ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8927-4064
Current Organisations
The University of Queensland Queensland Brain Institute
,
University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education
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In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Early Childhood Education (excl. Māori) | Education Systems | Developmental Psychology And Ageing | Family and Household Studies | Social Change | Developmental Psychology and Ageing | Demography | Specialist Studies in Education | Labour Economics | Early childhood education | Applied and developmental psychology | Communication Technology and Digital Media Studies | Social And Community Psychology | Education Assessment and Evaluation | Community Child Health | Child and adolescent development | Applied Sociology, Program Evaluation and Social Impact Assessment | Curriculum Studies Not Elsewhere Classified | Sociology of Education | Computer-Human Interaction | Education Studies Not Elsewhere Classified | Psychology | Social Policy | Assessment And Evaluation | Sociology | Applied Sociology, Program Evaluation And Social Impact Assessment | Human Resources Management
Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society | Early childhood education | Youth/child development and welfare | Learner Development | Child Health | Families | Primary education | Comparative Structure and Development of Community Services | Expanding Knowledge in Technology | Education and Training Systems Policies and Development | Learner and Learning Processes | Management of Education and Training Systems | Resourcing of Education and Training Systems | Application Tools and System Utilities | Families and Family Services | Other social development and community services | Social Class and Inequalities |
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-06-2022
DOI: 10.1111/CDEV.13811
Abstract: Observational studies comparing child outcomes in early care and education classrooms of differing quality are often confounded by between‐child differences. A within‐child design, tracking children across contexts, can identify the effects of quality with less confounding. An analysis of Australian children ( N = 1128, mean age 5 years, 48% female, 2.9% Indigenous, ethnicity data unavailable) tracked across pre‐K, K, and year 1 (2010–2012) was conducted to assess how changes in observed quality (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) were associated with changes in cognitive development (Woodcock–Johnson III). Thresholds of quality were also investigated. Increases in Emotional Support were associated with improved language development ( β = 0.54, 95% CI [0.1–0.99], approximating 2.6 weeks development). Results highlight that emotional quality is an integral and potent component of early learning.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 12-2003
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-05-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-1993
DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(93)90015-V
Abstract: Ultrasound screening is now a routine procedure which forms part of antenatal care provision. Within this routine context ultrasound technology has been found to be generally acceptable and indeed is positively demanded by many women. This paper raises the question whether the routine presentation of ultrasound implicitly conveys the message that its use in antenatal care is both valuable and safe. It examines women's views of ultrasound technology beyond a routine context. In study designed to examine women's reactions to cerebral ultrasound on their normal term infants mothers were asked their views and knowledge of ultrasound and a comparison with their antenatal experience of ultrasound was elicited. A generalized concern about ultrasound techniques was found to underlie many of the women's comments. This raised questions concerning the current practice in the presentation of ultrasound to women attending for antenatal care.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 23-02-2016
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 23-06-2019
Abstract: Maternal mental health problems in the perinatal period incur significant human and economic costs attributable to adverse child outcomes. In response, governments invest in screening for perinatal depressive symptoms. Mother-infant relationship quality (MIRQ) is a key mechanism linking maternal perinatal mental health to child outcomes. Perinatal depressive symptoms are typically transient while personality style, including interpersonal sensitivity, is a more stable construct. We have demonstrated that antenatal interpersonal sensitivity independently predicted MIRQ at 12 months postpartum. Building on our previous work, the objective of this study was to examine the associations of antenatal interpersonal sensitivity and depressive symptoms with MIRQ 1 year postnatal. A s le of 73 women attending routine antenatal care, 61 (84%) from ethnically erse populations, were studied across the perinatal period. At ⩽26 weeks, gestation interpersonal sensitivity and depressive symptoms were measured. At 12 months, postnatal mental health and MIRQ was assessed in 35 of the mother-infant dyads. We found no significant statistical association between antenatal interpersonal sensitivity and depressive symptoms with postnatal MIRQ. Interpersonal sensitivity (
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-02-2020
DOI: 10.1111/MCN.12919
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 10-2011
Abstract: Background: There is currently little evidence concerning the impact of the inter-twin relationship on behavioral outcomes and yet the twin relationship is frequently hypothesized to be a unique source of psychopathology in twins. The current study asked whether the inter-twin relationship is a predictor of behavioral difficulties and whether there are zygosity differences in this relationship. Method: An Australian s le of same sex twins ( N = 356, 164 MZ and 192 DZ) was studied in the year prior to school (Time 1) and again in first year of school (Time 2). Associations between twin-relationship and behavior problems were examined via path-analysis, and Satorra-Bentler chi-square difference tests were used to compare twins across zygosity. Results: Results show that both conflict and lower levels of warmth at Time 1 were predictive of hyperactivity and conduct disorder at Time 2, but they were not associated with emotional difficulties or peer problems. While DZ twins shared less warmth than MZ twins, there were no differences in behavior problems. Conclusion: Conflict and lower levels of warmth in the inter-twin relationship are associated with hyperactivity and conduct disorder and may serve as important considerations when making decisions regarding class separation at entry to school.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-07-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-09-2010
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-1992
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-09-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-1992
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.JNEB.2018.05.021
Abstract: To examine the role of parent concern in explaining nonresponsive feeding practices in response to child fussy eating in socioeconomically disadvantaged families. Mediation analysis of cross-sectional survey data. Socioeconomically disadvantaged urban community in Queensland, Australia. Cohabiting mother-father pairs (n = 208) with children aged 2-5 years. Two validated measures of nonresponsive feeding: persuasive feeding and reward for eating. Mediation analysis tested concern as a mediator of the relationship between child food fussiness (independent variable) and parent nonresponsive feeding practices (dependent variables), adjusted for significant covariates and modeled separately for mothers and fathers. Maternal concern fully mediated the relationship between child food fussiness and persuasive feeding (indirect effect: B [SE] = 0.10 [0.05] 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01-0.20). Concern also fully mediated the relationship between child food fussiness and reward for eating for mothers (indirect effect: B [SE] = 0.17 [0.07] CI, 0.04-0.31) and fathers (indirect effect: B [SE] = 0.14 [0.05] CI, 0.04-0.24) CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Concern for fussy eating behaviors may explain mothers' and fathers' nonresponsive feeding practices. In addition to providing education and behavioral support, health professionals working with socioeconomically disadvantaged families can incorporate strategies that aim to alleviate parents' concerns about fussy eating.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2017
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 17-02-2015
DOI: 10.1136/ARCHDISCHILD-2014-307241
Abstract: Duration and quality of sleep affect child development and health. Encouragement of napping in preschool children has been suggested as a health-promoting strategy. The aim of this study is to assess evidence regarding the effects of napping on measures of child development and health. This study is a systematic review of published, original research articles of any design. Children aged 0–5 years. Electronic database search was performed following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and assessment of research quality was carried out following a Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) protocol. Twenty-six articles met inclusion criteria. These were of heterogeneous quality all had observational designs (GRADE-low). Development and health outcomes included salivary cortisol, night sleep, cognition, behaviour, obesity and accidents. The findings regarding cognition, behaviour and health impacts were inconsistent, probably because of variation in age and habitual napping status of the s les. The most consistent finding was an association between napping and later onset, shorter duration and poorer quality of night sleep, with evidence strongest beyond the age of 2 years. Studies were not randomised. Most did not obtain data on the children's habitual napping status or the context of napping. Many were reliant on parent report rather than direct observation or physiological measurement of sleep behaviour. The evidence indicates that beyond the age of 2 years napping is associated with later night sleep onset and both reduced sleep quality and duration. The evidence regarding behaviour, health and cognition is less certain. There is a need for more systematic studies that use stronger designs. In preschool children presenting with sleep problems clinicians should investigate napping patterns.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-10-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-07-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S10643-023-01531-6
Abstract: Internationally, professionalization has become a key policy strategy targeting quality improvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC), utilizing top-down managerial strategies including implementation of quality standards and increased workforce qualifications. Set against this backdrop, this study explored educators’ accounts of their professional status and professionalism in their work. Data were collected from a representative s le of Australian educators ( n = 98) participating in a national ECEC workforce study. Educator accounts were inductively and deductively coded, while statistical analysis examined association of codes with educator personal and professional characteristics. Educators overwhelmingly named their work as a profession, with three categories of explanation: purpose (educating children), qualification, and public opinions. However, analysis of educator accounts of their work practices, drawing on Moss’s (2006) understandings of the ECEC workforce, found that less than half of the educators presented their roles as other than technical or nurturing/laboring. Degree qualified teachers were more likely than less qualified educators to define professionalization in terms of purpose and professionalism in terms of autonomous decisions based on expert knowledge . Policy or practice: The study provides grassroots perspectives on professionalization and professionalism in ECEC and draws attention to three areas of misalignment between current policy and educators’ views and practices that require attention.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-04-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S13384-022-00525-4
Abstract: Internationally, standard observational measures of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) are used to assess the quality of provision. They are applied as research tools but, significantly, also guide policy decisions, distribution of resources and public opinion. Considerable faith is placed in such measures, yet their validity, reliability and functioning within context should all be considered in interpreting the findings they generate. We examine the case of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) in the Australian study, Effective Early Education for Children (E4Kids ). Using this measure Australian educators were identified as “low quality” in provision of instruction (average 2.1 on a scale of 1–7). When these results became public, they attracted negative press coverage and the potential for harm. We interrogate these findings asking three questions relating to s ling, contextual and empirical evidence that define quality and measurement strategies. We conclude that measurement problems, most notably a floor effect, is the most likely explanation for uniformly low CLASS-Instructional scores among Australian ECEC educators, and indeed across international studies. Using a theoretically and empirically informed rescaling strategy we show that there is a ersity of instructional quality across Australian ECEC, and that rescaling might more effectively guide improvement strategies to target those of lowest quality. Beyond, our findings call for a more critical approach in interpretation of standard measures of ECEC quality and their applications in policy and practice, internationally.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2003
Abstract: Twins tend to lag behind singletons in their language development, but the causes were unknown. The possibilities suggested include obstetric complications, twin-specific features, and postnatal differences in family interaction. The present study was designed to pit these alternatives against one another as possible causal influences. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) was used to identify the 116 twin pairs (of whom 96 participated) and 114 pairs of singletons (of whom 98 participated) whose ages were no more than 30 months apart. The McArthur Communicative Development Inventory was completed at 20 months, and the Pre-School Language Scales (PLS-3), and the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities at 36 months. Obstetric and perinatal complications were assessed on the basis of detailed systematic parental reports, together with a systematic coded abstraction of all medical records dealing with pregnancy and the neonatal period. Family background details were assessed from parental reports, and the primary carer's verbal functioning was assessed by the Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale. Congenital anomalies were assessed using the method of Waldrop and Halverson. The language of twins was 1.7 months below that of singletons at 20 months and 3.1 months at 3 years. The verbal cognitive score of twins was about half a standard deviation lower than that of singletons. The twin-singleton differences in language level were found tobe unassociated with obstetric erinatal features as assessed from both parental reports and medical records, to birthweight or gestation, to birthweight discrepancy within the twin pair, or to congenital anomalies. It is concluded that obstetric erinatal features do not account for the slower language development in twins as compared with singletons, within a s le born after at least 33 weeks gestation.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-12-2021
DOI: 10.1111/NHS.12793
Abstract: Perinatal depression can have enduring adverse effects on women and their children and families, incurring substantial ongoing economic and personal costs. A significant proportion of the cost of perinatal depression relates to adverse impacts on the child, most likely mediated through impairment to the mother‐infant relationship. In recognition of this problem, Australia has invested in routine perinatal depression screening. Our previous research produced convergent findings suggesting that expected benefits for children have not yet been realised through perinatal depression screening. We question the potential of including a measure of personality in current perinatal depression screening for identifying maternal mental health problems and suboptimal mother‐infant relationships. This paper reviews our previous research findings within the broader context of perinatal depression screening. We propose a position, that perinatal depression screening in Australia should be redesigned to more precisely detect vulnerable mother‐infant relationships, parenting, maternal mental health, and infant psychosocial and psychological development. Practice change to appropriately target antenatal interventions may more efficiently improve both maternal and child outcomes, thereby contributing to greater efficiency and cost savings for the health system.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 16-01-2021
Abstract: Many studies that examine parent–child interactions while reading digital texts focus on the reading of e-books. Rather less is known about parent–child interactions and reading aloud of other screen texts that occur during young children’s everyday use of digital technologies at home. This article presents the findings from a conversation analytic study of a collection of 36 sequences of interaction between young children and their parents where the words ‘says’ or ‘say’ were used to refer to print on the screen. The collection involved interactions between seven parent–child dyads. Sequences were identified through repeated viewing of 29 hours of video-recordings made by parents. Analysis enabled systematic identification and description of two distinctive practices in talk that led to reading aloud from the screen. Reading aloud of the text was provided by either a speaker using a preface, such as ‘it says’, or solicited using a question. Discussion establishes how young children and their parents orient to and produce reading aloud practices, how reading aloud meets the instrumental purposes of children and the ways that young children competently enable reading aloud. It is concluded that reading aloud from the screen is an important information source for young children, enabled through parent–child interactions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-08-2023
DOI: 10.1111/CHSO.12782
Abstract: Quality early care and education (ECE) presents an unparalleled opportunity to avert disadvantage and promote children's development. Mealtimes are essential daily routines, yet are often overlooked in research on ECE quality. This paper crystallises a composite case study of ECE mealtimes in highly disadvantaged communities by combining Departing Radically in Academic Writing (DRAW) methodology with parent surveys, scorings of educator‐child interactions (inCLASS), and field notes. Poverty is perpetuated in these centres: children do not have enough food, and educator‐dictated feeding practices restrict children's opportunities to exercise their agency and learn. Systemic policy action is needed to address poverty in ECE.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2003
Abstract: Twins tend to lag behind singletons in their language development, but the causes were unknown. Ninety-six twin pairs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), for whom birth was after at least 33 weeks of gestation, were compared with 98 pairs of singletons, no more than 30 months apart in age. Parental qualities and family interaction were assessed through standardised questionnaires and interviews and both structured and unstructured observations in the home at 20 months and 36 months. The possible causal role of postnatal family influences was assessed through five criteria: i) the feature had to differ between twins and singletons ii) in idual differences in that feature had to relate to in idual differences in language level within the s le of singletons and of twins iii) the feature as measured at 20 months had to predict language as assessed at 36 months iv) that had to apply after controlling for language level at 20 months and v) introduction of the predictive feature into an overall model had to obliterate the twin-singleton difference in language level. Patterns of parent-child interaction and communication met these five criteria. The maternal factors all concerned aspects of interaction that were broadly concerned with communication: encouraging the child to speak, providing elaborating comments, engaging in reading to the child and talking about the story and its illustrations. The HOME inventory findings provided similar findings with respect to responsiveness, involvement and level of experiences involved. Family features that might have been influential, but which were not, included parental depression, breast-feeding, family size, and style of sibling interaction. Patterns of parent-child interaction and communication within the normal range have environmentally mediated effects on language and account for twin-singleton differences in language developmently. The results indicate the value of a natural experiment in testing competing causal hypotheses, and show the role of environmental factors as influences on language variations within the normal range, for both twins and singletons.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 26-09-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-0005
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-05-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-04-2012
Abstract: In recent times concerns about possible adverse effects of early separation and advocacy for in idual rights have resulted in a movement away from organizational level policies about the separation of twin children as they enter school. Instead, in idualized approaches that focus on the twin children’s characteristics and family perspectives have been proposed. This study, conducted in Australia where all but a few families had choice about the class placement of their twin children, questioned parents ( N = 156) about their placement decisions. Results indicated that most parents opted for placement together in the early years of schooling. The choice to separate twins at school entry was associated with parent identification of risk in the twin relationship, while being kept together was associated with parent identification of absence of such risk. The findings are discussed in light of the current evidence against separation, and suggest that parent choices regarding the separation of twin children in the early years are informative to educational policy and practice.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-03-2023
DOI: 10.1111/CCH.13109
Abstract: In developed economies, most children attend Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services before school entry, many from early life and across long days. For this reason, ECEC services present significant potential to provide food environments that positively influence eating behaviours and food preferences with attendant effect on life course trajectories of health and wellbeing. Yet there is evidence that feeding practices that limit optimal ongoing nutrition, such as pressure and restriction, are lified in ECEC services serving disadvantaged communities. We sought to identify underlying explanatory mechanisms through observation of children's feeding experiences and educator explanations comparing, family‐provided and service‐provided meals. This study used qualitative analyses of educator interviews and observation records from 55 mealtimes in 10 ECEC services: 5 providing food and 5 requiring family food provision. High levels of concern drove educator's controlling feeding practices at mealtimes but presented differently across meal provision modes. In centres that provided food, educators' concern focused on food variety, manifesting in pressure to ‘try’ foods. In centres requiring family‐provided food, concern focused on nutrition quantity and quality and manifested as control of order of food consumption and pacing of intake to ensure food lasted across the day. Interview data suggested that conflict aversion limited optimal nutrition. In centres providing food, this was seen in menus that prioritized child food preferences. In centres requiring family meal provision, conflict aversion was seen as reticence to discuss lunchbox contents with families. The findings direct attention to public health intervention. Currently, ECEC face significant barriers to realizing their potential to support child nutrition and establish positive life course trajectories of nutrition. To do so requires targeted supports that enable sufficient supply and quality of food in the context of poverty.
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 26-10-2016
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.2304/CIEC.2013.14.2.168
Abstract: Australian women make decisions about returning to paid work and care for their child within a policy environment that presents mixed messages about maternal employment and childcare standards. Against this background, an investigation of first-time mothers' decision-making about workforce participation and childcare was undertaken. Four women were studied from pregnancy through the first postnatal year using interview and diary methods. Inductive analyses identified three themes, all focused on dimensions of family security: financial security relating to family income, emotional security relating to childcare quality, and pragmatic security relating to childcare access. The current policy changes that establish improved childcare quality standards in Australia present a positive step toward alleviating family insecurities, but are insufficient to alleviate the evidently high levels of tension between workforce participation and family life experienced by these four women transitioning back into the workforce in Australia.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-1992
DOI: 10.1111/J.1523-536X.1992.TB00368.X
Abstract: The recent trend of later childbearing among primiparous women is examined with attention to its possible motivations and how they might relate to maternal and infant outcomes. The influence of psychological factors is examined in the context of the inconsistencies in the obstetric literature' regarding the risk factors associated with advancing maternal age. An interplay of psychological and biologic factors in determining the outcome of pregnancy and adaptation to motherhood in elderly primiparous women is proposed in terms of the compensatory as opposed to cumulative effect of psychological factors. The adoption of a broad perspective in the study of the experience of later motherhood is recommended as the direction for future research.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-10-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2017.08.030
Abstract: Determine whether feeding practices across mothers and fathers are interpreted and measured with equivalent accuracy (measurement invariance) using the Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire-28 (FPSQ-28). Cross-sectional hard-copy and online survey design Setting: Socioeconomically disadvantaged community in Queensland, Australia. Mothers (n = 279) and fathers (n = 225) of 2- to 5-year old children. Parental feeding practices were measured using the 7 multi-item factors from the FPSQ-28. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to evaluate the factor structure of the FPSQ-28 among mothers and fathers from a socioeconomically disadvantaged community. Measurement invariance between mothers and fathers was examined using hierarchical multi-group CFAs. The 7-factor FPSQ-28 model showed good fit and was invariant across parent gender. The FPSQ-28 subscales appear to be interpreted equivalently, and thus to measure the same constructs, irrespective of the gender of the parents. The questionnaire can be used to measure or compare mothers' and fathers' self-reported feeding practices and examine influence on child health outcomes. In the current s le of mothers and fathers recruited from a socioeconomically disadvantaged community, mothers used more 'covert restriction' than fathers.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2021.105811
Abstract: Preschool children consume a large proportion of their daily food intake in their childcare settings. These settings, therefore, provide important opportunities for children to experience food socialisation, and related positive nutrition. Yet, the extent to which these opportunities are taken, particularly in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas where risk of poor nutrition is high, is not well documented. This study focused on 10 childcare centres in socially disadvantaged locations and examined daily feeding practices via direct in-situ observation (n = 189 children observed). Centres were randomly selected based on type of food provision: centre-provided (n = 5 centres) or family-provided (n = 5 centres). Analyses showed that where food was family-provided, educators were significantly more likely to use controlling feeding practices, including pressuring children to eat, restricting food choices and rushing children into finishing meals. These practices were particularly evident during mid-morning meals, where pressuring children to eat healthy foods first, was more often observed. Further research and interventions that target feeding practices in childcare are indicated and should consider how source of food provision impacts upon these practices.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.SLEH.2017.12.009
Abstract: To examine the associations between sleep parameters and weight status in a large s le of preschool children. Cross-sectional survey data from the Effective Early Educational Experiences for children (E4Kids) study were analyzed. 1111 children aged 3 to 6 years from Queensland and Victoria, Australia. General linear modeling, with adjustment for significant control variables, assessed the impact of night sleep duration, total sleep duration, napping frequency, sleep timing (onset, offset and midpoint), and severity of sleep problems on standardized body mass index (BMI z score). General linear modeling was conducted for the total s le and then separately by sex. For the total s le, there was a significant association between short sleep duration (≤10 hours) and increased BMI z score. No other sleep parameters were associated with BMI z score in this s le. Analyses by sex revealed that, among girls, there were no associations between any sleep parameter and BMI z score. However, among boys, short night sleep duration and napping frequency were both significantly associated with weight status even after adjustment for controls. Night sleep duration is a consistent independent predictor of body mass in young children. These results identify a complex relationship between sleep and body mass that implicates sex. Potential mechanisms that might explain sex differences warrant further investigation.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1177/183693911504000410
Abstract: THE NATIONAL QUALITY FRAMEWORK for Early Childhood Education and Care (NQF) in Australia identifies the need for services to make provision for each child's sleep, rest and relaxation within a national early years' policy framework. The framework also requires that opportunities for learning and physical health are optimised, and that the agency of each child and their family is respected. Against this background, the scheduling of a standard sleep time in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres remains a common practice, even in rooms catering for older children for whom daytime sleep may no longer be necessary. This article draws upon existing scholarship to explore the issues and tensions associated with sleep/rest, in the context of Australian curriculum and quality standards documents. We review accounts from educators, parents and children and contemporary views regarding high-quality practice in ECEC, with an aim of supporting critical reflection on practice and continuous quality improvement in ECEC.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-09-2014
DOI: 10.1111/SBR.12082
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-10-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-11-2017
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-10-2018
Abstract: A professional, skilled and engaged early childhood workforce is critical to economic and social productivity and positive life trajectories for children. Yet high staff turnover, skill loss and unmet standards of staff qualification pervade the sector, limiting optimal outcomes. For many early childhood educators, alternatives of better paid and less challenging sources of employment are available in other employment sectors, a fact that explains turnover rates as high as 30%. However, this study reverses the emphasis on why early childhood educators leave the sector and asks instead ‘Why do so many stay?'. This question is a significant one when it is considered that the remuneration of educators in early childhood barely meets minimum wage thresholds, and that they face challenging working conditions and few opportunities for career progression. The findings of the study contribute to an understanding of retention in early childhood education and care occupations specifically, and in feminised, low-paid occupational groups more broadly. The study also informs policy and strategy responses to low retention in the early childhood sector in Australia and internationally.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 1992
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-07-2013
DOI: 10.1002/JCOP.21576
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-11-2021
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 20-04-2016
Abstract: This article discusses the use of observational video recordings to document young children’s use of technology in their homes. Although observational research practices have been used for decades, often with video-based techniques, the participant group in this study (i.e., very young children) and the setting (i.e., private homes) provide a rich space for exploring the benefits and limitations of qualitative observation. The data gathered in this study point to a number of key decisions and issues that researchers must face in designing observational research, particularly where nonresearchers (in this case, parents) act as surrogates for the researcher at the data collection stage. The involvement of parents and children as research videographers in the home resulted in very rich and detailed data about children’s use of technology in their daily lives. However, limitations noted in the data set (e.g., image quality) provide important guidance for researchers developing projects using similar methods in future. The article provides recommendations for future observational designs in similar settings and/or with similar participant groups.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-12-2012
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-04-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S00737-019-00963-7
Abstract: Perinatal mental health problems, particularly depression, are prevalent and have been a central focus of prevention initiatives. The greater proportion of ongoing annual perinatal mental health economic cost burdens relate to children. A key linking mechanism is mother-infant relationship quality. Perinatal depression symptoms are typically transient. However, personality style, including interpersonal sensitivity, is a more stable construct and predicts proneness to depression and common mental disorders. Building on our previous work, the objective of the present study is to examine the association between specific dimensions of prenatal interpersonal sensitivity and postpartum mother-infant relationship quality in the context of prenatal depression symptoms. We analysed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Interpersonal sensitivity and depression symptoms were measured at 18 weeks gestation. In a randomly selected 10% subs le of the ALSPAC cohort, mother-infant interaction was measured through standard observation at 12 months postpartum. For the subs le that had complete data at all time points (n = 812), multiple regression models examined prenatal interpersonal sensitivity dimensions predicting postpartum mother-infant relationship quality, accounting for depression symptoms. Two dimensions of maternal interpersonal sensitivity modestly predicted mother-infant relationship quality at 12 months postpartum and remained robust when we controlled for depression symptoms. The interpersonal sensitivity subscales were significantly associated with prenatal depression symptoms but more consistently and robustly predicted postnatal mother-infant interaction quality. The inclusion of personality measures may strengthen prenatal mental health assessment to identify vulnerability to suboptimal mother-infant relationship quality.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 02-2006
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-03-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-22555-8
Abstract: The majority of preschool children (aged 3–5 years) no longer habitually nap, yet in childcare settings daily mandated naptimes in which children lie down without alternative activity remains a common practice. Mandated naptimes are associated with observed reductions in emotional climate and increased incidence of distress. While intended to be restful, mandatory naptimes may induce stress in those children unable to sleep. To examine this possibility, we applied a 2 (mandated/flexible practice) × 2 (nap/no-nap) design to test group difference in stress responses of children ( N = 43, mean age 56.3 months). Salivary cortisol level was measured at 4 time-points (waking, pre-naptime, post-naptime, and bedtime) across two days at childcare. Overall our results show a significant decline in cortisol level from wake to pre-naptime and from post-naptime to bedtime. No significant change in cortisol level was observed from pre- to post- naptime. Significant group differences in cortisol patterns were observed. Notably, children under mandatory naptime conditions who did not nap showed no significant reduction in cortisol level from post-naptime to bedtime. While cortisol measurement suggests naptime is neither stressful nor restful for children in any group, implications for bedtime arousal are raised for those unable to sleep under conditions of mandated naptimes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.EARLHUMDEV.2006.03.012
Abstract: Scientific studies have consistently reported that, in group analyses, twin children have higher rates of language delay when compared with single-born children. This paper reviews the evidence on twin language by addressing five key questions:The paper concludes that language delay in twins when compared with singletons is mild yet prevalent, particularly in males and is most likely a result of experience of poorer quality of language environment compared to single born children. Occurrence of "private" or "twin" language is rare and not an explanation for the findings of generalised language delay among twins. Given that language delay in twins relates to social-language experience, appropriate intervention and remediation of language delay should focus on providing a more stimulating language environment both within and outside the home. It is recommended that future research examine, longitudinally, the developmental course and consequences of language delay in twin children and trial interventions designed to improve their language experiences.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-1998
DOI: 10.1016/S0306-4603(98)00025-2
Abstract: Research in the field of teenage drinking behavior has shown relationships between both social skills and drinking and alcohol expectancies and drinking. The present research investigated the comparative power of both of these sets of variables in predicting teenage drinking behavior, as well as looking at the contribution of more global cognitive structures. It was hypothesised that adolescents with high alcohol involvement would be discriminated from those with low involvement on the basis of social skills, cognitive structures, and alcohol expectancies. Seven hundred thirty-two adolescents participated in the study. Results indicated that adolescent alcohol involvement was associated with social skills deficits, positive alcohol expectancies, and negative cognitive structures concerning parents and teachers. The results revealed that, although the bulk of the variance in drinking behavior was explained by the independent effects of social skills and expectancies, the interaction of the two constructs explained an additional and significant proportion of the variance. Implications for preventive and treatment programs are discussed.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2009
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-03-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-01-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 16-12-2010
Abstract: Being a novice researcher undertaking research interviews with young children requires understandings of the interview process. By investigating the interaction between a novice researcher undertaking her first interview and a child participant, the authors attend to theoretical principles, such as the competence of young children as informants, and highlight practical matters when interviewing young children. A conversation analysis approach examines the talk preceding and following a sticker task. By highlighting the conversational features of a research interview, researchers can better understand the coconstructed nature of the interview. This article provides insights into how to prepare for the interview and manage the interview context to recognize the active participation of child participants and the value of artifacts to promote interaction. These insights make more transparent the interactional process of a research interview and become part of the researcher’s collection of devices to manage the conduct of research interviews.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2022.115317
Abstract: Across developed economies, most children attend early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs attending up to 10,000 h prior to school. These programs present significant opportunity for public health nutrition interventions through provision of healthy food. We sought to identify whether this opportunity is being taken through analysis of population data from Queensland, Australia. Specifically, we asked if meal provision occurs in locations where risk of food insecurity is high and how economic functioning of ECEC services is associated with meal provision. Of ECEC services in Queensland, (N = 1623) administrative data on meal provision (2020) was available for 947 ECEC services (58.4% of cohort). We assessed the association of meal provision in these services with area indices of social disadvantage (geographic location, social disadvantage, proportion of child developmental vulnerability) and ECEC service economic functioning (fee structure, market competition). ECEC services in remote and rural communities were less likely to provide meals. A similar but weaker trend was evident in socio-economically disadvantaged metropolitan communities. In these locations market competition increased likelihood of meal provision but without fee increase. The competitive market works contrary to the potential for ECEC services to support child nutrition and promote public health. Children living in disadvantaged communities, where food insecurity is inevitably higher, are less likely to have meals provided by their ECEC service. Market competition increases the likelihood of meal provision, yet in disadvantaged communities, parents' ability to pay constrains fees that can be charged raising concern about food quality and effects on quality of provision more broadly. Systemic public supports to enable high quality food provision without compromising other aspects of quality, particularly in the most disadvantaged communities, should be a public health priority.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-05-2016
DOI: 10.1007/S00737-016-0640-6
Abstract: Maternal mental health has enduring effects on children's life chances and is a substantial cost driver for child health, education and social services. A key linking mechanism is the quality of mother-infant interaction. A body of work associates maternal depressive symptoms across the antenatal and postnatal (perinatal) period with less-than-optimal mother-infant interaction. Our study aims to build on previous research in the field through exploring the association of a maternal personality trait, interpersonal sensitivity, measured in early pregnancy, with subsequent mother-infant interaction quality. We analysed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to examine the association between antenatal interpersonal sensitivity and postnatal mother-infant interaction quality in the context of perinatal depressive symptoms. Interpersonal sensitivity was measured during early pregnancy and depressive symptoms in the antenatal year and across the first 21 months of the postnatal period. In a subs le of the ALSPAC, mother-infant interaction was measured at 12 months postnatal through a standard observation. For the subs le that had complete data at all time points (n = 706), hierarchical regression examined the contribution of interpersonal sensitivity to variance in mother-infant interaction quality. Perinatal depressive symptoms predicted little variance in mother-infant interaction. Antenatal interpersonal sensitivity explained a greater proportion of variance in mother-infant interaction quality. The personality trait, interpersonal sensitivity, measured in early pregnancy, is a more robust indicator of subsequent mother-infant-interaction quality than perinatal depressive symptoms, thus affording enhanced opportunity to identify vulnerable mother-infant relationships for targeted early intervention.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-02-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-1995
DOI: 10.1111/J.1523-536X.1995.TB00691.X
Abstract: A prospective, population-based study was conducted to assess the impact of twin pregnancy on a woman's physical and emotional well-being. It compared women's reports of their general health, experience of a range of specific symptoms, and emotional well-being during pregnancy using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The subjects were 147 women expecting twins and 11,061 women expecting a single child who completed questionnaires at both 20 and 32 weeks' gestation as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Results suggested that women expecting twins experienced poorer physical well-being but not poorer emotional well-being than those expecting a single child, even though a significant association between poor health and emotional well-being was found for the population as a whole. It was suggested that the transitory nature of a twin pregnancy, the "special" status of a twin pregnancy, greater social support, and modified expectations about health may buffer the effects of poor physical health on emotional well-being in a twin pregnancy. The findings should alert those who care for women expecting twins to the greater physical stress these women may feel.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 20-08-2020
Abstract: To compare feeding practices within mother–father dyads and explore whether outcomes of an efficacious intervention for mothers generalised to fathers’ feeding practices. The NOURISH RCT evaluated an early feeding intervention that promoted positive feeding practices to support development of healthy eating habits and growth. The intervention was delivered to first-time mothers via 2 × 12 week modules commencing when children were 4 and 14 months. Mothers self-reported feeding practice outcomes at child age 2 years using validated scales (1 = low to 5 = high) from the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ). Nine months later, an independent cross-sectional descriptive study to investigate fathers’ feeding practices was initiated. Fathers were recruited by contacting (via letter) mothers participating in two pre-existing studies, including the NOURISH trial. Fathers completed a feeding practices questionnaire, similar to that used for NOURISH outcome assessments. Seventy-five fathers recruited via the NOURISH cohort (21% response) returned questionnaires. Response data from this subset of fathers were then linked to the corresponding NOURISH maternal data. Complete data were available from 70 dyads. Compared with mothers, fathers self-reported higher concern about child overweight (2.2 vs. 1.3), restriction (3.6 vs. 2.9) and pressure (2.6 vs. 2.1), all p 0.001. Fathers whose partners were allocated to the intervention group used less pressure (mean difference 0.46, p = 0.045) and were more willing to let the child decide how much to eat (−0.51, p = 0.032). Fathers’ higher concern about child weight and more frequent use of non-responsive feeding practices, when compared with mothers, identify them as potentially potent contributors to child feeding. This preliminary evidence for modest generalisation of an efficacious maternal intervention to apparent effects on some paternal feeding practices speaks to the importance and promise of including fathers in early feeding interventions.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 05-2015
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-03-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-07-2018
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 12-07-2019
DOI: 10.1136/ARCHDISCHILD-2019-317000
Abstract: To independently assess compliance with safe sleeping guidelines for infants months in licensed childcare services. Full-day, in-situ observations of childcare practices (including sleep and non-sleep periods) conducted in 2016–2017. Australian home-based and centre-based licensed childcare services. All subject to national regulation and legislation to comply with safe sleeping guidelines. The s le was 18 licensed childcare settings (15 centre-based, 3 home-based) that had infants months (n=49) attending at the time of observation. 31 educators completed self-report surveys. Standard observations of childcare practices, including a 20-item infant Safe Sleeping Guideline checklist. Educator characteristics, including each in idual’s knowledge, beliefs and attitudes regarding safe sleeping practices. 83% of childcare services were observed to be non-compliant on at least 1 of 20 target guidelines (median 2.5, max=7) 44% were observed placing infants prone/side and 67% used loose bedding, quilts, doonas/duvets, pillows, sheepskins or soft toys in cots. 71% of the childcare settings had a copy of current safe sleeping guidelines displayed either in or at entry to the infant sleep room. Despite 25 years of public health messaging, non-compliance with safe sleeping guidelines was observed to be high in childcare services. Understanding of the reasons underlying non-compliance, particularly in contexts were legislative mandate and access to information regarding safe sleeping is high, is critical to informing ongoing public health messaging and should be the focus of future studies. ANZCTR 12618001056280—pre-results.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-03-2012
Correlates of naptime behaviors in preschool aged children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2019
DOI: 10.2147/NSS.S193115
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.SLEH.2015.11.002
Abstract: While most children cease napping between the ages of 2 and 5 years, across a range of international settings the allocation of a mandatory naptime is a common feature of the daily routine in Early Care and Education (ECE) programs for children of this age. Evidence regarding the developmental effects of napping is limited but, beyond age 2, is consistently associated with delayed night sleep onset and increased number of awakenings. The present study examined parent preferences towards napping in ECE. Participants were 750 parents of preschool-aged children attending a representative s le of Australian ECE programs across metropolitan, regional and rural sites in 2011. We analysed quantitative and open-ended questionnaire data from a large, longitudinal study of the effectiveness of Australian early education programs (E4Kids). Statistical analyses examined prevalence of parent preference for sleep and demographic correlates. Thematic analyses were employed to identify parents' rationale for this preference. The majority of parents (78.7%) preferred that their children did not regularly sleep while attending ECE. The dominant explanation provided by parents was that regular naps were no longer appropriate and adversely impacted their children's health and development. Parents of younger children were more likely to support regular naps. The results highlight a disjuncture between parent preferences and current sleep policy and practices in ECE. Further research is needed to establish evidence-based guidelines to support healthy sleep-rest practices in ECE. Such evidence will guide appropriate practice and support parent-educator communication regarding sleep and rest.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-07-2017
DOI: 10.1111/OBR.12581
Abstract: Overweight and obesity in preschool-aged children are major health concerns. Accurate and reliable estimates of prevalence are necessary to direct public health and clinical interventions. There are currently three international growth standards used to determine prevalence of overweight and obesity, each using different methodologies: Center for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO) and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF). Adoption and use of each method were examined through a systematic review of Australian population studies (2006-2017). For this period, systematically identified population studies (N = 20) reported prevalence of overweight and obesity ranging between 15 and 38% with most (n = 16) applying the IOTF standards. To demonstrate the differences in prevalence estimates yielded by the IOTF in comparison to the WHO and CDC standards, methods were applied to a s le of N = 1,926 Australian children, aged 3-5 years. As expected, the three standards yielded significantly different estimates when applied to this single population. Prevalence of overweight/obesity was WHO - 9.3%, IOTF - 21.7% and CDC - 33.1%. Judicious selection of growth standards, taking account of their underpinning methodologies and provisions of access to study data sets to allow prevalence comparisons, is recommended.
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.PSYCHRES.2015.05.049
Abstract: Postnatal depression is consistently associated with couple relationship qualities. Substantial infant care requirements in early weeks may highlight differences in parenting beliefs between mother and father. We calculated difference scores in parenting beliefs (disparity) in a community s le of 209 parent dyads. Contrary to previous research regarding 'disagreement' which could be interpreted as discord, independently measured disparity was not associated with maternal depressive symptoms. Coparenting interventions should promote respectful negotiation rather than resolution of differences.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-07-2018
DOI: 10.1007/S10995-018-2573-3
Abstract: Background Telephone helplines providing 24-h specialist-nurse contact present a source of immediate support for women encountering challenges with breastfeeding and may serve to prolong breastfeeding duration by building self-efficacy. To date there is little evidence on interaction effectiveness and still less on the relative effectiveness for women from different socio-economic backgrounds. Research Aim To establish the effect on maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy of calls made to a nurse-led parenting helpline. Methods From a corpus of calls made to the Australian Child Health Line (N = 723), those made by women presenting a breastfeeding concern as a prime issue (n = 60) were scored for breastfeeding self-efficacy at commencement and completion of recorded interactions. Analyses examined the significance and direction of change from beginning to end of calls and compared difference in change across calls originating from high and low social advantage locations. Results A significant increase in self-efficacy was found, but with low effect size. There was considerable variation among calls 53% showed improvement, 25% showed no change and 22% showed reduction in breastfeeding self-efficacy. While most calls were made by women from socially advantaged locations, change was more positive for the small number of callers from disadvantaged locations. Conclusion The potential of nurse-led reactive telephone support is evident, but dependent on qualities of the interaction. For women living in disadvantaged locations telephone support may be of particular significance given the greater social barriers to breastfeeding they are likely to encounter.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-01-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2009
DOI: 10.1111/J.1467-9566.2009.01179.X
Abstract: Child Health Line is a 24-hour Australian helpline that offers information and support for parents and families on child development and parenting. The helpline guidelines suggest that nurses should not offer medical advice they do, however, regularly receive calls seeking such advice. This paper examines how the service guidelines are talked into being through the nurses' management of callers' requests for medical advice and information, and shows how nurses orient to the boundaries of their professional role and institutionally regulated authority. Three ways in which the child health nurses manage medical advice and information seeking are discussed: using membership as a nurse to establish boundaries of expertise, privileging parental authority regarding decision making about seeking treatment for their child, and respecifying a 'medical' problem as a child development issue. The paper contributes to research on medical authority, and nurse authority in particular, by demonstrating the impact of institutional roles and guidelines on displays of knowledge and expertise. More generally, it contributes to an understanding of the interactional enactment and consequences of service guidelines for telehealth practice, with implications for training, policy and service delivery.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-2020
Abstract: Theoretical perspectives, and a large body of empirical research examining sex-segregated occupations, identify the attitudinal barriers of the majority as pivotal for both workplace well-being and the retention of minorities. Globally, where more than 90% of the early childhood education and care workforce is female, understanding the attitudes of the majority is critical in informing actions to sustain men’s participation. So too are female educators’ understanding, acceptance and responses to the attitudes of other key stakeholders. The extent to which decisions in the workplace reflect personal, organisational or parent perspectives is not well understood. In this study, the authors analyse interview data from the female majority to distinguish personal voice and attributed beliefs regarding the inclusion of men in the early childhood education and care workplace. They analyse interview data from 96 women working as educators in a representative s le of long-day-care and kindergarten services in Queensland, Australia. The analyses suggest that the view of male educators as assets was claimed, while concerns about risk or competency were typically attributed to others. Attributed views were not often contested, but instead accepted or excused. The findings suggest that while the inclusion of men in the early childhood education and care workforce is explicitly accepted by female colleagues, actions within the workforce may be influenced by the attitudes of those outside or by latent personal attitudes distanced by positioning as the voice of others.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 02-2018
DOI: 10.1017/S1368980017004049
Abstract: To characterise parent presentations of fussy eating and mealtime interactions at a point of crisis, through analyses of real-time recordings of calls to a parenting helpline. Qualitative analysis included an inductive thematic approach to examine clinical parent presentations of fussy eating and derive underlying themes relating to mealtime interactions. Calls made to the Child Health Line regarding feeding concerns were recorded and transcribed verbatim. From a corpus of 723 calls made during a 4-week period in 2009, twelve were from parents of children aged 6–48 months. Parents of infants (≤12 months, n 6) presented feeding concerns as learning challenges in the process of transitioning from a milk-based to a solid-based diet, while parents of toddlers (13–48 months, n 6) presented emotional accounts of feeding as an intractable problem. Parents presented their child’s eating behaviour as a battle (conflict), in which their children’s agency over limited intake and variety of foods (child control) was constructed as ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’. Escalating parent anxiety (parent concern) had evoked parent non-responsive feeding practices or provision of foods the child preferred. Real-time descriptions of young children’s fussy eating at a time of crisis that initiated parents’ call for help have captured the highly charged emotional underpinnings of mealtime interactions associated with fussy eating. Importantly, they show the child’s emerging assertion of food autonomy can escalate parents’ emotional distress that, in the short term, initiates non-responsive feeding practices. The current study identifies the importance of educational and emotional support for parents across the period of introducing solids.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JSR.37_12765
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 23-12-2016
Abstract: Maintaining intersubjectivity is crucial for accomplishing coordinated social action. Although conversational repair is a recognised defence of intersubjectivity and routinely used to address ostensible sources of trouble in social interaction, it is less clear how people address more equivocal trouble. This study uses conversation analysis to examine preschool classroom interaction, focusing on practices used to identify and address such trouble. Repair is found to be a recurrent frontline practice for addressing equivocal trouble, occasioning space for further information that might enable identifying a specific trouble source. Where further information is forthcoming, a range of strategies are subsequently employed to address the trouble. Where this is not possible or does not succeed, a secondary option is to progress a broader activity-in-progress. This allows for the possibility of another opportunity to identify and address the trouble. Given that misunderstandings can jeopardise interactants’ ability to mutually accomplish courses of action, these practices defend intersubjectivity against the threat of equivocal trouble.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-04-2016
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-1993
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-03-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-06-2015
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 18-07-2014
DOI: 10.1017/THG.2014.39
Abstract: The hypothesis that twinning raises risk for behavioral difficulties in childhood is persistent, yet there is limited and inconsistent empirical evidence. Simple mean comparison without control for confounders provides data on prevalence rates but cannot provide knowledge about risk or etiology. To assess the effect of twin relationship on behavior, comparison of patterns of association with single-born siblings may be informative. Analyses of data from an Australian s le of twins and single-born children ( N = 305, mean age 4 years 9 months, and a follow-up 12 months later) were undertaken. The outcome measure was the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Predictor and control measures were obtained from parent report on the sibling/co-twin relationship behavior, family demographics, and obstetric history. We assessed difference between twins and single-born children in two respects: (a) mean behavioral difficulties, and (b) patterns of association between sibling relationship and behavioral difficulties, controlling for confounders. Results showed no differences in mean levels of behavioral difficulties between twins and single-born siblings identifying the importance of statistical control for family and obstetric adversity. Differences in patterns of association were found for twin children, conflict in their co-twin relationship predicted externalizing behaviors, while for single-born children conflict predicted internalizing behaviors. The findings of mean differences between twin and single-born children in social background, but not in behavioral difficulties, underscore the necessity of statistical control to identify risk associated with twinning compared with risk associated with family and obstetric background factors.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-09-2013
DOI: 10.1111/SBR.12028
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2014
Publisher: American Physiological Society
Date: 09-2008
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1177/183693911604100306
Abstract: THIS ARTICLE INVESTIGATES TEACHER decision making in a time of rapid educational reforms. Institutional ethnography is used to discover how teachers' work is coordinated by the texts of a new national curriculum, and a system for the assessment and ratings of kindergarten, preschool and long day care services in in idual settings and across sites. The research draws on video-recorded interview data gathered from five teachers working with three- to five-year-old children in kindergarten classrooms throughout South-East Queensland. Analysis shows the reported effects of policy regimes, designed to improve the quality of learning young children experience, on classroom teachers' work. Findings suggest that increasing levels of governance enacted through policy texts are creating an audit culture where teachers' educational work with children is changing. This article argues that the reported workload associated with the production of evidence, and the focus on providing ‘proof’ of quality, is taking teachers away from time spent building educative relationships with children.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 26-06-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-03-2014
DOI: 10.1111/BIRT.12107
Abstract: Young infants may have irregular sleeping and feeding patterns. Such regulation difficulties are known correlates of maternal depressive symptoms. Parental beliefs about their role in regulating infant behaviors also may play a role. We investigated the association of depressive symptoms with infant feeding/sleeping behaviors, parent regulation beliefs, and the interaction of the two. In 2006, 272 mothers of infants aged up to 24 weeks completed a questionnaire about infant behavior and regulation beliefs. Participants were recruited from general medical practices and child health clinics in Brisbane, Australia. Depressive symptomology was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Other measures were adapted from the ALSPAC study. Regression analyses were run controlling for partner support, other support, life events, and a range of demographic variables. Maternal depressive symptoms were associated with infant sleeping and feeding problems but not regulation beliefs. The most important infant predictor was sleep behaviors with feeding behaviors accounting for little additional variance. An interaction between regulation beliefs and sleep behaviors was found. Mothers with high regulation beliefs were more susceptible to postnatal depressive symptoms when infant sleep behaviors were problematic. Mothers of young infants who expect greater control are more susceptible to depressive symptoms when their infant presents challenging sleep behavior.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-09-2023
DOI: 10.1002/AJS4.236
Abstract: School closures across Australia in response to COVID‐19 have persisted since 2020, with rising mental health problems in children and adolescents, alongside rising negative family health and socioeconomic outcomes. Further, some children and young people who were already experiencing disadvantage pre‐pandemic may be at heightened risk of poorer educational outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature to identify the factors for poorer educational outcomes that may be exacerbated by COVID‐19 amongst disadvantaged school students. Key development stages of disadvantage were identified: young children who started school behind, older students already at risk of disengagement from school and children and young people who have had contact with the child protection system. Five databases were systematically searched, across two search periods. A total of 69 Australian, peer‐reviewed articles, published in 2005–2021, examining risk factors for poor educational outcomes for children attending school met the inclusion criteria and were included in final analyses. Our findings provide evidence of key risk factors that make these populations susceptible to worsening outcomes resulting from the COVID‐19 pandemic, and of the critical importance of ongoing research to guide policy and practice support for these at‐risk groups.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-09-2014
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-01-2017
DOI: 10.1080/15402002.2015.1120199
Abstract: Policy provision for naps is typical in child care settings, but there is variability in the practices employed. One practice that might modify children's early sleep patterns is the allocation of a mandatory nap time in which all children are required to lie on their beds without alternate activity permitted. There is currently limited evidence of the effects of such practices on children's napping patterns. This study examined the association between duration of mandatory nap times and group-level napping patterns in child care settings. Observations were undertaken in a community s le of 113 preschool rooms with a scheduled nap time (N = 2,114 children). Results showed that 83.5% of child care settings implemented a mandatory nap time (range = 15-145 min) while 14.2% provided alternate activities for children throughout the nap time period. Overall, 31% of children napped during nap times. Compared to rooms with ≤ 30 min of mandatory nap time, rooms with 31-60 min and > 60 min of mandatory nap time had a two-and-a-half and fourfold increase, respectively, in the proportion of children napping. Nap onset latency did not significantly differ across groups. Among preschool children, exposure to longer mandatory nap times in child care may increase incidence of napping.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 27-12-2020
Abstract: In early childhood education and care policy, there are two dominant discourses: ‘investment and outcomes’ and ‘children’s rights’. There is little research on how these discourses play out in educators’ accounts. In this article, the authors examine the case of discourse pertaining to children’s relaxation in early childhood education and care. They demonstrate that Australian relaxation policy for children in early childhood education and care constructs children as passive and incompetent subjects. Some educators reproduce early childhood education and care policy tensions by vacillating between investment-outcomes and children’s rights discourse in their accounts, while other educators deviate from the policy constructions and adopt children’s rights discourse.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.2304/CIEC.2012.13.4.317
Abstract: Concern to ensure that all children have access to high-quality educational experiences in the early years of life has instigated policies to increase the qualifications of staff in the childcare workforce, and in particular, to increase the number of degree qualified teachers. However, existing data suggests that employment in childcare is viewed less favourably than alternatives in the education sector by those undertaking Early Childhood Education degrees. For most, childcare is not a preferred place of employment. This study asked whether a practicum in a childcare setting would improve attitudes towards childcare and willingness to work in childcare settings. In a study of a cohort of Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) students, measures of attitudes to childcare and willingness to work in childcare were taken before and after practicum. Additionally, students provided accounts of their practicum experiences. Results indicate a trend in which there was a group increase in positive attitudes and willingness to consider work in childcare, but considerable in idual differences influenced by the quality of the practicum experience. The relationship with, and model provided by, centre directors and group leaders in the practicum class was identified as a key influencing factor. Results are discussed in term of models of pedagogical leadership.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.SLEH.2015.12.005
Abstract: The aim was to investigate whether the sleep practices in early childhood education (ECE) settings align with current evidence on optimal practice to support sleep. Internationally, scheduled sleep times are a common feature of daily schedules in ECE settings, yet little is known about the degree to which care practices in these settings align with the evidence regarding appropriate support of sleep. Observations were conducted in 130 Australian ECE rooms attended by preschool children (Mean=4.9years). Of these rooms, 118 had daily scheduled sleep times. Observed practices were scored against an optimality index, the Sleep Environment and Practices Optimality Score, developed with reference to current evidence regarding sleep scheduling, routines, environmental stimuli, and emotional climate. Cluster analysis was applied to identify patterns and prevalence of care practices in the sleep time. Three sleep practices types were identified. Supportive rooms (36%) engaged in practices that maintained regular schedules, promoted routine, reduced environmental stimulation, and maintained positive emotional climate. The majority of ECE rooms (64%), although offering opportunity for sleep, did not engage in supportive practices: Ambivalent rooms (45%) were emotionally positive but did not support sleep Unsupportive rooms (19%) were both emotionally negative and unsupportive in their practices. Although ECE rooms schedule sleep time, many do not adopt practices that are supportive of sleep. Our results underscore the need for education about sleep supporting practice and research to ascertain the impact of sleep practices in ECE settings on children's sleep health and broader well-being.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2015
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2010
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 29-04-2014
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2005
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-03-2018
Abstract: Telephone support is a format that presents an opportunity to sustain breastfeeding at a time when mothers identify themselves as at risk of cessation. The interactive mechanisms by which support is provided have not, however, been well investigated. We aimed to identify characteristics of calls that support breastfeeding self-efficacy. Thematic analysis of 149 calls from mothers seeking help for breastfeeding made to a 24-hour parenting helpline over a four week period, in Brisbane, Australia. Call-takers were 12 qualified and experienced maternal and child health nurses. Calls classified according to changes in breastfeeding self-efficacy across the call were thematically analysed to identify distinguishing interactional characteristics. Key interactional characteristics that served to build self-efficacy were privileging the mother, teamwork and credible affirmation while those that failed to build self-efficacy were laissez-faire affirmation and pragmatic problem-solving responses. Nurse responses that undermined caller self-efficacy conceptualized breastfeeding as a problem. Telephone helplines have potential to enhance mothers’ confidence and sustain breastfeeding when there is a call for help, this study highlights that the style of interaction is critical. The findings identify the need for specific training to increase awareness of interactional styles and delivery of advice through telehealth formats.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2019.03.005
Abstract: Children learn to like a wide variety of healthy foods through exposure in their early feeding environment. While some children may reject foods during this learning process, parents may perceive persistent refusal as 'fussy' or 'picky' eating. Low-income parents may provide fussy children with a narrow range of foods that they will like and accept to avoid food and economic waste inadvertently limiting children's exposure to a variety of healthy foods. This 'risk aversion' to food rejection may be particularly salient in food insecure households where resources are further constrained. We aimed to examine if food insecurity modifies the relationship between child fussy eating and parents' food provision and feeding with respect to exposure to a variety of healthy foods. Australian mothers residing in a low-income community (N = 260) completed a cross-sectional survey on their preschool-aged child's 'food fussiness', household food insecurity and food exposure practices. Food exposure practices included the home availability of fruit and vegetables, and children's tasting of a variety of fruit and vegetables (food provision) and whether parents prepared alternative meals for their child (feeding). Mothers reporting food insecurity (11%) were less likely to have fruit frequently available in the home compared to mothers reporting food security. Food insecurity moderated the relationship between fussy eating and food exposure practices insofar that food secure mothers were more likely to prepare alternative meals for fussier children. Family resources and child fussy eating behaviours are identified as important contextual factors in food provision and feeding. Findings from the current study suggest that health professionals, researchers and policymakers tailor interventions to consider both the needs of families and child eating characteristics.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-01-2023
Location: No location found
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: Australia
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: Australia
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: Australia
Start Date: 2012
End Date: End date not available
Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2013
End Date: 2013
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 02-2021
End Date: 02-2028
Amount: $34,934,592.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2021
End Date: 12-2027
Amount: $32,137,008.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 06-2011
End Date: 12-2016
Amount: $463,971.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2014
End Date: 12-2020
Amount: $20,000,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 10-2009
End Date: 12-2015
Amount: $2,209,844.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 04-2006
End Date: 06-2010
Amount: $285,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2013
End Date: 12-2013
Amount: $150,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2023
End Date: 12-2027
Amount: $3,320,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 01-2020
End Date: 01-2024
Amount: $705,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 12-2014
End Date: 12-2017
Amount: $286,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 09-2006
End Date: 06-2009
Amount: $541,206.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity