Guinea

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Date: 15-05-2021

DOI: 10.1177/00208728211008965

Abstract: Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a low-income country experiencing high rates of family violence and child maltreatment. Child protection services are under-developed, and few tertiary-trained social workers are employed by them. A research team was commissioned to develop a parenting programme for implementation in remote provinces. After development and co-design of the programme, a pre- and post-evaluation was conducted in 10 communities to test the programme’s potential to facilitate change. Measures of harsh parenting, family well-being and parental attitudes were translated by experienced academics and administered to parents by a team of staff and students from a local university. Responses were subjected to factor analyses. A series of paired-s le t-tests was conducted to ascertain change in parents’ reported family well-being and use of harsh disciplinary practices (s le n = 159). Encouraging numbers of caregivers attended the programme in all sites. The analysis of change between pre- and post-programme scores revealed statistically significant reductions in verbal abuse and corporal punishment, and in harsh parenting overall, with reductions in partner violence and family difficulties contributing to improvements in family well-being. The evaluation indicates that with further development, this programme could be implemented as a primary prevention measure to complement child protection services. To consolidate the programme’s future implementation by building the pool of trained personnel, links with social work education should be further developed.

Enhancing Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Boarding Students: Evaluation of a Social and Emotional Learning Pilot Program

Publisher: MDPI AG

Date: 26-01-2020

DOI: 10.3390/IJERPH17030771

Abstract: Boarding schools can provide quality secondary education for Aboriginal students from remote Aboriginal Australian communities. However, transition into boarding school is commonly challenging for Aboriginal students as they need to negotiate unfamiliar cultural, social and learning environments whilst being separated from family and community support. Accordingly, it is critical for boarding schools to provide programs that enhance the social and emotional skills needed to meet the challenges. This study evaluated a 10-session social and emotional learning (SEL) program for Aboriginal boarders and identified contextual factors influencing its effectiveness. The study combined a pre-post quantitative evaluation using erse social and emotional wellbeing measures with 28 students between 13–15 years (10 female, 11 male, 7 unidentified) and qualitative post focus groups with 10 students and episodic interviews with four staff delivering the program. Students’ social and emotional skills significantly improved. The qualitative findings revealed improvements in students seeking and giving help, working in groups, managing conflict, being assertive and discussing cultural issues. The focus groups and interviews also identified program elements that worked best and that need improvement. Secure relationships with staff delivering the program and participation in single sex groups stood out as critical enablers. The findings lend evidence to the critical importance of collaborative design, provision and evaluation of SEL programs with Aboriginal peoples.

Validity and reliability of resiliency measures trialled for the evaluation of a preventative Resilience-promoting social-emotional curriculum for remote Aboriginal school students

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 11-01-2022

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0262406

Abstract: We aimed to test the reliability and validity of two brief measures of resilience adopted for the evaluation of a preventative social-emotional curriculum implemented for Aboriginal middle school students from socially disadvantaged remote communities in Australia’s Northern Territory. The questionnaires chosen were intended to measure psychological resilience and socio-cultural resilience as complementary dimensions of the capacity to cope in circumstances of significant life stress and risk of self-harm. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess construct validity of the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), a measure of psychological resilience, and the 12-item Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-12), a measure of socio-cultural resilience, with a s le of 520 students. Associations between resilience and psychological distress and emotional and behavioural difficulty were analysed in relation to life stressors to assess criterion validity of the scales. CFA provided support for the validity of the respective constructs. There was good fit for both scales. However, assessment of criterion validity of the scales suggested that the adapted measure of socio-cultural resilience (CYRM-12NT) showed higher reliability and a clearer indication of predictive validity than the measure of psychological resilience (CD-RISC-10). The CYRM-12NT appears to be a more useful measure of resilience among Aboriginal youth exposed to significant life stress and disadvantage. However, both measures may require further development to enhance their validity and utility among potentially at-risk adolescents in socially, culturally and linguistically erse remote Aboriginal communities.

University Of New South Wales

Location: Australia

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Menzies School Of Health Research

Location: Australia

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Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0668218

Start Date: 08-2006

End Date: 12-2011

Amount: $200,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP210301323

Start Date: 07-2023

End Date: 01-2026

Amount: $448,440.00

Funder: Australian Research Council