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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.
Psychology | Developmental Psychology And Ageing | Epidemiology | Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology | Criminology | Developmental Psychology and Ageing | Social and personality psychology | Public Health and Health Services | Social psychology | Health, Clinical And Counselling Psychology | Counselling psychology | Community psychology | Psychiatry (incl. Psychotherapy) | Community Child Health | Psychological Methodology, Design And Analysis | Health Promotion | Public Policy | Sociology | Psychology not elsewhere classified | Sociological Methodology And Research Methods | Educational Policy, Administration And Management | Social and Community Psychology
Behavioural and cognitive sciences | Behaviour and health | Justice and the law not elsewhere classified | Preventive Medicine | Substance Abuse | Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences | Substance abuse | Studies in human society | Political science and public policy | Education policy | Behaviour and Health | Mental health | Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | Injury Control | Social structure and health | Mental Health Services |
Publisher: Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc.
Date: 05-2013
DOI: 10.15288/JSAD.2013.74.396
Abstract: Heavy alcohol use increases dramatically at age 14, and there is emerging cross-sectional evidence that when girls experience family conflict at younger ages (11-13 years) the risk of alcohol use and misuse is high. This study evaluated the role of family conflict and subsequent depressed mood in predicting heavy alcohol use among adolescent girls. This was a three-wave longitudinal study with annual assessments (modal ages 12, 13, and 14 years). The participants (N = 886, 57% female) were from 12 metropolitan schools in Victoria, Australia, and participants completed questionnaires during school class time. The key measures were based on the Communities That Care Youth Survey and included family conflict (Wave 1), depressed mood (Wave 2), and heavy alcohol use (Wave 3). Control variables included school commitment, number of peers who consumed alcohol, whether parents were living together, and ethnic background. With all controls in the model, depressed mood at Wave 2 was predicted by family conflict at Wave 1. The interaction of family conflict with gender was significant, with girls showing a stronger association of family conflict and depressed mood. Depressed mood at Wave 2 predicted heavy alcohol use at Wave 3. Girls may be especially vulnerable to family conflict, and subsequent depressed mood increases the risk of heavy alcohol use. The results support the need for gender-sensitive family-oriented prevention programs delivered in late childhood and early adolescence.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 06-09-2014
Abstract: To investigate the cross-national relevance of community health promotion, this paper compared community variation in alcohol use and risk and protective factors for adolescents in Australia (State of Victoria, 2009) and the Netherlands (2007/2008). Multi-level analyses examined community variation in heavy episodic (binge) alcohol use [≥5 drinks in a session ≥once in the prior fortnight (>63 ml of ethanol)] and associations with predictors. Representative community s les of adolescents (12-17 years) were recruited. The participants were 7812 students from 36 Australian communities and 15 082 adolescents from 124 Dutch communities. Predictors included adolescent reports of family, school, peer and neighbourhood environments and community predictors (rural, disadvantage). The overall prevalence of alcohol use prevalence was similar in both nations. Australia had higher use at younger ages and no difference between genders. In the Netherlands older adolescents and males used alcohol at significantly higher rates. Although in idual predictors were mostly similar, binge drinking was more strongly associated with poor family management, friends' use of drugs and community disorganization in Australia. Significant community variation in adolescent heavy alcohol use was observed in both countries, but was higher in the Netherlands [inter class correlation 6.1%, (95% CI: 4.5-8.3%)] than Australia (ICC 2.4%, 1.3-4.5%). Youth from rural areas drank at a higher level, especially in the Netherlands. Targeting community level adolescent alcohol use appears feasible in both countries. Although behavioural patterns and risk and protective influences are similar in the Netherlands and Australia, important differences should be taken into account in tailoring community interventions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-01-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.12829
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2014
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12043
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-04-2017
DOI: 10.1111/CAMH.12220
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2015.08.034
Abstract: The relative contributions of cannabis and alcohol use to educational outcomes are unclear. We examined the extent to which adolescent cannabis or alcohol use predicts educational attainment in emerging adulthood. Participant-level data were integrated from three longitudinal studies from Australia and New Zealand (Australian Temperament Project, Christchurch Health and Development Study, and Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study). The number of participants varied by analysis (N=2179-3678) and were assessed on multiple occasions between ages 13 and 25. We described the association between frequency of cannabis or alcohol use prior to age 17 and high school non-completion, university non-enrolment, and degree non-attainment by age 25. Two other measures of alcohol use in adolescence were also examined. After covariate adjustment using a propensity score approach, adolescent cannabis use (weekly+) was associated with 1½ to two-fold increases in the odds of high school non-completion (OR=1.60, 95% CI=1.09-2.35), university non-enrolment (OR=1.51, 95% CI=1.06-2.13), and degree non-attainment (OR=1.96, 95% CI=1.36-2.81). In contrast, adjusted associations for all measures of adolescent alcohol use were inconsistent and weaker. Attributable risk estimates indicated adolescent cannabis use accounted for a greater proportion of the overall rate of non-progression with formal education than adolescent alcohol use. Findings are important to the debate about the relative harms of cannabis and alcohol use. Adolescent cannabis use is a better marker of lower educational attainment than adolescent alcohol use and identifies an important target population for preventive intervention.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-04-2022
DOI: 10.1002/AJS4.212
Abstract: Homeless young adults are at increased risk for contact with the police and are overrepresented in the justice system. This study explored associations between homelessness, antisocial behaviour and violence victimisation using longitudinal panel data gathered through young adulthood. Data were drawn from a state representative population‐based s le of young adults from Victoria, Australia participating in the International Youth Development Study (IYDS n = 2884, 54% female). Participants were surveyed at age 21 years, with follow‐up at ages 23 and 25 years. We examined changes in the prevalence of homelessness and tested hypothesised directional relationships between young adult homelessness, antisocial behaviour and violence victimisation using longitudinal cross‐lagged panel models. Multiple‐group modelling was used to test whether these relationships were moderated by gender. The prevalence of young adult homelessness was highest at age 21 (6.5%), declining at ages 23 (3.9%) and 25 years (2.5%). Results showed that young adult homelessness, antisocial behaviour and victimisation were related cross‐sectionally, but not longitudinally. Gender did not significantly moderate these associations. Findings suggest that the state of homelessness is associated with temporary vulnerability to potentially harmful and problematic situations involving antisocial behaviour and victimisation. These situations are likely to heighten risk for contact with the police and direct physical and psychological harm.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AJPY.12220
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 12-11-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-06-2021
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 2013
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2016
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12168
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-11-2009
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 2005
Abstract: This article describes a Chronic Illness Peer Support (ChIPS) programme designed to assist young people in their adjustment to life with a chronic medical condition. The ChIPS programme takes a non-categorical approach to participation, recognizing that young people with different medical conditions experience many similar concerns. Support groups are facilitated by a health professional and peer co-leader. Groups meet weekly for 8 weeks and typically include between six and eight young people. Young people can choose to remain involved in broader social, educational and recreational activities following completion of the 8-week programme. We discuss nine psychosocial mechanisms by which peer support groups such as ChIPS might act to improve resilience and well-being among participants. We also discuss some theoretical risks in running support groups for chronically ill young people, which emphasize the importance of training and support of group leaders, including the peer co-leaders. The article concludes with a personal testimony by a ChIPS participant that was prepared for the 2003 Australian and New Zealand Adolescent Health Conference.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2203
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2014.05.006
Abstract: To explore the extent to which parent-adolescent emotional closeness, family conflict, and parental permissiveness moderate the association of puberty and alcohol use in adolescents (aged 10-14). Cross-sectional survey of 7631 adolescents from 231 Australian schools. Measures included pubertal status, recent (30day) alcohol use, parent-adolescent emotional closeness, family conflict, parental permissiveness of alcohol use and peer alcohol use. The analysis was based on a two-level (in iduals nested within schools) logistic regression model, with main effects entered first, and interaction terms added second. The interaction of family factors and pubertal stage did not improve the fit of the model, so a main effect model of family factors and pubertal stage was adopted. There were significant main effects for pubertal stage with boys in middle puberty at increased odds of alcohol use, and girls in advanced puberty at increased odds of alcohol use. Puberty and family factors were strong predictors of adolescent alcohol use, but family factors did not account for variation in the association of pubertal stage and alcohol use.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 28-09-2015
Abstract: Depression has been identified as a priority disorder among children and adolescents. While numerous reviews have examined the in idual and family factors that contribute to child and adolescent depressive symptoms, less is known about community-level risk and protective factors. The aim of this study was to complete a systematic review to identify community risk and protective factors for depression in school-aged children (4–18 years). The review adopted the procedures recommended by the Cochrane Non-Randomised Studies Methods Working Group and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify both observational and intervention study designs in both peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed publications. A total of 21 studies met the inclusion criteria. Seventeen of the 18 community association studies and 2 of the 3 intervention studies reported one or more significant effects. Results indicated that community safety and community minority ethnicity and discrimination act as risk factors for depressive symptoms in school-aged children. Community disadvantage failed to achieve significance in meta-analytic results but findings suggest that the role of disadvantage may be influenced by other factors. Community connectedness was also not directly associated with depressive symptoms. There is evidence that a number of potentially modifiable community-level risk and protective factors influence child and adolescent depressive symptoms suggesting the importance of continuing research and intervention efforts at the community-level.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-06-2013
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-02-2017
Abstract: Being overweight or obese (overweight/obesity) or physically aggressive in childhood and adolescence can have lifelong consequences, hence are important public health problems. Identifying a relationship between these problems would assist in understanding their developmental origins. The present paper sought to review previous studies and use meta-analysis to evaluate whether there is evidence of a relationship between overweight/obesity and physical aggression in children and adolescents. A systematic search of studies that reported the effect of overweight/obesity (in the form of body mass index) on physical aggression was conducted. A total of 23 studies were identified, representing data from 255,377 participants. The results indicate that children and adolescents who are overweight or obese are more physically aggressive than their normal-weight or underweight peers. The average weighted standardized mean difference (the effect size) for aggression in overweight and obese children and adolescents compared to others was found to be 0.27 (95% confidence interval [CI 95 ]: .17–.37), and was significant ( p .001). Gender sub-analysis indicated that higher physical aggression amongst overweight or obese compared to normal-weight or underweight peers is a slightly larger effect for boys (standardized mean difference of .35, CI 95 : .18–.52, p .001) than girls (standardized mean difference of .24, CI 95 : .07–.42, p .01). High levels of heterogeneity (94.41%) were found between study-level effect sizes. The developmental processes that may explain the association between overweight/obesity and physical aggression in children and adolescents are discussed.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 29-03-2021
Abstract: Parent education programs, offered via family–school partnerships, offer an effective means for promoting the mental health and educational functioning of children and adolescents at a whole-school level. However, these programs often have a low uptake. This study aimed to identify strategies for increasing the uptake of parent education programs within preschool and school settings. A three-round Delphi procedure was employed to obtain expert consensus on strategies that are important and feasible in educational settings. First, thirty experts rated statements identified from the literature and a stakeholder forum. Next, experts re-appraised statements, including new statements generated from the first round. Ninety statements were endorsed by ≥80% of the experts. Primary themes include strategies for program selection strategies for increasing the accessibility of programs and the understanding of educational staff on parent engagement and child mental health strategies for program development, promotion and delivery as well as strategies for increasing parent and community engagement. This study offers a set of consensus strategies for improving the uptake of parent education programs within family–school partnership.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-03-2017
Abstract: Access to the supply of alcohol is an important factor influencing adolescent alcohol consumption. Although alcohol sales outlets are prohibited from selling alcohol to underage youth, there has been limited research investigating compliance. The present study sought to estimate the extent to which adolescents that appeared underage were successfully able to purchase alcohol from packaged liquor outlets in Australia and to identify store and sales characteristics associated with illegal purchasing. In 2012, purchase surveys were conducted (n= 310) at packaged liquor outlets in 28 urban and rural communities across three states of Australia: Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria. Confederates successfully purchased alcohol at 60% (95% CI: 55-66) of outlets. The density of general alcohol outlets in the surrounding area and the type of liquor outlet were predictors of successful alcohol purchases however, this was moderated by the state in which the purchase was made. Regional geographical location was also found to predict underage alcohol purchase. The majority of alcohol sales outlets in Australia breach regulations prohibiting sales to underage youth. Consistent enforcement of policies across the states of Australia, and reducing the number of alcohol outlets, will help prevent alcohol outlets illegally selling alcohol to underage adolescents.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2017
DOI: 10.1111/AJPY.12118
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-10-2021
DOI: 10.1007/S11121-021-01297-6
Abstract: Internationally, youth crime is a significant social problem. Violent youth crime has been rising over the past decade in the state of Victoria, Australia. Communities That Care (CTC) is a coalition training process designed to prevent youth crime. There has been limited evaluation outside the USA. Using a non-experimental design, this study employed official state crime statistics to evaluate the impact on crime as the five-phase CTC process was implemented between 2010 and 2019 across communities in Victoria. The standard five-phase CTC implementation cycle was supplemented with universal programs to reduce sales and supply of alcohol to underage youth (under 18 years). Growth models evaluated community trends in youth crime (all, person, property and deception and other), comparing communities that implemented CTC at phase 4 or greater with communities that had not implemented CTC. In accord with the hypotheses, the study found significant reductions in crimes associated with CTC over the period between 2010 and 2019. A 2% annual reduction in risk was observed for crimes against persons for all age groups (IRR = 0.98, 95% CI [0.96, 0.998]). A 5% annual reduction was observed for crimes of property and deception for adolescents aged between 10 and 17 years (IRR = 0.95, 95% CI [0.90, 0.99]). These findings support CTC as an intervention for preventing youth crime at a population level. Future studies should evaluate intervention mechanisms and economic benefits.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2203
DOI: 10.1016/J.JAD.2017.01.020
Abstract: The present study compares depressive symptoms in adolescents from three countries: Mumbai, India Seattle, United States and Melbourne, Australia measured using the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ). The study cross nationally compares SMFQ depressive symptom responses by age and gender. Data from a cross-nationally matched survey were used to compare factorial and measurement characteristics from s les of students from Grade 7 and 9 in Mumbai, India (n=3268) with the equivalent cohorts in the Washington State, USA (n=1907) and Victoria, Australia (n=1900). Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) was used to cross-nationally examine factor structure and measurement invariance. A number of reports suggesting that SMFQ is uni-dimensional were not supported in findings from any country. A model with two factors was a better fit and suggested a first factor clustering symptoms that were affective and physiologically based symptoms and a second factor of self-critical, cognitive symptoms. The two-factor model showed convincing cross national configural invariance and acceptable measurement invariance. The present findings revealed that adolescents in Mumbai, India, reported substantially higher depressive symptoms in both factors, but particularly for the self-critical dimension, as compared to their peers in Australia and the USA and that males in Mumbai report high levels of depressive symptoms than females in Mumbai. the cross sectional study collected data for adolescents in Melbourne and Seattle in 2002 and the data for adolescents in Mumbai was obtained in 2010-2011 CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that previous findings in developed nations of higher depressive symptoms amongst females compared to males may have an important cultural component and cannot be generalised as a universal feature of adolescent development.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.JADOHEALTH.2018.07.024
Abstract: This study examined the extent to which care-oriented attitudes and behaviours in adolescence (e.g., volunteering) predict positive development (PD e.g., life satisfaction and meaning urpose) in young adulthood (19-28 years). The analytic s le comprised 1,359 participants participating from a 35-year (16 wave) population-based cohort study (The Australian Temperament Project). Adolescent care-oriented attitudes and behaviours were defined in mid-adolescence (15-16 years). Young adult PD was defined by latent growth curve modelling across three waves (19-20, 23-24, and 27-28 years). There was considerable variation in PD at the beginning of young adulthood (19-20 years) (variance of intercept = 40.22, SE = 4.53, p < .001). Once baseline PD levels were established in young adulthood, there was evidence of increasing PD over time (mean slope = .34, SE = .04, 95%CI = [.26, .41], p < .001, β = .65), with little variation in this rate of change between participants (variance of slope = .27, SE = .15, p = .087). After controlling for sex, parental education, and personality factors (b = 3.49, SE(b) = .67, 95%CI = [2.17, 4.80], p < .001, β = .22) care orientations in adolescence predicted PD at age 19-20 years, establishing the starting point of PD trajectories across young adulthood. Results suggest that promotion of care-oriented attitudes and behaviours in adolescence may enhance adult development by increasing PD levels at the start of the twenties. Intervening earlier in life is indicated as PD tends to remain stable throughout young adulthood once established.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-04-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-01-2018
DOI: 10.1111/DAR.12645
Abstract: There is a need to explain reported trends of reduced alcohol and drug (substance) use in school-aged children in Australia. This study used student survey data collected in the states of Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland to examine trends in substance use and associated influencing factors. Youth self-reports were examined from 11 cross-sectional surveys completed by 41 328 adolescents (average age 13.5 years, 52.5% female) across 109 Australian communities between 1999 and 2015. Multi-level modelling was used to identify trends in adolescent reports of lifetime alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use, adjusted for age, gender, social disadvantage and minority status. Trends in influencing factors were also examined that included: in idual attitudes, and family, school and community environments. Multivariate analyses estimated the main contributors to alcohol use trends. Alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use all fell significantly from 1999 to 2015. Higher levels of use were observed in Victoria compared to Western Australia or Queensland. Multivariate analyses identified reductions in favourable parent attitudes and lower availability of substances as direct contributors to reducing alcohol use trends. Indicators of school and family adjustment did not show similar trend reductions. Reductions in adolescent alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use from 1999 to 2015 were associated with similar reductions in parent favourable attitudes and availability of substances. It is plausible that a reduced tendency for parents and other adults to supply adolescent alcohol are implicated in the reductions in adolescent alcohol use observed across Australia.
Publisher: Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc.
Date: 09-2015
DOI: 10.15288/JSAD.2015.76.671
Abstract: Adolescent alcohol use is a serious problem in Australia and other nations. Longitudinal data on family predictors are valuable to guide parental education efforts. The present study tested Baumrind's proposal that parenting styles are direct predictors of adolescent alcohol use. Latent class modeling was used to investigate adolescent perceptions of parenting styles and multivariate regression to examine their predictive effect on the development of adolescent alcohol use. The data set comprised 2,081 secondary school students (55.9% female) from metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, who completed three waves of annual longitudinal data starting in 2004. Baumrind's parenting styles were significant predictors in unadjusted analyses, but these effects were not maintained in multivariate models that also included parenting behavior dimensions. Family influences on the development of adolescent alcohol use appear to operate more directly through specific family management behaviors rather than through more global parenting styles.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2008
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2005
DOI: 10.1080/09595230500293779
Abstract: Although youth drug and alcohol harm minimization policies in Australia are often contrasted with the abstinence and zero tolerance policies adopted in the United States, there has been little research directly comparing youth substance use behaviour in the two countries. Three state representative s les in Victoria, Australia (n = 7898) and in the US states of Oregon (n = 15,224) and Maine (n = 16,245) completed a common cross-sectional student survey. Rates of alcohol use (lifetime alcohol use, recent use in the past 30 days), alcohol use exceeding recommended consumption limits (binge drinking: five or more drinks in a session), other licit drug use (tobacco use), and norm-violating substance use (substance use at school, use in the past 30 days of marijuana or other illicit drug use) were compared for males and females at ages 12-17. Rates were lower (odds ratios 0.5-0.8) for youth in Maine and Oregon compared to Victoria for lifetime and recent alcohol use, binge drinking and daily cigarette smoking. However, rates of recent marijuana use and recent use of other illicit drugs were higher in Maine and Oregon, as were reports of being drunk or high at school. In contradiction of harm minimization objectives, Victoria, relative to the US states of Oregon and Maine, demonstrated higher rates of alcohol use exceeding recommended consumption limits and daily tobacco use. However, findings suggested that aspects of norm-violating substance use (substance use at school, marijuana use and other illicit drug use) were higher in the US states compared to Victoria.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-02-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-07-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADOLESCENCE.2010.06.005
Abstract: The transition to adulthood is characterised by both great potential for positive change and a relatively high incidence of problem outcomes. A multidimensional model of positive development during the transition to adulthood (at 19–20 years) has recently been proposed. However, an unresolved question regarding the nature of positive development during this time is how best to conceptualise its relationship to psychopathology. We drew on data from 1158 participants in the Australian Temperament Project, a large longitudinal community‐based study that has followed young people’s psychosocial adjustment from infancy to early adulthood. Using structural equation modelling, we compared three models reflecting different conceptualisations of the relationship between positive development and psychopathology. The results suggest that positive development and psychopathology are best modelled as separate but correlated constructs. Hence, development in one domain is likely to influence the other, although separate and specific developmental pathways are also likely to be operating.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2019.05.001
Abstract: Modelling trajectories of substance use over time is complex and requires judicious choices from a number of modelling approaches. In this study we examine the relative strengths and weakness of latent curve models (LCM), growth mixture modelling (GMM), and latent class growth analysis (LCGA). Data were drawn from the Australian Temperament Project, a 36-year-old community-based longitudinal study that has followed a s le of young Australians from infancy to adulthood across 16 waves of follow-up since 1983. Models were fitted on past month alcohol use (n = 1468) and cannabis use (n = 549) across six waves of data collected from age 13-14 to 27-28 years. Of the three model types, GMMs were the best fit. However, these models were limited given the variance of numerous growth parameters had to be constrained to zero. Additionally, both the GMM and LCGA solutions had low entropy. The negative binomial LCMs provided a relatively well-fitting solution with fewer drawbacks in terms of growth parameter estimation and entropy issues. In all cases, model fit was enhanced when using a negative binomial distribution. Substance use researchers would benefit from adopting a complimentary framework by exploring both LCMs and mixture approaches, in light of the relative strengths and weaknesses as identified. Additionally, the distribution of data should inform modelling decisions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-02-2011
DOI: 10.1007/S10964-011-9635-9
Abstract: Calls have been made for a greater focus on successful development and how positive functioning can be conceptualized in theory and empirical research. Drawing on a large Australian community s le (N = 890 61.7% female), this article examines the structure and stability of positive development at two time points during young adulthood. Previously, we developed and empirically tested a model of positive development at 19-20 years comprised of five first-order constructs (civic action and engagement, trust and tolerance of others, trust in authorities and organisations, social competence, and life satisfaction) and a second-order positive development construct. In the current study, we replicated this model at 23-24 years and found that it was again a good fit for the data, and was equally applicable for young men and women. Hence, positive development can be conceptualized according to five important dimensions at both ages. While variable-oriented tests suggested continuity in levels of positive development, person-oriented analyses revealed four distinct patterns of positive development over time-two reflecting stability (stable high [34.5%] and stable very low [11.6%]) and two characterized by change (low/average increasing [30.4%] and average decreasing [23.5%]). There were significant differences in the gender composition of these groups, with young women overrepresented in the more favourable groups. Thus, despite mean level stability, positive development is characterized by change for many young people, suggesting the importance of identifying factors that support young people's capacity for positive functioning over this transitional period. The current findings contribute to our understanding of the nature and course of positive development over this important period.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-09-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1465-3362.2010.00231.X
Abstract: Despite considerable success in tobacco control, many teenagers in Australia and other industrialised countries still smoke tobacco. There is mixed evidence on the relative influence of proximal social networks (parents/siblings eers) on pre- and early-teen smoking, and no research has examined how these influences compare after accounting for school- and community-level effects.The aim of this study was to compare the relative influences of parents, siblings and peers, after accounting for school- and community-level variation in smoking. A cross-sectional fixed and random effects model of smoking prevalence was used, with in iduals (n = 7314) nested within schools (n = 231) nested within communities (n = 30). Grade 6 and 8 students (modal ages 11 and 13 years) completed an on-line survey. Key variables included parent/sibling eer use. Controls included alcohol involvement, sensation seeking, pro-social beliefs, laws/norms about substance use and school commitment. There was significant variation in smoking at both the school and community levels, supporting the need for a multilevel model. In idual-level predictors accounted for much of the variance at higher levels. The strongest effects were for number of friends who smoke, sibling smoking and alcohol involvement. Smaller significant effects were found for parent smoking. At the community level, socioeconomic disadvantage was significant, but community-level variance in pro-social and drug-related laws/norms was not related to smoking. Cross-level interactions were generally non-significant. Early teenage smoking was best explained by sibling and peer smoking, and in idual risks largely accounted for the substantial variation observed across schools and communities. In terms of future tobacco control, findings point to the utility of targeting families in disadvantaged communities.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 24-03-2021
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate whether depressive symptoms reported during adolescence are associated with subsequent educational and employment outcomes, including whether experiences of depressive symptoms in adolescence are associated with higher exposures to adverse psychosocial job stressors among those who were employed in emerging adulthood. We used data from the Victorian arm of the International Youth Development Study (IYDS). Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to model the association of depressive symptoms reported in 2002 (wave one) and/or 2003 (wave two) and self-reported completion of compulsory secondary schooling, employment status, and exposure to a number of psychosocial job stressors roughly a decade later (i.e., at wave three in 2014). In fully adjusted models, reporting high depressive symptoms at waves one or two (odds ratio (OR) 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55 to 0.92), as well as at both waves (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.75) were associated with a reduced likelihood of completing secondary schooling by wave three. High depressive symptoms reported at multiple waves were also associated with a reduced likelihood of employment (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.66). Amongst those employed at wave three (n = 2091 72.5%), adolescent depressive symptoms were associated only with workplace incivility. Psychosocial job stressor exposures should be considered in the design and selection of jobs for young workers with a history of depressive symptoms in order to increase employment participation and sustainability for young people experiencing symptoms of depression.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-11-2020
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0242730
Abstract: Penalised regression methods are a useful atheoretical approach for both developing predictive models and selecting key indicators within an often substantially larger pool of available indicators. In comparison to traditional methods, penalised regression models improve prediction in new data by shrinking the size of coefficients and retaining those with coefficients greater than zero. However, the performance and selection of indicators depends on the specific algorithm implemented. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive performance and feature (i.e., indicator) selection capability of common penalised logistic regression methods (LASSO, adaptive LASSO, and elastic-net), compared with traditional logistic regression and forward selection methods. Data were drawn from the Australian Temperament Project, a multigenerational longitudinal study established in 1983. The analytic s le consisted of 1,292 (707 women) participants. A total of 102 adolescent psychosocial and contextual indicators were available to predict young adult daily smoking. Penalised logistic regression methods showed small improvements in predictive performance over logistic regression and forward selection. However, no single penalised logistic regression model outperformed the others. Elastic-net models selected more indicators than either LASSO or adaptive LASSO. Additionally, more regularised models included fewer indicators, yet had comparable predictive performance. Forward selection methods dismissed many indicators identified as important in the penalised logistic regression models. Although overall predictive accuracy was only marginally better with penalised logistic regression methods, benefits were most clear in their capacity to select a manageable subset of indicators. Preference to competing penalised logistic regression methods may therefore be guided by feature selection capability, and thus interpretative considerations, rather than predictive performance alone.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.AAP.2012.01.024
Abstract: Throughout the developed world, community sports clubs are a high-risk setting for alcohol-impaired driving. The Good Sports program accredits community sports clubs to encourage implementation of alcohol-focussed harm-reduction and safe-transport strategies. This study tested for associations between participation in the Good Sports program and reduced rates of drink-driving amongst club members. Multilevel modelling indicated that for each season a club was in the program there was an 8% reduction in the odds of drink-driving. These findings may arise due to clubs with lower rates of alcohol use maintaining longer involvement in the program. However, the findings are also compatible with the intention of the Good Sports program to reduce the risk that club members will drive whilst alcohol impaired.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-10-2021
DOI: 10.1007/S11121-021-01310-Y
Abstract: Despite a decline in Australian adolescents reporting to have consumed alcohol, a high proportion of the adolescent population still consumes alcohol. Community-led prevention interventions that systematically and strategically implement evidence-based programs have been shown to be effective in producing population-behaviour change related to youth alcohol and drug use. This study evaluated the post-intervention effects of a multi-component community intervention in Australia. It comprised social marketing targeting adolescents and parents, and a community intervention to reduce underage alcohol sales. Structural equation modelling was used to examine direct and indirect effects of community intervention components on intention and consumption. Self-report surveys (N = 3377) and community sales data (27 communities) were analysed to evaluate the effect of the intervention components on intention and consumption before the age of 18. The intervention reduced alcohol sales to minors (OR = .82). Exposure to the social marketing was significantly associated with household no-alcohol rules (OR = 2.24) and parents not supplying alcohol (OR = .72). The intervention predicted intention not to consume alcohol before age 18 intention was associated with not consuming alcohol (OR = 5.70). Total indirect effects from the intervention through to intention were significant. However, parents setting a rule and not supplying alcohol were the only significant direct effects to intention. Parents setting a rule was directly associated with lower consumption. Overall, the intervention logic was supported by the data modelling. The study extends prior knowledge of community-based interventions to prevent adolescent alcohol use by identifying critical intervention components and effect mechanisms. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: ACTRN12612000384853.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-11-2018
DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2018.1517172
Abstract: Alcohol use in adolescence predicts future alcohol misuse. However, the extent to which different patterns of adolescent use present risk remains unclear. This study investigated how adolescent trajectories of alcohol consumption during the school years predict alcohol misuse at age 19 years. Data were drawn from 707 students from Victoria, Australia, longitudinally followed for 7 years. Five alcohol use trajectories were identified based on the frequency of alcohol use from Grade 6 (age 12 years) to Grade 11 (age 17 years). At age 19 years, participants completed measures indicating Heavy Episodic Drinking (HED), dependency - Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and social harms. At 19 years of age, 64% of participants reported HED, 42% high AUDIT scores (8+), and 23% social harms. Participants belonging to a steep escalator trajectory during adolescence had twice the odds at 19 years of age of high AUDIT scores and social harms, and three times greater odds of HED than participants whose alcohol use slowly increased. Stable moderate consumption was also associated with an increased risk of HED compared to slowly increasing use. Abstinence predicted a reduced likelihood of all forms of misuse at 19 years of age compared to slowly increased alcohol use. Trajectories of drinking frequency during adolescence predict alcohol misuse at age 19 years. Although rapid increasing use presents the greatest risk, even slowly increasing drinking predicts increased risk compared to abstinence. The findings indicate that alcohol policies should recommend nonuse and reduced frequency of use during adolescence.
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 21-11-2019
DOI: 10.1136/INJURYPREV-2019-043386
Abstract: Injuries are one of the three leading causes of morbidity and mortality for young people internationally. Although community risk factors are modifiable causes of youth injury, there has been limited evaluation of community interventions. Communities That Care (CTC) offers a coalition training process to increase evidence-based practices that reduce youth injury risk factors. Using a non-experimental design, this study made use of population-based hospital admissions data to evaluate the impact on injuries for 15 communities that implemented CTC between 2001 and 2017 in Victoria, Australia. Negative binomial regression models evaluated trends in injury admissions (all, unintentional and transport), comparing CTC and non-CTC communities across different age groups. Statistically significant relative reductions in all hospital injury admissions in 0–4 year olds were associated with communities completing the CTC process and in 0–19 year olds when communities began their second cycle of CTC. When analysed by subgroup, a similar pattern was observed with unintentional injuries but not with transport injuries. The findings support CTC coalition training as an intervention strategy for preventing youth hospital injury admissions. However, future studies should consider stronger research designs, confirm findings in different community contexts, use other data sources and evaluate intervention mechanisms.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-04-2022
DOI: 10.1111/DAR.13283
Abstract: Many community sporting clubs in Australia sell alcohol, but many do not comply with laws that require verification of age and forbid underage alcohol sales. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporated sales monitoring and community awareness raising to improve compliance with alcohol service regulations in community sporting clubs. Non‐randomised community trial in ‘matched’ intervention and comparison communities. A total of 50 sporting clubs from two metropolitan and two regional areas in Victoria, Australia, were selected, and baseline and follow‐up purchase observations completed during 2018. Youth who looked underage were monitored as they attempted to purchase alcohol. Intervention clubs received feedback letters regarding staff sales behaviour. Other intervention actions included building awareness of underage supply of alcohol and media coverage of baseline observations. Observations were completed at 46 clubs (intervention = 24 comparison = 22) at baseline and 39 (intervention = 24 comparison = 15) at follow up. Compliance was low but improved at follow up for both groups for age verification (intervention +12.5% comparison +8.5%) and non‐supply of alcohol (intervention +12.5% comparison +10.6%) but no significant intervention effects were found. Findings indicated low compliance with age verification checks and underage alcohol sales laws at baseline. Promising improvements in compliance were observed at follow up however, ‘spillover’ of intervention activities may have compromised ability to detect significant intervention effects. Further intervention effort and evaluation is recommended to encourage alcohol sales compliance in community sporting clubs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2007
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-04-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S11121-019-01007-3
Abstract: The world youth population is the largest ever and the levels of problem behavior will influence future global health. Recognition of these issues raises questions as to whether adolescent development knowledge can be internationally applied. To date, most research examining adolescent problem behavior has been completed in the United States (USA) and there has been neglected analysis of health inequalities. The aim of the present study was to compare the structure and predictors of problem behavior in representative s les from the USA, Australia, India, and the Netherlands. Two timepoints of longitudinal data were analyzed from the International Youth Development Study that originally recruited state-representative student cohorts in 2002 in Washington State, USA (analytic s le N = 1942) and Victoria, Australia (N = 1957). Similar aged s les were recruited in Mumbai, India, in 2010 (N = 3.923) and the Netherlands in 2008 (N = 682). Surveys were matched and follow-up occurred over 1-year (average baseline ages 12 to 13). CFA identified a latent problem behavior construct comprised of substance use and antisocial behavior indicators. There were cross-national differences in the indicators for this construct. Factor loadings and items were similar between Australia and the USA however, different items loaded on the construct for the Indian and Netherlands s le. SEM identified that problem behavior at time 2 was predicted by time 1 behavior, with cross-national differences evident. Low parent education was predictive in the USA and India. The number of risk factors present was predictive of problem behavior in all four nations. The findings suggest that evaluated preventative strategies to reduce adolescent problem behavior may have international applications. The analysis of cross-nationally matched longitudinal data appears feasible for identifying prevalence and predictor differences that may signify policy and cultural contexts, to be considered in adapting prevention programs.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-06-2013
Abstract: The effect of early adolescent alcohol use on antisocial behavior was examined at 1- and 2-year follow-up in Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia. Each state used the same methods to survey statewide representative s les of students ( N = 1,858, 52% female) in 2002 (Grade 7 [G7]), 2003 (Grade 8 [G8]), and 2004 (Grade 9 [G9]). Rates of lifetime, current, frequent, and heavy episodic alcohol use were higher in Victoria than Washington State, whereas rates of five antisocial behaviors were generally comparable across states. After controlling for established risk factors, few associations between alcohol use and antisocial behavior remained, except that G7 current use predicted G8 police arrests and stealing and G9 carrying a weapon and stealing G7 heavy episodic use predicted G8 and G9 police arrests and G7 lifetime use predicted G9 carrying a weapon. Hence, risk factors other than alcohol were stronger predictors of antisocial behaviors.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSAMS.2010.04.004
Abstract: Active travel (walking or cycling for transport) is an important contributor to adolescents overall physical activity (PA). This study examines associations between personal, social and environmental variables and active travel to and from school using data from a large observational study to examine active travel in 2961 year 6 and 8 students (48.7% male), aged 10-14 years (M=11.4, SD=0.8yrs) from 231 schools. Participants completed an on-line survey and all reported living within 2km of school. Data collected included mode of travel to and from school, self-reported health, and PA variables. Social environmental variables included having playgrounds, parks or gyms close by, feeling safe to walk alone, barriers to walking in the neighbourhood (e.g. traffic, no footpaths), peer and family support for PA, existence of sports teams/scout groups, community disorder and perceived neighbourhood safety. Results showed that while more girls (44.3%) than boys (37.4%) walked to school, lower proportions rode bikes (8.3% vs 22.4%) and hence fewer were active travellers overall. Logistic regression models, adjusted for age, location and socio-economic status were conducted for active travel to/from school, separately for boys and girls. Predictors for boys and girls being 'active travellers' to/from school included recreational facilities close to home, higher perceived safety of the neighbourhood and higher community disorder. For boys, social support from friends, scout groups available and higher enjoyment of physical activity was also important. These findings suggest areas for future research and may be used to guide strategies to increase active travel to and from school.
Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Date: 08-2010
Abstract: We examined associations between pubertal stage and violent adolescent behavior and social/relational aggression. The International Youth Development Study comprises statewide representative student s les in grades 5, 7, and 9 (N = 5769) in Washington State and Victoria, Australia, drawn as a 2-stage cluster s le in each state. We used a school-administered, self-report student survey to measure previous-year violent behavior (ie, attacking or beating up another person) and social/relational aggression (excluding peers from the group, threatening to spread lies or rumors), as well as risk and protective factors and pubertal development. Cross-sectional data were analyzed. Compared with early puberty, the odds of violent behavior were approximately threefold higher in midpuberty (odds ratio [OR]: 2.87 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.81–4.55]) and late puberty (OR: 3.79 [95% CI: 2.25–6.39]) after adjustment for demographic factors. For social/relational aggression, there were weaker overall associations after adjustment, but these associations included an interaction between pubertal stage and age, and stronger associations with pubertal stage at younger age were shown (P = .003 midpuberty OR: 1.78 [95% CI: 1.20–2.63] late puberty OR: 3.00 [95% CI: 1.95–4.63]). Associations between pubertal stage and violent behavior and social/relational aggression remained after the inclusion of social contextual mediators in the analyses. Pubertal stage was associated with higher rates of violent behavior and social/relational aggression, with the latter association seen only at younger ages. Puberty is an important phase at which to implement prevention programs to reduce adolescent violent and antisocial behaviors.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2015
DOI: 10.1111/AJPY.12086
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 06-2004
Abstract: Youth substance use is an important social and health problem in the United States, Australia and other Western nations. Schools are recognized as important sites for prevention efforts and school substance use policies are a key component of health promotion in schools. The first part of this paper reviews the known status of school policies on tobacco, alcohol and other illicit drugs in a number of Western countries and the existing evidence for the effectiveness of school drug policy in preventing drug use. The review shows that most schools in developed countries have substance use policies but that there is substantial variation in the comprehensiveness of these policies (i.e. the breadth of people, places and times of day that are explicitly subject to policy prohibitions), and the orientation of their enforcement (e.g. punitive versus remedial), both across and within schools. The few studies of policy impact focus solely on tobacco policy and provide preliminary evidence that more comprehensive and strictly enforced school policies are associated with less smoking. The second part of the paper introduces the International Youth Development Study, a new longitudinal research project aimed at comparing school policies and the developmental course of youth drug use in the United States, where drug policies are abstinence-based, with Australia, which has adopted a harm minimization approach to drug policy.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-10-2010
DOI: 10.1007/S10964-010-9593-7
Abstract: This article responds to recent calls for a focus on successful development in young people and examination of its developmental precursors, in order to identify potentially modifiable targets for interventions. The current study examined child and adolescent precursors of positive functioning in emerging adulthood, including in idual characteristics, relationship factors, and connections to the community, using a multidimensional positive development measure at 19-20 years. The s le consisted of 511 males and 647 females who were participants in the Australian Temperament Project, a population based longitudinal study that has followed young people's psychosocial adjustment from infancy to early adulthood. Higher levels of positive development in emerging adulthood were associated with stronger family and peer relationships, better adjustment to the school setting, higher family socioeconomic status, and better emotional control. Some significant gender differences were observed, with emotional control, family relationships, and community orientation all being stronger predictors of males' than of females' positive development. The findings provide possible targets for child and adolescent interventions to promote positive development in early adulthood.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-08-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-03-2017
DOI: 10.1111/BJEP.12150
Abstract: Reading difficulties (RDs) and behaviour problems (BPs) are two common childhood problems that have a high degree of stability and often negatively affect well-being in both the short and longer terms. The study aimed to shed light on the unique and joint consequences of these two childhood problems for educational and occupational outcomes in early adulthood. Data were drawn from a life-course longitudinal study of psychosocial development, the Australian Temperament Project. Parent and teacher reports and a standard reading test were used to define four groups of children at 7-8 years: RDs only BPs only both problems and neither problem. These groups were followed forward to ascertain educational attainment and employment status at 19-20 and 23-24 years. Each childhood problem was a unique risk for poorer educational and occupational outcomes, with co-occurring problems significantly increasing the risk of poorer educational outcomes. Further analyses revealed that the effects of childhood BPs on occupational status were mediated by secondary school non-completion, but childhood RDs were not. The findings point to the importance of screening and early intervention to prevent or minimize the development of these two childhood problems, as well as continuing to support vulnerable children to increase their likelihood of secondary school completion.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-08-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADOLESCENCE.2015.07.014
Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate whether an intervention prevented the development of depressive symptoms through the early years of secondary school (Grades 7 to 9 – mean ages 12.3 to 14.5 years) in Victoria, Australia. Twelve schools were randomized to a universal preventative intervention (including a student social relationship/emotional health curriculum, and parent/caregiver parenting education) 12 were randomized as control schools. Multivariate regression analyses used student self‐report to predict depressive symptoms at 26‐month follow‐up (13‐months after intervention completion) from baseline measures and intervention status ( N = 2027). There was no overall intervention effect on depressive symptoms. However, intervention students with moderate symptoms whose parents attended parent education events had a significantly reduced risk of depressive symptoms at follow‐up. Future evaluations of interventions of this type should investigate: therapeutic processes methods to increase recruitment into effective parent education events and the potential to target assistance to students with high depressive symptoms.
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 09-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-02-2016
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 17-05-2011
Abstract: Context: School suspension may have unintended consequences in contributing to problem behaviors, including dropping out from school, substance use, and antisocial behavior. Tobacco use is an early-onset problem behavior, but prospective studies of the effects of suspension on tobacco use are lacking. Method: Longitudinal school-based survey of students drawn as a two-stage cluster s le, administered in 2002 and 2003, in Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia. The study uses statewide representative s les of students in Grades 7 and 9 ( N = 3,599). Results: Rates of tobacco use were higher for Victorian than Washington State students. School suspension remained a predictor of current tobacco use at 12-month follow-up, after controlling for established risk factors including prior tobacco and other drug use for Grade 7 but not Grade 9 students. Conclusions: School suspension is associated with early adolescent tobacco use, itself an established predictor of adverse outcomes in young people. Findings suggest the need to explore process mechanisms and alternatives to school suspensions as a response to challenging student behavior in early adolescence.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-04-2015
DOI: 10.1111/AJR.12177
Abstract: To investigate if parental disapproval of alcohol use accounts for differences in adolescent alcohol use across regional and urban communities. Secondary data analysis of grade-level stratified data from a random s le of schools. High schools in Victoria, Australia. A random s le of 10 273 adolescents from Grade 7 (mean age = 12.51 years), 9 (14.46 years) and 11 (16.42 years). The key independent variables were parental disapproval of adolescent alcohol use and regionality (regional/ urban), and the dependent variable was past 30 days alcohol use. After adjusting for potential confounders, adolescents in regional areas were more likely to use alcohol in the past 30 days (OR = 1.83, 1.44 and 1.37 for Grades 7, 9 and 11, respectively, P < 0.05), and their parents have a lower level of disapproval of their alcohol use (b = -0.12, -0.15 and -0.19 for Grades 7, 9 and 11, respectively, P < 0.001). Bootstrapping analyses suggested that 8.37%, 23.30% and 39.22% of the effect of regionality on adolescent alcohol use was mediated by parental disapproval of alcohol use for Grades 7, 9 and 11 participants respectively (P < 0.05). Adolescents in urban areas had a lower risk of alcohol use compared with their regional counterparts, and differences in parental disapproval of alcohol use contributed to this difference.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-1999
DOI: 10.1046/J.1440-1754.1999.00338.X
Abstract: To describe the emotional and physical health concerns of young people, and identify the concerns for which young people are more likely to seek help. We surveyed a representative cross-sectional s les of students from 11 to 18 years of age from 24 Victorian secondary schools in late 1997 within the Health of Young Victorians Study. Included in this survey were items describing worries or concerns of physical and emotional health. Prevalence rates, Chi-square, and logistic regression analyses were used to describe relationships. 2361 questionnaires were completed (53% male, response rate 70%). Overall, most frequent reports concerned feelings of depression (40%), worries about weight (37%), worries about self confidence (34%), and trouble falling or staying asleep (30%). Females tended to report a greater range of health concerns. The most frequent reports, by gender, were worries about their weight (52% females), and feelings of depression (30% males). Feelings of being bullied (20%), and concerns about sex, drugs and alcohol (7-11%) were reported equally frequently by males and females. In contrast to the high levels of health concerns reported, few students also reported seeing someone about them other than parents or friends. This finding appeared consistent across ages and for both sexes with higher rates of seeking help for their physical rather than emotional health concerns. These results show that adolescents across Victoria are reporting high levels of concerns or worries about their health which differ across age and gender. They are more likely to report concerns about emotional health, but less likely to seek professional help than for physical concerns.
Publisher: American Public Health Association
Date: 05-2015
Abstract: Objectives. We examined the longitudinal effect of schools’ drug policies on student marijuana use. Methods. We used data from the International Youth Development Study, which surveyed state-representative s les of students from Victoria, Australia, and Washington State. In wave 1 (2002), students in grades 7 and 9 (n = 3264) and a school administrator from each participating school (n = 188) reported on school drug policies. In wave 2 (2003), students reported on their marijuana use. We assessed associations between student-reported and administrator-reported policy and student self-reported marijuana use 1 year later. Results. Likelihood of student marijuana use was higher in schools in which administrators reported using out-of-school suspension and students reported low policy enforcement. Student marijuana use was less likely where students reported receiving abstinence messages at school and students violating school policy were counseled about the dangers of marijuana use. Conclusions. Schools may reduce student marijuana use by delivering abstinence messages, enforcing nonuse policies, and adopting a remedial approach to policy violations rather than use of suspensions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-10-2014
DOI: 10.1111/JOSH.12201
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12385
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.HEALTHPLACE.2015.11.004
Abstract: Higher density of alcohol outlets has been linked to increased levels of adolescent alcohol-related behaviour. Research to date has been cross-sectional. A longitudinal design using two waves of annual survey data from the Australian arm of the International Youth Development Study was used. The s le comprised 2835 in iduals with average age at wave 2 of 14 years (SD=1.67 range=11-17 years). GSEM was used to examine how absolute levels of alcohol outlet density was associated with student-reported alcohol use one year later, while controlling for prior alcohol use, risk factors at wave one and changes in density over the 2 years. Adolescents' perception of alcohol availability and friends' alcohol use were tested as potential mediators of the association between alcohol outlet density and adolescent alcohol use. Elasticity modelling identified a 10% increase in overall density at wave one was associated with an approximately 17% increase in odds of adolescent alcohol consumption at wave two. Living in areas with a higher density of outlets was associated with a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of adolescents developing early age alcohol consumption.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12391
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-03-2021
Abstract: Sext dissemination presents policy and legislative challenges given its potential psychological, social, and legal harms. We report on a cross-national comparison of sext-image dissemination in a large s le of 1148 young adults aged 18–29 years (M = 22.54, SD = 2.50, 53.0% women, 47.0% men), either U.S. (53.8%) or Australian (46.2%) residents. The results indicate that 14% of young adults disseminated sexts, with no difference by gender or country. Over 50% of respondents indicated that the last time they received a disseminated sext, it was unexpected or unwelcome, with women twice as likely as men to receive unwelcome sexts. The most frequent motivations for sext dissemination were similar cross-nationally, relating to the attractiveness of the person depicted, as a joke, to gossip, because it was not a big deal, bragging, roasting or teasing, and to increase social status. Motivations of attractiveness, bragging, or social status were more commonly endorsed by men, while women endorsed reasons around gossip or roasting/teasing. Unique predictors of sext dissemination included U.S. residence, requesting sexts, receiving disseminated sexts, having one’s own images disseminated, and more positive subjective norms to dissemination, and there was a country–gender interaction, where Australian women and U.S. men were more likely to disseminate sexts than then U.S. women or Australian men. The findings have implications for prevention programs seeking to address harmful online sexual interactions, including addressing respect, consent, and subjective norms supporting non-consensual dissemination.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2014.07.025
Abstract: This study investigated whether the number of alcohol outlets per 10,000 population in a given area (density) influenced parental supply of alcohol to adolescents differences in Australian born and acculturating parents were also examined. A state-representative student survey in Victoria identified that the majority of adolescents (55%) reported that they had used alcohol in the past 12months 34 % of those who had consumed alcohol reported that it had been supplied by their parents. Multilevel modelling identified that there were no overall effects of density, however there were different effects based on parent country of birth and type of license. Specifically, each unit increase in the density of takeaway liquor stores increased the likelihood by 2.03 that children with both Australian-born parents would be supplied alcohol. Adolescents with both migrant parents on the other hand, had a 1.36 increased risk of being supplied alcohol as the density of outlets requiring at-venue consumption increased. The findings of this study suggest that in Australia, alcohol outlet density is associated with parental supply of alcohol to children, with this effect moderated by the cultural background of the parent and type of outlet density. Future research should investigate the association between the density of alcohol outlets and public approval of parents supplying alcohol to adolescents.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-05-2012
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2003
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-03-2018
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-03-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-03-2011
DOI: 10.1002/CBM.802
Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Date: 09-2004
Abstract: Objective. Substance abuse remains one of the major threats to adolescent health in Western cultures. The study aim was to ascertain the extent of association between pubertal development and early adolescent substance use. Methods. The design was a cross-sectional survey of 10- to 15-year-old subjects in the states of Washington, United States, and Victoria, Australia. Participants were 5769 students in grades 5, 7, and 9, drawn as a 2-stage cluster s le in each state, and the questionnaire was completed in the school classrooms. The main outcomes of the study were lifetime substance use (tobacco use, having been drunk, or cannabis use), recent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, or cannabis use in the previous month), and substance abuse (daily smoking, any binge drinking, drinking at least weekly, or cannabis use at least weekly). Results. The odds of lifetime substance use were almost twofold higher (odds ratio [OR]: 1.7 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4–2.1) in midpuberty (Tanner stage III) and were threefold higher (OR: 3.1 95% CI: 2.4–4.2) in late puberty (Tanner stage IV/V), after adjustment for age and school grade level. Recent substance use was moderately higher (OR: 1.4 95% CI: 1.0–1.9) in midpuberty and more than twofold higher (OR: 2.3 95% CI: 1.7–3.3) in late puberty. The odds of substance abuse were twofold higher (OR: 2.0 95% CI: 1.2–3.2) in midpuberty and more than threefold higher (OR: 3.5 95% CI: 2.2–5.4) in late puberty. Reporting most friends as substance users was more likely in the later stages of pubertal development, a relationship that accounted in part for the association found between later pubertal stage and substance abuse. Conclusions. Pubertal stage was associated with higher rates of substance use and abuse independent of age and school grade level. Early maturers had higher levels of substance use because they entered the risk period at an earlier point than did late maturers. The study findings support prevention strategies and policies that decrease recreational substance use within the peer social group in the early teens.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-03-2004
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-02-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2007
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-01-2023
Abstract: People who experience social marginalization and vulnerability have uniquely complex health needs and are at risk of poor health outcomes. Regression analyses using longitudinal data from a cross-national, population-based s le of young adults participating in the International Youth Development Study, tested associations between social marginalization and vulnerabilities and physical health, mental health, and substance use outcomes. Participants from Victoria, Australia, and Washington State in the US were surveyed at ages 25 (2014) and 29 years (2018 N = 1944 46.7% male). A history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), LGBT identity, financial insecurity, and justice system involvement at age 25 predicted poor health outcomes at age 28, including lower perceived health status, risk for chronic illness, depression and anxiety symptoms, and diagnosed mental health/substance use disorders. Tests of model equivalence across states showed that a history of ACEs was more strongly related to health status and serious injury at age 28 and justice system involvement at age 25 was more strongly related to age 28 serious injury in Victoria than in Washington State. Findings strengthen the case for future population-based research identifying life-course interventions and state policies for reducing poor health and improving health equity among members of socially marginalized groups.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-04-2015
DOI: 10.1007/S11121-015-0559-6
Abstract: During the adolescent years, substance use, anti-social behaviours and overweight/obesity are amongst the major public health concerns. We investigate if risk and protective factors associated with adolescent problem behaviours and substance use are also associated with weight status in young Australian adolescents. Data comes from the 2006 Healthy Neighbourhoods study, a cross-sectional survey of students attending primary (grade 6, mean age 11) and secondary (grade 8, mean age 12) schools in 30 communities across Australia. Adolescents were classified as not overweight, overweight or obese according to international definitions. Logistic and linear regression analyses, adjusted for age, gender and socio-economic disadvantage quartile, were used to quantify associations between weight status (or BMI z-score) and the cumulative number of problem behaviour risk and protective factors. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 22.6 % (95 % confidence interval (CI), 21.2-24.0 %) and 7.2 % (CI, 6.3-8.3 %). Average number of risk and protective factors present was 4.0 (CI, 3.7-4.2) and 6.2 (CI, 6.1-6.3). Independently, total number of risk factors present was positively associated with likelihood of overweight and obesity, while number of protective factors present was inversely associated with the likelihood of being above a healthy weight. When both risk and protective factors were included in a regression model, only risk factors were associated with the likelihood of being overweight or obese. Average BMI z-score increased by 0.03 units with each additional risk factor present. Prevention programmes targeting developmental risk and protective factors in adolescents that reduce substance use and problem behaviours may also benefit physical health.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.YPMED.2018.02.032
Abstract: In many countries adolescent alcohol use is a major health problem. To supplement national policies, it is important to trial community interventions as a potential strategy to prevent adolescent alcohol use. This study evaluated a multicomponent community intervention that included community mobilisation, social marketing, and the monitoring of alcohol sales to minors. Evaluation was a clustered randomised trial design with 14 intervention and 14 control communities. Prior to randomisation, communities were matched on socioeconomic status and location. Intervention communities were not blinded. 3545 Year 8 students (M = 12 years) were surveyed at baseline from 75 schools 3377 students were surveyed post intervention in 2013 from 54 schools. It was hypothesised that the primary outcome, in idual alcohol consumption in last 30 days, after the intervention would be 15% lower in intervention communities. Secondary outcomes were consumption in the past year and intention not to drink before age 18. The intervention communities showed larger relative reductions compared to the controls in last 30-day consumption and past year (10%), but not significantly different. A significantly lower proportion of participants in the intervention community (63%), compared to the controls (71%), reported intending to drink before 18 years old. Subgroup analysis identified regional and state differences for some secondary measures. Intervention assignment was associated with lower adolescent intention to drink before the age of 18. However, more intensive and longer-term intervention may be required to measure significant differences in behaviour change. ACTRN12612000384853. Rowland B, Toumbourou JW, Osborn A, et al. BMJ Open 2013 :e002423. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002423.
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 09-2022
DOI: 10.1136/BMJOPEN-2022-064202
Abstract: To explore how cigarette packet branding and colours influence young male smokers’ perceptions of tobacco brands in Cambodia. Mixed-methods study. Worksites, living accommodations, a university and public locations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 147 male Cambodian smokers (18–24 years). Participants were shown mock-up pictures of different cigarette packet branding and colour variations and asked to respond to close-ended and short-response questions. Brand recognition, appeal and harm perceptions of cigarette packet branding and colours. When shown three packets with brand names removed, 98.6% of participants recognised packet one as Mevius brand, 21.1% recognised packet two as Marlboro and 38.8% recognised packet three as 555. For the three fully-branded and three matching plain packets, most participants selected a fully-branded packet as the most appealing taste (83.0%) and most appealing to youth (81.7%). Participants described their chosen brand as appealing due to beliefs about its superior taste/quality, reduced harm and symbolic attitudes surrounding tobacco brands and smokers of different brands in a social status hierarchy. When shown six different colours of unbranded packets, participants selected the blue packet (51.0%) as the most appealing for taste, the white packet as the least harmful (25.2%), and the red (15.0%) and black (12.9%) packets as the most harmful to health. They described their associations of packet colours with abstract imagery concerning smoking-related harms and their future well-being. Findings suggest that packet branding and colours influence young male smokers’ recognition, appeal and harm perceptions of tobacco brands in Cambodia and remain an influential marketing tool for tobacco companies where advertising is banned. Consequently, Cambodia and other low and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia should implement plain packaging.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 17-10-2022
DOI: 10.1177/09514848221134403
Abstract: The non-acute health charity sector forms part of the global health services industry. Organisational Performance Measurement (OPM) is fundamental for modern business to achieve sustained excellence yet is under-utilised by non-acute health charities. The Non-Acute Health Charity Performance Implementation Framework (NCPI Framework) was developed to support non-acute health charities undertaking OPM. A non-acute health charity case study undertook a 12-month OPM implementation process using the NCPI Framework. This study had three aims. Firstly, to understand the perceptions of staff employed by the case study organisation regarding their experience of the 12-month NCPI Framework implementation process, secondly to identify whether an interrelationship existed between the NCPI Framework’s implementation elements and the staff’s perspectives, and thirdly, identify areas of strength and improvement which could enhance the NCPI Framework’s effectiveness. Data were collected post implementation and analysed thematically from open-ended question responses from an anonymous survey and semi-structured interviews. Participants supported the introduction of OPM and valued the NCPI Framework’s structured implementation guidelines. Six interrelated themes were identified: clarity, adaptability, alignment, transparent communication, capability and accountability. Participants suggested adaptations to enhance the NCPI Framework’s impact. A culture aligned with organisational learning was identified as potentially having a positive impact on the NCPI Framework’s implementation. The NCPI Framework may also have relevance and application to the non-profit industry beyond non-acute health care and for use in program development and service quality initiatives.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-03-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-09-2010
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-10-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-09-2018
DOI: 10.1111/DAR.12858
Abstract: Adolescent alcohol consumption and associated harms are significant public health issues in Australia. One strategy to reduce this problem is restricting alcohol supply to adolescents below age 18. To ensure compliance with laws that forbid underage alcohol sales, effective monitoring systems that operate across a range of settings, including sporting clubs, are required. This study investigated compliance with regulations requiring proof of age identification and refusal of underage alcohol sales in community sporting clubs. Compliance with alcohol sales laws was monitored using a male confederate that appeared under 18 who attempted to purchase alcohol at community sporting clubs in two regional areas of Victoria, Australia during the 2016-2017 sporting seasons. Purchase observations were completed at 43 clubs (observations could not be conducted at 14 clubs) alcohol was purchased at 41 (95%) clubs. Four (9%) clubs asked the confederate-purchaser to provide identification of age-in two instances the purchaser was not sold alcohol and in two instances was sold alcohol after not showing identification. Rates of compliance with proof of age identification and alcohol sales did not vary according to staff- and club-related variables. This study indicates the need for more rigorous enforcement of alcohol sales regulations in community sporting clubs. Community health agencies could work with sporting clubs to assist them to improve compliance with alcohol sales regulations and to provide information on the significant role clubs play in shaping the adolescent alcohol culture.
Publisher: AMPCo
Date: 12-2013
DOI: 10.5694/MJA12.11645
Abstract: To examine comparable survey data across 10 years to assess whether rates of self-reported weapon carrying and intent to harm others have increased as suggested in reported trends in violent offences. Population-based surveys administered to Victorian secondary school students in 1999 (8984 students) and 2009 (10 273 students) attending government, Catholic and independent schools. Student self-reports of carrying a weapon and attacking someone with the intent to harm in the past 12 months. In both surveys, about 15.0% of students reported carrying a weapon and about 7.0% reported attacking someone with intent to harm in the past 12 months, with higher rates among boys than girls. There was no change over time in the rates of students carrying weapons or attacking someone with the intent to harm, after controlling for demographic variables. In contrast to media portrayals and reported trends in violent offences, rates of students carrying weapons and attacking others with intent to harm have not changed between 1999 and 2009. These findings underline the importance of having national population-based data to regularly monitor the rates of these and related behaviours among young Australians.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-08-2013
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-01-2020
Abstract: There is a dearth of research investigating whether public inquiries such as Royal Commissions trigger community behavior change or awareness about targeted health and social issues within the general community. This study examined trends in the reporting of intimate partner violence (IPV) and help-seeking behavior before and during the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence. Six hundred seventy-seven women across Australia, including 172 migrant and 505 nonmigrant women, completed surveys on their experience of IPV and help-seeking behavior over a 4-year period. Prevalence estimates were weighted to the Australian Census data to reflect the Australian population breakdown for age and migrant status. Results showed levels of IPV reported by participants significantly increased during the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2015. Similarly, the perceived need to seek help for abuse significantly increased from the start of the Royal Commission this was, however, evident for nonmigrant, but not migrant women. The findings are discussed considering the influence of the Royal Commission into Family Violence, its public profile, and the pervasiveness of the information about family violence during this time that could have led to an increasing trend in knowledge about family violence and the perception of requiring assistance in the general community. It is recommended that future Royal Commissions prepare for predictable changes in community behavior and institutions organize their resources to address the potential increased disclosure of the problems addressed.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-02-2013
DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2012.763141
Abstract: This study explores the social, contextual and in idual factors that predict early initiation of alcohol use. A state-wide representative s le of 927 fifth-grade students, in Victoria, Australia were surveyed. Students were resurveyed in the sixth and seventh grade. Risk and protective factors were measured with a modified version of the Communities That Care youth survey. Alcohol use was measured to assess transition from alcohol nonuse to use. Social contexts perceived to provide easier access to alcohol and drugs were found to be the clearest predictors of early onset alcohol use. The limitations and implications of these findings are discussed.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-07-2012
DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2012.699577
Abstract: This study explores the longitudinal pathways by which risk and protective factors influence the development of alcohol-related harms in a representative community s le of 941 young adults (19-20 years) from Victoria, Australia, focusing on the role of concurrent risky drinking. Impulsivity at 15-16 years, alcohol-related harms at 15-16 years and 17-18 years, frequency of intoxication at 17-18 years, and antisocial behavior, friends' drinking and living arrangements at 19-20 years were directly related to alcohol-related harms, as well as indirectly related to harms through increased risky drinking. Paternal drinking at 17-18 years was directly related to alcohol-related harms. Friends' drinking at 19-20 years and alcohol-related harms at age 17-18 interacted with risky drinking to increase the likelihood of alcohol-related harms. Implications for intervention efforts are discussed.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 31-08-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-01-2022
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-08-2013
Abstract: This study examined the extent to which young adolescent alcohol use was related to alcohol-related norms and law enforcement of underage alcohol use, after accounting for known strong parent and peer correlates. Our s le consisted of 7,674 students ([Formula: see text] age = 12 years) from 30 Australian communities. Two-level (in iduals nested within communities) binary logistic regression was used to examine relationships between recent alcohol use (last 30 days) and perceived community norms about alcohol use, perceived law enforcement of underage alcohol use, parent alcohol use, parent permissiveness of adolescent alcohol use, peer alcohol use, and demographic factors. Results indicated that community norms and perceived law enforcement of alcohol use were associated with alcohol use and this association was independent of parent and peer factors. After accounting for proximal social correlates, community factors were significantly associated with alcohol use among very young adolescents.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 21-12-2021
DOI: 10.1177/00048674211065365
Abstract: To control a second-wave COVID-19 outbreak, the state of Victoria in Australia experienced one of the world’s first long and strict lockdowns over July–October 2020, while the rest of Australia experienced ‘COVID-normal’ with minimal restrictions. We (1) investigate trajectories of parent/child mental health outcomes in Victoria vs non-Victoria and (2) identify baseline demographic, in idual and COVID-19-related factors associated with mental health trajectories. Online community s le of 2004 Australian parents with rapid repeated assessment over 14 time-points over April 2020 to May 2021. Measures assessed parent mental health (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21), child depression symptoms (13-item Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) and child anxiety symptoms (four items from Brief Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale). Mental health trajectories shadowed COVID-19 infection rates. Victorians reported a peak in mental health symptoms at the time of the second-wave lockdown compared to other states. Key baseline predictors, including parent and child loneliness (standardized regression coefficient [β] = 0.09–0.46), parent/child diagnoses (β = 0.07–0.21), couple conflict (β = 0.07–0.18) and COVID-19 stressors, such as worry/concern about COVID-19, illness and loss of job (β = 0.12–0.15), predicted elevated trajectories. Effects of predictors on parent and child mental health trajectories are illustrated in an online interactive app for readers ( lingtax.shinyapps.io/CPAS_trend/ ). Our findings provide evidence of worse trajectories of parent and child mental health symptoms at a time coinciding with a second COVID-19 outbreak involving strict lockdown in Victoria, compared to non-locked states in Australia. We identified several baseline factors that may be useful in detecting high-risk families who are likely to require additional support early on in future lockdowns.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2011.11.038
Abstract: The aim of this study is to examine the susceptibility of very young adolescents (10-12 years of age) to peer alcohol-related influences, compared to older adolescents (13-14 years of age). The analysis s le consisted of 7064 adolescents in grade 6 (modal age 11) or grade 8 (modal age 13) from 231 schools in 30 communities across three Australian States. Key measures were adolescent reports of alcohol use (past 30 days) and the number of peers who consume alcohol without their parent's awareness. Control variables included parent alcohol use, family relationship quality, pubertal advancement, school connectedness, sensation seeking, depression, length of time in high school, as well as age, gender, father/mother education, and language spoken at home. A multi-level model of alcohol use was used to account for school-level clustering on the dependent variable. For both groups, the number of peers who consumed alcohol was associated with alcohol use, but Grade 6 students showed a unique susceptibility to peripheral involvement with peer drinking networks (having one friend who consumed alcohol). The results point to the importance of monitoring and responding to comparatively minor shifts in the proportion of peers who use alcohol, particularly among very young adolescents.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-2005
DOI: 10.1007/S11121-005-3407-2
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between adolescent depressive symptoms and risk and protective factors identified for substance use. A questionnaire, developed to measure these factors in a young person's community, family, school, peer group, and in idual characteristics for substance use, was used to assess associations with self-reported depressive symptoms. Data were provided by a representative s le of 8984 secondary school students in Victoria, Australia. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 10.5% (95% CI 9.2,12.0) for males and 21.7% (95% CI 20.3,23.7) for females. Depressive symptoms were associated with factors in all domains, with the strongest associations in the family domain. Strong relationships were found between the number of elevated risk and protective factors and depressive symptoms, maintained after adjusting for substance use. Patterns of associations were similar for users and nonsubstance users. The findings indicate that prevention programs targeting factors for substance use have the potential to impact on depression.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2009
Abstract: Youth violence is a global problem. Few studies have examined whether the prevalence or predictors of youth violence are similar in comparable Western countries like Australia and the United States (US). In the current article, analyses are conducted using two waves of data collected as part of a longitudinal study of adolescent development in approximately 4,000 students aged 12 to 16 years in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, US. Students completed a self-report survey of problem behaviours including violent behaviour, as well as risk and protective factors across five domains (in idual, family, peer, school, community). Compared to Washington State, rates of attacking or beating another over the past 12 months were lower in Victoria for females in the first survey and higher for Victorian males in the follow-up survey. Preliminary analyses did not show state-specific predictors of violent behaviour. In the final multivariate analyses of the combined Washington State and Victorian s les, protective factors were being female and student emotion control. Risk factors were prior violent behaviour, family conflict, association with violent peers, community disorganisation, community normsfavourable to drug use, school suspensions and arrests. Given the similarity of influential factors in North America and Australia, application of US early intervention and prevention programs may be warranted, with some tailoring to the Australian context.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1016/J.JAD.2019.09.027
Abstract: This study sought to identify depression trajectories across childhood and to model a range of child and family predictors of whether a child may be on an increasing trajectory towards depressive disorder in adolescence. Multi-group growth mixture modelling (MGMM) was used on a s le of 4983 children from the Longitudinal Study of Australia Children (LSAC). Depressive symptoms of these children were assessed over 10-years with six time-points, administered every second year commencing at 4 years via the parent report version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Predictors of class membership were also examined. Four trajectories were found to be the best fitting model characterising low-stable (75%) decreasing (11%) increasing (9%) high and rising (6%) groups. Females were more likely to be in a trajectory of increasing depressive symptoms between 4 and 14 years of age than males. Reactive temperament and maternal depression at four and six years of age were consistent predictors of increasing and high trajectories while persistent temperament acts as a protective factor for females. The findings should be interpreted in the light of limitations due to common-method variance and the absence of diagnostic indicators of depressive disorder. We conclude that there are gender differences in patterns of depressive symptoms from childhood to adolescence and meaningful predictors of these early developmental trajectories. Preventative interventions in childhood targeting parents with depression and children with temperamental difficulties may be indicated.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-06-2006
DOI: 10.1111/J.1360-0443.2006.01438.X
Abstract: Cigarette smoking represents a significant health problem and tobacco has been identified as causing more preventable diseases and premature deaths than any other drug. Although health consequences from smoking have been documented, there has been a surprising lack of research into behavioural consequences. To review what is known of the long-term relationship between patterns of tobacco use prior to age 18 years and behavioural consequences in adulthood. A literature search of electronic abstraction services from 1980 to September 2005 was conducted. To be included in the review, studies had to have large, representative s les, be longitudinal studies with baseline age under 18 years and follow-up age 18 years or older and clarify effects due to attrition, leaving 16 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Two reviewers evaluated each paper. Adolescent tobacco use predicts a range of early adult social and health problems. Surprisingly few studies met the inclusion criteria. The limited evidence available suggests that adolescent tobacco smoking increases the likelihood of early adult tobacco use and the initiation of alcohol use or the development of alcohol-related problems. The link between adolescent tobacco use and subsequent cannabis use was not resolved convincingly from the studies summarized. The effects of tobacco use on later illicit drug use tended to fall away when adjusting for underlying risk factors. Existing studies of the effects of tobacco use on later mental health have many limitations. Nevertheless, a finding that youth tobacco use may predict subsequent mental health problems deserves further investigation. The possible effects of tobacco use on academic/social problems and sleep problems also warrant further investigation. This review highlights links between youth tobacco use and subsequent behavioural and mental health problems. It provides health care professionals with evidence of the possible harmful effects of youth tobacco smoking on later social, emotional, and behavioural well-being.
Publisher: Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc.
Date: 05-2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-06-2013
DOI: 10.1093/HER/CYT068
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-09-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JORA.12455
Abstract: There is a dearth of research on delinquency, school context, and risk factors across developed and developing nations. Using representative s les and matched surveys, we examined delinquency among cohorts in Mumbai, India (N = 3,717) Victoria, Australia (N = 1,842) and Washington State (WA), United States (N = 1,828). We used multivariate Poisson hierarchical linear modeling. Risk factor and delinquency levels varied across sites. Delinquency clustered within certain schools, particularly in Mumbai. Community disorganization exhibited an association with delinquency as a school-level context effect in Mumbai and Victoria. Peer delinquency, sensation seeking, and poor family management exhibited cross-nationally consistent associations with delinquency. Programs that target schools, the clustering of problem behaviors, and cross-nationally consistent risk factors should be considered internationally.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12404
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 06-2019
DOI: 10.1037/HEA0000735
Abstract: A major challenge for health psychologists is to ensure the implementation of evidence-based interventions to improve population health. To reduce high rates of adolescent alcohol use and related health problems, trials of the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention process were implemented in Australia beginning in 2001. The process assists communities to strategically plan and monitor implementation of evidence-based preventative interventions. This article reports an evaluation of the effects in the first four Australian communities that completed the process. Trends were examined based on self-report surveys completed by 41,328 adolescents (average age 13.5 years, 51.7% female) across 109 municipal localities between 1999 and 2015. Multilevel modeling compared the 5 localities where the 4 coalitions completed the CTC process with the remaining 104 localities for trends in adolescent reports of lifetime alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use and past year antisocial behavior. Relative to Australian trends, adolescents in CTC localities reported significantly steeper annual reductions in any lifetime alcohol (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.94, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = [0.93, 0.95]), tobacco (AOR = 0.97, CI [0.96, 0.99]), cannabis use (AOR = 0.96, CI [0.93, 0.98]) and antisocial behavior (unstandardized regression coefficient [B] = -0.001, CI [-0.002, 0.000]). Implementation of the CTC process in Australia was associated with more rapid community reductions in adolescent health behavior problems. Supporting community coalitions to adopt evidence-based interventions appears a feasible means for health psychologists to improve the health of large adolescent populations and prevent related chronic health problems in later life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-11-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADOLESCENCE.2005.10.001
Abstract: To examine concordance between two self‐reported measures of puberty: Sexual Maturation Scale (SMS) and Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and their acceptability to adolescents. Participants of a school‐based study in grades 5, 7 and 9 were classified into one of 5 pubertal stages using each method. 2864 students (age 9–16 years) participated. Agreement was moderate for males ( 0.42, 95% CI 0.39, 0.45) and females ( 0.57, 95% CI 0.53, 0.61). Concordance within one stage was excellent (females 97%, males 89%), with discrepancies due to females being classified one stage later on the PDS (26%) and males one stage earlier (32%). There were more missing data for the SMS (13%) than the PDS (4%). Given the level of concordance and difficulties of using the drawings in a school‐based survey, we would recommend the PDS as an alternative to assess pubertal status in epidemiological studies.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-07-2005
DOI: 10.1002/PBC.20421
Abstract: The purpose of the study was to investigate smoking, alcohol use, illicit drug use and sexual risk taking among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer treated in Australia. A comparison study selecting on exposure (cancer vs. healthy) and administering a branched computerised questionnaire assessing health-risk behaviour, predominately by telephone interview. One hundred fifty-three adolescent survivors of childhood cancer were compared with age matched healthy adolescents drawn from one of two Australian population based surveys of adolescent health. Behaviours assessed were tobacco use, alcohol use, binge drinking, cannabis use, pain reliever use, other illicit drug use and unprotected sex. Compared to their healthy peers, younger survivors (13- to 17-years) were at an increased risk of reporting pain reliever use (OR = 2.1) for non-medical purposes, but lower risk of binge drinking (OR = 0.20), cannabis use (OR = 0.25), other illicit drug use (OR = 0.31), tobacco use (OR = 0.38) and alcohol use (OR = 0.44). Older survivors (18- to 24-years) were at an increased risk of reporting alcohol use (OR 1.5), but at lower risk of reporting cannabis use (OR = 0.27), other illicit drug use (OR = 0.44) and tobacco use (OR = 0.47). Survival analysis using the full adolescent survivor cohort (13- to 24-years) showed that the age of onset of tobacco use was later for cancer survivors (hazard ratio HR = 0.65). Adolescent cancer survivors show reduced involvement in most health-risk behaviours, with the exception of pain reliever use among younger survivors and alcohol use among the older survivors. Although risks were reduced a substantial proportion of survivors engage in these behaviours.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSAMS.2013.03.012
Abstract: Adolescent mental disorders remain a relatively neglected area of research, despite evidence that these conditions affect youth disproportionately. We examined associations between physical activity, leisure-time screen use and depressive symptoms among Australian children and adolescents. Large cross-sectional observational study. Self-reported physical activity and leisure-time screen behaviours, and depressive symptoms using the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire were assessed in 8256 students aged 10-16 years (mean age=11.5 years, SD=0.8). Thirty three percent of the s le reported moderate to high depressive symptoms, with rates higher among females (OR=1.18 95% CI: 1.02, 1.36 p=0.001). Increased opportunities to be active at school outside class (OR=0.70 0.58, 0.85 p<0.001), being active in physical education classes (OR=0.77 0.69, 0.86 p<0.001), greater involvement in sports teams at school (OR=0.77 0.67, 0.88 p<0.001) and outside of school (OR=0.84 0.73, 0.96 p=0.01) were all independently associated with lower odds for depressive symptoms. Meeting recommended guidelines for physical activity (OR=0.62 0.44, 0.88 p=0.007) and, for 12-14 year olds, leisure-time screen use (OR=0.77 0.59, 0.99 p=0.04) were also independently associated with lower odds for depressive symptoms. Higher levels of physical activity among children and young adolescents, and lower levels of leisure-time screen use among young adolescents, are associated with lower depressive symptoms. Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the causal relationships between these variables.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-03-2015
DOI: 10.1111/EIP.12211
Abstract: To conduct a systematic review of parent and family factors associated with service use for young people with mental health problems, to inform early intervention efforts aimed at increasing service use by young people. A systematic search of academic databases was performed. Articles were included in the review if they had: a s le of young people aged between 5 and 18 years service use as the outcome measure one or more parental or family variables as a predictor and a comparison group of non-service using young people with mental health problems. In order to focus on factors additional to need, the mental health symptoms of the young person also had to be controlled for. Stouffer's method of combining P-values was used to draw conclusions as to whether or not associations between variables were reliable. Twenty-eight articles were identified investigating 15 parental or family factors, 7 of which were found to be associated with service use for a young person with mental health needs: parental burden, parent problem perception, parent perception of need, parent psychopathology, single-parent household, change in family structure and being from the dominant ethnic group for the United States specifically. Factors not found to be related to service use were: family history of service use, parent-child relationship quality, family functioning, number of children, parent education level, parent employment status, household income and non-urban location of residence. A number of family-related factors were identified that can inform effective interventions aimed at early intervention for mental health problems. Areas requiring further research were also identified.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-12-2012
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 28-05-2021
DOI: 10.3389/FPSYG.2021.672174
Abstract: Background: When adolescent boys experience close, secure relationships with their parents and peers, the implications are potentially far reaching, including lower levels of mental health problems in adolescence and young adulthood. Here we use rare prospective intergenerational data to extend our understanding of the impact of adolescent attachments on subsequent postpartum mental health problems in early fatherhood. Methods: At age 17–18 years, we used an abbreviated Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment to assess trust, communication, and alienation reported by 270 male participants in their relationships with mothers, fathers, and peers. More than a decade later, we assessed the adult males, now fathers, at 12 months postpartum ( N = 409 infant offspring) for symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Logistic regression was used to examine the extent to which attachment dimensions predicted paternal postpartum mental health, adjusting for potential confounding, and with assessment for interactions between parent and peer attachments. Results: Trust in mothers and peers, and good communication with fathers during adolescence, were associated with 5 to 7 percentage point reductions in postpartum mental health symptoms in early fatherhood. Weak evidence of parent-peer interactions suggested secure attachments with either parent or peer may compensate for an insecure attachment with the other. Conclusions: Our results suggest that fostering trust and communication in relationships that adolescent boys have with parents and peers may have substantial effects on rates of paternal postpartum mental health problems. The protective benefits may be preventative in intergenerational cycles of risk for mental health problems.
Publisher: E.U. European Publishing
Date: 06-12-2022
DOI: 10.18332/TID/155391
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 12-03-2012
Abstract: Involvement in community sports clubs is often associated with high levels of risky alcohol consumption however, developing prevention-focused interventions in these settings can be complex. We examined the association of reduced risky alcohol consumption with the implementation of the Good Sports Programme (GSP)--a programme that accredits clubs in three stages, on the basis of their implementation of alcohol-related harm reduction strategies. Using a cross section of football and cricket clubs, consumption was compared between clubs accredited at level 1, 2 or 3 of the GSP and clubs not accredited (92 clubs 1924 in iduals). Drinking above Australian guidelines for short-term risk (more than four standard drinks) on the last playing day prior to the survey and drinking at the club over the last 12 months at average levels exceeding short- and long-term risk (more than two standard drinks) guidelines were also examined. Multilevel modelling indicated that higher accreditation stage (0, 1, 2, 3) was associated with a 0.79 reduction in the odds of risky consumption on the playing day a 0.85 reduction in the odds for short-term risky drinking, and a 0.86 reduction in long-term risky drinking. The findings suggest that higher accreditation in the GSP is associated with reduced rates of risky alcohol use at a population level.
Publisher: AMPCo
Date: 11-2014
DOI: 10.5694/MJA14.00988
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSP.2018.04.003
Abstract: There is a need to further understand the development of student engagement. Ecological models of adolescent development state that proximal factors, such as teacher support, should strongly influence student engagement. Theoretical models also explain concurrent influences from the in idual, family, peer, and community contexts. The current study applied an ecological model to the development of five indicators of students' engagement in school. Six hundred and sixty-five full-time Grade 11 students and an additional 54 students who had dropped out of school from Victoria, Australia, completed a Communities That Care survey in term 3 of Grade 10 and term 3 of Grade 11. Grade 10 risk and protective factors from the school (e.g., teacher support), in idual (e.g., academic grades, prior engagement), family (e.g., family management practices), peer (e.g., antisocial peer affiliation), and community contexts (e.g., community disorganization) were modeled as predictors of five indicators of Grade 11 engagement (academic engagement, emotional engagement, school discipline, absences from school, and school dropout). Teacher support at Grade 10 had bivariate associations with Grade 11 academic engagement (r = 0.37), emotional engagement (r = 0.35), absences from school (r = -0.14), and school discipline responses (OR = 0.64). The full ecological models explained between 22 and 34% of the variance in engagement however, teacher support did not predict engagement. Prior engagement and academic grades explained the greatest proportion of variance in students' engagement. Factors from the family, peer, and community contexts made unique contributions to some indicators of engagement. The findings suggest that there is a need to consider student engagement as a long-term process. Implications for improving students' engagement are discussed within an in idualized stage-environment fit model of adolescent development.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-02-2007
DOI: 10.1111/J.1746-1561.2007.00183.X
Abstract: Schools use a number of measures to reduce harmful tobacco, alcohol, and drug use by students. One important component is the school's drug policy, which serves to set normative values and expectations for student behavior as well as to document procedures for dealing with drug-related incidents. There is little empirical evidence of how policy directly or indirectly influence students' drug taking. This study compares how effectively schools communicate school drug policies to parents and students, how they are implemented, and what policy variables impact students' drug use at school and their perceptions of other students' drug use at school. Data were obtained from 3876 students attending 205 schools from 2 states in the United States and Australia, countries with contrasting national drug policy frameworks. School policy data were collected from school personnel, parents, and students. Schools' policies and enforcement procedures reflected national policy approaches. Parents and students were knowledgeable of their school's policy orientation. When delivered effectively, policy messages are associated with reduced student drug use at school. Abstinence messages and harsh penalties convey a coherent message to students. Strong harm-minimization messages are also associated with reduced drug use at school, but effects are weaker than those for abstinence messages. This smaller effect may be acceptable if, in the longer term, it leads to a reduction in harmful use and school dropout within the student population.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-06-2013
Abstract: Prevention strategies have made a major contribution to the considerable successes in reductions in cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality seen in recent decades. However, in the field of psychiatry, similar population-level initiatives in the prevention of common mental disorders, depression and anxiety, are noticeably lacking. This paper aims to provide a brief overview of the existing literature on the topic of the prevention of common mental disorders and a commentary regarding the way forward for prevention research and implementation. This commentary considers what we currently know, what we might learn from the successes and failures of those working in prevention of other high prevalence health conditions, and where we might go from here. Taking cognisance of previous preventive models, this commentary additionally explores new opportunities for preventive approaches to the common mental disorders. The consensus from a large body of evidence supports the contention that interventions to prevent mental disorders across the lifespan can be both effective and cost-effective. However, funding for research in the area of prevention of common mental disorders is considerably lower than that for research in the areas of treatment, epidemiology and neurobiology. Thus, there is a clear imperative to direct funding towards prevention research to redress this imbalance. Future prevention interventions need to be methodologically rigorous, scalable to the population level and include economic evaluation. Evidence-based knowledge translation strategies should be developed to ensure that all stakeholders recognise preventing mental disorders as an imperative, with appropriate resources directed to this objective. There has been a recent expansion of research into potentially modifiable risk factors for depression, and it is now timely to make a concerted effort to advance the field of prevention of common mental disorders.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-09-2013
DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2013.824471
Abstract: This study used the Resilient Families baseline survey to examine associations between the connectedness of parents within the school and parents' rules regarding their children's use of alcohol, prior participation in parenting education, and parents' demographic characteristics. The study involved parents of Year 7 students (mean age 12 years) at secondary schools in Melbourne, Australia (N = 1,238 2004). Most parents (54%) had no connections with parents of other children in their child's school year. Allowing children to have sips of alcohol or drinks on special occasions was reported by 23% and 6% of parents, respectively, but neither was significantly associated with parental connectedness.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 26-02-2010
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-2004
Abstract: Many school-based research efforts require active parental consent for student participation. Maximizing rates of consent form return and agreement is an important issue, because s le representativeness may be compromised when these rates are low. This article compares two methods for obtaining active parental consent: return of consent forms in the mail versus return by students to their classrooms. The methods were tested in a pilot study of 46 schools (1,058 students), with half of the schools randomly allocated to each of the alternative methods. A hierarchical nonlinear model of consent form return and agreement rates suggests that the student-delivered method is more successful at producing higher rates of consent form return and agreement to participate in the study, after controlling for school-level characteristics. The authors discuss the findings and their implications for other researchers engaged in school-based research with adolescents.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-06-2009
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2004
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.CPR.2016.10.008
Abstract: This systematic review aimed to identify early risk and protective factors (in childhood, adolescence or young adulthood) longitudinally associated with the subsequent development of gambling problems. A systematic search of peer-reviewed and grey literature from 1990 to 2015 identified 15 studies published in 23 articles. Meta-analyses quantified the effect size of 13 in idual risk factors (alcohol use frequency, antisocial behaviours, depression, male gender, cannabis use, illicit drug use, impulsivity, number of gambling activities, problem gambling severity, sensation seeking, tobacco use, violence, undercontrolled temperament), one relationship risk factor (peer antisocial behaviours), one community risk factor (poor academic performance), one in idual protective factor (socio-economic status) and two relationship protective factors (parent supervision, social problems). Effect sizes were on average small to medium and sensitivity analyses revealed that the results were generally robust to the quality of methodological approaches of the included articles. These findings highlight the need for global prevention efforts that reduce risk factors and screen young people with high-risk profiles. There is insufficient investigation of protective factors to adequately guide prevention initiatives. Future longitudinal research is required to identify additional risk and protective factors associated with problem gambling, particularly within the relationship, community, and societal levels of the socio-ecological model.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-01-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-09-2020
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.12295
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 03-03-2017
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the structural stability of positive development across the 20s using data from one of Australia’s oldest population-based studies of social–emotional development. Positive development was indicated by civic action and engagement, trust and tolerance of others, trust in authorities and organizations, social competence, and life satisfaction. Results extend an earlier published model spanning 19–20 and 23–24 years by incorporating a new wave of data collected at 27–28 years. The age 27–28 latent model was gender invariant and a robust replication of our earlier model. Associations between the latent constructs in the mid- to late 20s were stronger than those in emerging adulthood. This work provides evidence of a cohesive higher order construct of positive development from late adolescence to the late 20s and has the potential to inform measurement of strength-based research and prevention programs in the emerging and young adult periods.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 26-06-2014
Abstract: This study examined longitudinal relationships between depressive symptoms and use of alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit substances among adolescents, addressing methodological limitations and potential confounding in the extant literature. The s le comprised adolescents who were surveyed in Grades 6 ( n = 916), 9 ( n = 804), and 11 ( n = 791). Cross-lagged path analyses were used to examine bi-directional relationships between substance use and depressive symptoms. Early adolescent depressive symptoms predicted mid-adolescent cigarette, alcohol, and illicit substance use (the latter among females only). Mid-adolescent depressive symptoms predicted late adolescent illicit substance use (females only). There were no statistically significant pathways from substance use to later depressive symptoms. However, these relationships were reduced to non-significance with the addition of covariates associated with the family environment, school, and in idual. The findings suggest that the association between adolescent depressive symptoms and later substance use can be explained by common risk factors that produce vulnerability to both depression and substance use.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 19-12-2022
Abstract: Worldwide, Indigenous youth face ongoing challenges and inequalities. Increasing our understanding of life course patterns in Indigenous youth will assist the design of strategies and interventions that encourage positive development. This study aimed to increase understanding of resilience and positive development in Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth across Australia and the United States of America. The Australian s le comprised 9680 non-Indigenous and 176 Pacific Islander and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The USA s le comprised 2258 non-Indigenous and 220 Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian and Native American/American Indian peoples. Data were used to examine how Indigenous background, volunteering, and community involvement at average age 15 years (Grade 9) predicted five young adult positive development indicators: Year 12 (Grade 12) school completion, tertiary education participation, independent income, paid employment, and intimate relationship formation from age 18 to 28 years. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that while Indigenous youth showed slower increases in positive young adult development over time, when adjusting for socioeconomic disadvantage, there was a reduction in this difference. Moreover, we found that Grade 9 community involvement and volunteering were positively associated with young adult development for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth. Findings indicate the importance of addressing structural inequalities and increasing adolescent opportunities as feasible strategies to improve positive outcomes for young Indigenous adults.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-09-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1360-0443.2010.03021.X
Abstract: To examine the importance of family management, family structure and father-adolescent relationships on early adolescent alcohol use. Cross-sectional data was collected across 30 randomly selected Australian communities stratified to represent a range of socio-economic and regional variation. Data were collected during school time from adolescents attending a broad range of schools. The s le consisted of a combined 8256 students (aged 10-14 years). Students completed a web-based survey as part of the Healthy Neighbourhoods project. Family management-which included practices such as parental monitoring and family rules about alcohol use-had the strongest and most consistent relationship with alcohol use in early adolescence. Adolescents reporting higher family management were less likely to have drunk alcohol in their life-time, less likely to drink alcohol in the preceding 30 days and less likely to have had an alcohol binge. Adolescents reporting emotionally close relationships with their fathers were less likely to have drunk alcohol in their life-time and less likely to have had an alcohol binge in the preceding fortnight. Findings indicate that family management practices may contribute to alcohol abstinence in adolescents. Furthermore, emotionally close father-adolescent relationships may also foster abstinence however, fathers' drinking behaviours need to be considered.
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 04-2019
Abstract: Sexting (e.g., conveying nude electronic images) is now common among young adults. Despite leading to negative consequences for some (e.g., harassment and unwanted dissemination), findings regarding sexting behaviors and mental health variables have been mixed. We recruited a convenience s le of young adults (N = 444, M age = 20, SD = 1) to test the hypothesis that sexting might be associated with poorer mental health. Our results showed no association between receiving or sending sexts overall. However, receiving unwanted sexts, or sexting under coercion, was associated with higher depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and lower self-esteem, and these two sexting experiences were independent predictors of psychological distress. The relationship between these sexting behaviors with poor mental health was moderated by gender, with poorer outcomes for males receiving unwanted sexts. These findings indicate a possible moderating factor in sexting and mental health.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-06-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2014
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 17-02-2022
DOI: 10.1136/TOBACCOCONTROL-2021-057063
Abstract: Tobacco companies have used below-the-line marketing in novel ways to promote their brands to youth in low/middle-income countries in Southeast Asia. This study explores how young male smokers in Cambodia experience below-the-line marketing strategies. Convenience s ling was used to recruit 147 young male smokers (18–24 years) in Cambodia in early 2020. Local research assistants conducted mixed-methods interviews with participants in Khmer or English. Participants recalled exposure to below-the-line marketing strategies and provided in-depth descriptions about their experiences with in idual sales promotions. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. 54% of participants recalled exposure to at least one below-the-line marketing strategy, including point-of-sale promotions (32.7%), in idual sales promotions (27.9%) and online advertising (14.3%). Participants described in idual sales promotions in public settings, and recalled that promoters were mostly female, attractive and targeted young males. Tactics used to encourage young people to accept promotional offers included free cigarettes and s le packets, swapping current cigarettes for new brands and collecting consumer details after interviewing. The brands and product features of cigarettes being promoted were readily described by participants. This study provides evidence that illegal below-the-line marketing is still occurring in Cambodia, and increased monitoring and enforcement of advertising restrictions is needed.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-05-2017
DOI: 10.1111/FAMP.12218
Abstract: Depression is the most common mental disorder for young people, and it is associated with educational underachievement, self-harm, and suicidality. Current psychological therapies for adolescent depression are usually focused only on in idual-level change and often neglect family or contextual influences. The efficacy of interventions may be enhanced with a broader therapeutic focus on family factors such as communication, conflict, support, and cohesion. This article describes a structured multi-family group approach to the treatment of adolescent depression: Behaviour Exchange Systems Therapy for adolescent depression (BEST MOOD). BEST MOOD is a manualized intervention that is designed to address both in idual and family factors in the treatment of adolescent depression. BEST MOOD adopts a family systems approach that also incorporates psychoeducation and elements of attachment theories. The program consists of eight multifamily group therapy sessions delivered over 2 hours per week, where parents attend the first four sessions and young people and siblings join from week 5. The program design is specifically aimed to engage youth who are initially resistant to treatment and to optimize youth and family mental health outcomes. This article presents an overview of the theoretical model, session content, and evaluations to date, and provides a case study to illustrate the approach.
Publisher: Science Publishing Group
Date: 2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-03-2019
DOI: 10.1002/AB.21828
Abstract: While the association between heavy alcohol consumption and aggression has been well documented, the causal direction of this association, particularly at a population level, is disputed. A number of causal sequences have been proposed. First, that aggression leads to heavy alcohol use. Second, that heavy alcohol use leads to aggression. Third, that the association between alcohol use and aggression is due to confounding by (a) sociodemographic variables or (b) delinquency. We report here data from four Australasian prospective longitudinal studies of adolescents, to assess the temporal sequence of heavy drinking and aggression over the period from adolescence to young adulthood. The four cohort studies provide a total s le of 6,706 persons (Australian Temperament Project, n = 1701 Christchurch Health and Development Study, n = 931 Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy, n = 2437 Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study, n = 1637). We use multinomial logistic regression to determine whether early adolescent aggression predicts subsequent age of onset of heavy episodic drinking (HED), after adjustment for concurrent sociodemographic factors and delinquency. We then consider whether HED predicts subsequent aggression, after adjusting for past aggression, concurrent delinquency, and a range of confounders. There are broadly consistent findings across the four cohort studies. Early aggression strongly predicts subsequent HED. HED predicts later aggression after adjustment for prior aggression and other confounders. Policies that alter population levels of alcohol consumption are likely to impact on levels of aggression in societies where HED linked to aggression is more common.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-03-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADOLESCENCE.2013.03.001
Abstract: The current study documents the changing rates of cannabis use, misuse and cannabis‐related social harms among Australian adolescents as they grow into young adulthood. It utilised data from a longitudinal study of young people at ages 15, 16, 17, and 19. The rates of cannabis use were found to increase as participants aged past year use increased from 7.5% at age 15 to 29.8% at age 19. Further, at ages 17 and 19, cannabis use was more prevalent among males than females. Among those who reported cannabis use, the rates of cannabis‐related harms were low to moderate, and did not increase with age in the same manner as rates of cannabis use. The most prevalent self‐reported cannabis‐related harm was anxiety/depression affecting between 20–30% of the cannabis users at each age. These findings may assist in understanding the extent of cannabis‐related problems among youth, and in planning relevant services.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2011
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-04-2017
DOI: 10.1007/S10802-017-0292-7
Abstract: This paper presents findings from a multi-centre, double-blind, randomized controlled trial that tested the hypothesis that parent and youth mental health improvements would be superior in a family-based intervention for adolescent depression (BEST MOOD) compared to a treatment-as-usual supportive parenting program (PAST). Eligible participants were families with a young person aged between 12 and 18 years who met diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder (major, minor or dysthymic). Participating families (N = 64 73.4% of youth were female) were recruited in Victoria, Australia and allocated to treatment condition using a block randomization procedure (parallel design) with two levels of blinding. This paper reports on the trial's secondary outcomes on youth and parent mental health. General linear mixed models were used to examine the longitudinal effect of treatment group on outcome. Data were analyzed according to intention-to-treat 31 families were analyzed in BEST MOOD, and 33 families in PAST. Parents in the BEST MOOD group experienced significantly greater reductions in stress and depressive symptoms than parents in the PAST group at 3-month follow-up. A greater reduction in parental anxiety was observed in the BEST MOOD group (d = 0.35) compared with PAST (d = 0.02), although the between-group difference was not significant. Both groups of youth showed similar levels of improvement in depressive symptoms at post-treatment (d = 0.83 and 0.80 respectively), which were largely sustained at a 3-month follow-up. The family-based BEST MOOD intervention appeared superior to treatment-as-usual (PAST) in demonstrating greater reductions in parental stress and depression. Both interventions produced large reductions in youth depressive symptoms.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-02-2015
DOI: 10.1111/JORA.12113
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1440-1584.2010.01133.X
Abstract: Alcohol is the most commonly used drug within Australia. Recently, there have been indications that there is a greater incidence of high-risk drinking within rural populations as compared with their urban counterparts. High-risk drinking is associated with numerous conditions, such as diabetes, heart attack and cancer, as well as acute harms such as assault, suicide and road accidents. The objective of this article is to review the current research and relevant data pertaining to alcohol use and alcohol-related harms within rural Australia. This paper is a systematic review of 16 databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO and Google Scholar. Overall, 18 studies describing alcohol consumption or alcohol-related harms were found. Approximately half of these studies were large-scale national population surveys, which were therefore limited in their representativeness of specific regional and rural towns. Most studies examining alcohol consumption used self-report data collection, meaning that interpretation of results needs to be tentative. There is a consistent pattern of higher rates of alcohol consumption and consequent harm within regional and rural Australia than in urban areas. There is emerging research examining alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms within regional and rural Australia. All studies show that these populations experience disproportionate harm because of alcohol consumption. The causes and mechanism for this have not been investigated, and a program of research is required to understand how and why rural populations experience disproportionate levels of alcohol-related harm and ultimately, what interventions will be most effective in reducing alcohol-related harms.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 17-07-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-05-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-12-2013
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.12401
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-2010
DOI: 10.3109/00048670903571598
Abstract: Objective: Adolescence frequently coincides with the onset of psychiatric illness and depression is commonly observed in adolescents. Recent data suggest a role for diet quality in adult depression. Given the importance of adequate nutrition for brain development, it is of interest to examine whether diet quality is also related to depression in adolescents. Methods: The study examined 7114 adolescents, aged 10–14 years, who participated in the Australian Healthy Neighbourhoods Study. Healthy and unhealthy diet quality scores were derived from a dietary questionnaire. The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for adolescents measured depression. Adjustments were made for age, gender, socioeconomic status, parental education, parental work status, family conflict, poor family management, dieting behaviours, body mass index, physical activity, and smoking. Results: Compared to the lowest category of the healthy diet score, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for symptomatic depression across categories (C) was: C2 = 0.61 (0.45–0.84) C3 = 0.58 (0.43–0.79) C4 = 0.47 (0.35–0.64) and C5 = 0.55 (0.40–0.77). Compared to the lowest quintile, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for symptomatic depression across increasing quintiles of the unhealthy diet score were: Q2 = 1.03 (0.87–1.22) Q3 = 1.22 (1.03–1.44) Q4 = 1.29 (1.12–1.50) and Q5 = 1.79 (1.52–2.11). Conclusions: Our results demonstrate an association between diet quality and adolescent depression that exists over and above the influence of socioeconomic, family, and other potential confounding factors.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 20-01-2015
Abstract: There is a growing body of evidence suggesting a link between sport participation and violent behavior outside of the sporting context. However, there have been few studies that have investigated the basis of this relationship. The current study examined longitudinal relationships between sport participation, problem alcohol use, and various violent behaviors, and whether sport participation moderates relationships between problem alcohol use and violence. The s le comprised 2,262 young adults (55% female, age range at Time 1 = 17-24 years) from Victoria, Australia, surveyed in 2010 and 2012. When controlling for common risk factors, substance use, and past violence, sport participation was not associated with any violent behaviors 2 years later. However, sport participation moderated the relationship between problem alcohol use and fighting, whereby problem alcohol use was associated with engaging in fights 2 years later for sport participants, but not for nonparticipants. These findings suggest that it is not sport participation per se that influences later violence but the drinking norms or culture embedded within certain sporting contexts. Prevention approaches that address the drinking culture and social approval of excessive alcohol consumption within sporting contexts may reduce the incidence of violent behavior in the community.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-08-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADOLESCENCE.2018.07.015
Abstract: Poor family management and antisocial peer associations are related risk factors for negative outcomes such as adolescent substance misuse and conduct disorders. The relationship between family management and antisocial peer associations is complex. The purpose of this study was to test the reciprocal relationships between youth‐reports of poor family management and antisocial peer associations over multiple time‐points. We used four data points (5th‐11th grade) from the Australian arm of the longitudinal International Youth Development Study (IYDS) to test a random‐intercepts cross‐lagged path model (N = 922). The model fit the data well with path estimates showing that poor family management predicted greater antisocial peer associations at the next wave but not the reverse. A second model included a third autoregressive path to control for youth's own antisocial behavior the direction of the relationships between poor family management and antisocial peer associations did not change. These results indicate that across adolescence poor family management predicts greater antisocial peer association, which provides evidence that family‐focused interventions are an important prevention strategy even in adolescence.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2022
Abstract: Parenting is central to children's optimal development and accounts for a substantial proportion of the variance in child outcomes, including up to 40% of child mental health. Parenting is also one of the most modifiable, proximal, and direct factors for preventing and treating a range of children's problems and enhancing wellbeing. To determine the effectiveness of new approaches to parenting intervention, and to evaluate how to optimise reach and uptake, sufficient funding must be allocated for high quality research. We reviewed funding awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council (ARC) for parenting intervention research during 2011-2020. Parenting intervention research received 0.25% of the NHMRC and ARC research budgets. There is a substantial mismatch between the funding of parenting intervention research and the impact of improved parenting on short- and long-term child outcomes. To rectify this, it is critical that Australian Government funding schemes include parenting interventions as priority areas for funding. Changes in allocation of funding to parenting research will support the establishment of evidence for the effective development, implementation and dissemination of parenting interventions to maximise health outcomes for children and their families.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2013.10.001
Abstract: To assess whether the density of alcohol sales outlets in specific geographic communities is associated with adolescent alcohol consumption. A cross-sectional representative s le of secondary school students from Victoria, Australia (N=10,143), aged between 12 and 17 years, self-reported on alcohol use in the last 30 days in 2009. The density of alcohol outlets per local community area was merged with this information. After controlling for risk factors, multilevel modelling (MLM) revealed a statistical interaction between age and density on alcohol consumption. While older adolescents had higher alcohol consumption, increases in the density of alcohol outlets were only significantly associated with increased risk of alcohol consumption for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 14. Increased alcohol availability was associated with an increased risk of alcohol consumption specifically for early adolescents (12 and 14 years). Potential mechanisms as to how density is associated with direct and indirect alcohol availability, such as through parents or older siblings, need to be explored in future research.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2012
DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2012.680189
Abstract: The present research employed a prospective, multi-informant design to examine precursors and correlates of differing anxiety profiles from late childhood to late adolescence. The s le consisted of 626 boys and 667 girls who are participants in the Australian Temperament Project, a large, longitudinal, community-based study that has followed young people's psychosocial adjustment from infancy to adulthood. The present research analyzes data collected from the first 12 waves of data, from 4-8 months to 17 years. Parents, primary school teachers, maternal and child health nurses, and from the age of 11 onward, the young people themselves have provided survey data. Trajectory analyses revealed three distinct patterns of self-reported anxiety from late childhood to late adolescence, comprising low, moderate, and high (increasing) trajectories, which differed somewhat between boys and girls. A range of parent- and teacher-reported factors was found to be associated with these trajectories, including temperament style, behavior problems, social skills, parenting, negative family events, and peer relationships. Compared with male trajectories, female trajectories were associated with a greater variety of psychosocial variables (including parenting and externalizing problems), which may partially account for the higher prevalence of anxiety in adolescent girls compared with boys. Findings shed light on gender-specific pathways to anxiety and the need for comprehensive, integrative approaches to intervention and prevention programs.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2003
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2015.09.008
Abstract: This study aimed to identify distinct developmental trajectories (sub-groups of in iduals who showed similar longitudinal patterns) of cannabis use among Australian adolescents, and to examine associations between trajectory group membership and measures of social and behavioural adjustment in young adulthood. Participants (n=852, 53% female) were part of the International Youth Development Study. Latent class growth analysis was used to identify distinct trajectories of cannabis use frequency from average ages 12 to 19, across 6 waves of data. Logistic regression analyses and analyses of covariance were used to examine relationships between trajectory group membership and young adult (average age: 21) adjustment, controlling for a range of covariates. Three trajectories were identified: abstainers (62%), early onset users (11%), and late onset occasional users (27%). The early onset users showed a higher frequency of antisocial behaviour, violence, cannabis use, cannabis-related harms, cigarette use, and alcohol harms, compared to the abstinent group in young adulthood. The late onset occasional users reported a higher frequency of cannabis use, cannabis-related harms, illicit drug use, and alcohol harms, compared to the abstinent group in young adulthood. There were no differences between the trajectory groups on measures of employment, school completion, post-secondary education, income, depression/anxiety, or alcohol use problems. In conclusion, early onset of cannabis use, even at relatively low frequency during adolescence, is associated with poorer adjustment in young adulthood. Prevention and intervention efforts to delay or prevent uptake of cannabis use should be particularly focussed on early adolescence prior to age 12.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 22-10-2019
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-03-2021
DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS202103.0351.V1
Abstract: Parent education programs, offered via family-school partnerships, offer an effective means for promoting the mental health and educational functioning of children and adolescents at a whole-of-school level. However, these programs often have low uptake. This study aimed to identify strategies for increasing the uptake of parent education programs within preschool and school settings. A three-round Delphi procedure was employed to obtain expert consensus on strategies that are important and feasible in educational settings. First, thirty experts rated statements identified from the literature and a stakeholder forum. Next, experts re-appraised statements, including new statements generated from the first round. Ninety statements were endorsed by ≥ 80% of the experts. Primary themes include strategies for program selection, strategies for increasing the accessibility of programs and the understanding of educational staff on parent engagement and child mental health, strategies for program development, promotion, and delivery, as well as strategies for increasing parent and community engagement. This study offers a set of consensus strategies for improving the uptake of parent education programs within family-school partnership.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-11-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADOLESCENCE.2011.10.006
Abstract: The transition to adulthood is characterised by potential for both positive development and problem outcomes such as psychopathology, yet little is known about relationships between the two. Given the ersity of pathways observed during this transition period, there is likely to be significant heterogeneity in young people’s experiences of these outcomes. Drawing on data from 1158 19–20 year olds in the Australian Temperament Project and using latent profile analysis, we identified six subgroups. For most, higher positive development was associated with lower psychopathology and vice versa. One group (33.6%) was high across all positive development measures and low on psychopathology, and another (47.7%) average in both areas. The remaining four groups were low on positive development but differentiated by average psychopathology (4.7%), high internalising (5.5%), and moderate (7.2%) and severe (1.3%) externalising problems. Tailored intervention strategies that address both the promotion of competence and prevention of problem outcomes are needed.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.JADOHEALTH.2014.08.005
Abstract: Although previous studies have suggested that greater community densities of alcohol sales outlets are associated with greater alcohol use and problems, the mechanisms are unclear. The present study examined whether density was associated with increased purchasing of alcohol by adolescents younger than the legal purchase age of 18 in Australia. The number of alcohol outlets per 10,000 population was identified within geographic regions in Victoria, Australia. A state-representative student survey (N = 10,143) identified adolescent reports of purchasing alcohol, and multilevel modeling was then used to predict the effects for different densities of outlet types (packaged, club, on-premise, general, and overall). Each extra sales outlet per 10,000 population was associated with a significant increase in the risk of underage adolescent purchasing. The strongest effect was for club density (odds ratio = 1.22) and packaged (takeaway) outlet density (odds ratio = 1.12). Males, older children, smokers, and those with substance-using friends were more likely to purchase alcohol. One mechanism by which alcohol sales outlet density may influence population rates of alcohol use and related problems is through increasing the illegal underage purchasing of alcohol.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1037/A0023320
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-01-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S10964-013-9910-Z
Abstract: The impact of alcohol-related violence on in iduals and society continues to receive attention from both media and policy makers. However, the longitudinal relationship between alcohol consumption and violence is unclear, with findings from prospective studies producing mixed results. The current study utilized Australian data from the International Youth Development Study to examine longitudinal relationships between alcohol consumption and severe interpersonal violence across the developmental periods of early adolescence to late adolescence/emerging adulthood. The full s le comprised 849 adolescents (53.8 % female) who had been followed up over a 5 year period, from Grade 7 secondary school (age 13) until Grade 11 secondary school (age 17). Cross-lagged path analysis was used to examine reciprocal relationships between alcohol consumption and interpersonal violence analyses controlled for a range of covariates considered to be common risk factors for both behaviors. Alcohol use during early and mid adolescence was found to predict violence 2 years later, whereas a bi-directional relationship between adolescent heavy episodic drinking and violence was observed. Some of these relationships were not significant when covariates such as family conflict and affiliation with antisocial and drug using friends were included in the models. These findings suggest that risk processes begin in late childhood or very early adolescence efforts to reduce one problem behavior are likely to reduce the other. Further, the role that social and family contexts have in influencing the relationships between alcohol use and interpersonal violence should be considered in future research to better inform preventive efforts.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2005
DOI: 10.1111/J.1746-1561.2005.00011.X
Abstract: Using mail survey data collected from primary and secondary school administrators in Washington State, United States, and in Victoria, Australia, this study compared aspects of the school drug policy environment in the 2 states. Documented substance-use policies were prevalent in Washington and Victoria but less prevalent.in primary schools, especially in Victoria. Victorian school policy-setting processes were significantly more likely to involve teachers, parents, and students than processes in Washington schools. Consistent with expectations based on their respective national drug policy frameworks, school drug policies in Washington schools were more oriented toward total abstinence and more frequently enforced with harsh punishment (such as expulsion or calling law enforcement), whereas policies in Victorian schools were more reflective of harm-minimization principles. Within both states, however, schools more regularly used harsh punishment and remediation consequences for alcohol and illicit-drug violations compared to tobacco policy violations, which were treated more leniently.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2020
DOI: 10.1111/DAR.13077
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2018.10.027
Abstract: While controversial, cannabis use is common, and often begins in adolescence. In Australia and the Netherlands, cannabis use is understood and legislated within a harm-minimisation framework. In Australia it is illegal to purchase or consume cannabis. Cannabis use in the Netherlands is illegal, except in licensed coffee shops where the sale and consumption of small amounts (5 g) are permitted. Secondary school aged children in Victoria, Australia and the Netherlands were surveyed using the same culturally adapted questionnaire, designed to measure community rates of substance use and risk factors. Youth cannabis use and predictors of use were compared between the two countries. Similar levels of cannabis use in the last month were reported in Australia and the Netherlands (4.5%), with slightly lower use amongst girls, compared to boys. Common predictors of use were found in both the Australian and Netherlands s le. The findings suggest that interventions that effectively target similar risk factors to reduce or prevent cannabis use may have applications cross-nationally.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 05-2012
DOI: 10.1037/A0026397
Abstract: Approximately 4.5 million Australians are involved in community sports clubs. A high level of alcohol consumption tends to be commonplace in this setting. The only program of its type in the world, the Good Sports program was designed to reduce harmful alcohol consumption in these Australian community sports clubs. The program offers a staged accreditation process to encourage the implementation of alcohol harm-reduction strategies. We conducted a postintervention adoption study to evaluate whether community sports club accreditation through the Good Sports program was associated with lower rates of alcohol consumption. We examined alcohol consumption rates in 113 clubs (N = 1,968 participants) and compared these to consumption rates in the general community. We hypothesized that members of clubs with more advanced implementation of the Good Sports accreditation program (Stage Two) would consume less alcohol than those with less advanced implementation (Stage One). Multilevel modeling (MLM) indicated that on days when teams competed, Stage Two club members consumed 19% less alcohol than Stage One club members. MLM also indicated that the length of time a club had been in the Good Sports program was associated with reduced rates of weekly drinking that exceeded Australian short-term risky drinking guidelines. However consumption rates for all clubs were still higher than the general community. Higher accreditation stage also predicted reduced long-term risky drinking by club members. Our findings suggest that community sports clubs show evidence of higher levels of alcohol consumption and higher rates of risky consumption than the general community. Implementation of the Good Sports accreditation strategy was associated with lower alcohol consumption in these settings.
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1155/2012/235646
Abstract: Background . This paper presents findings derived from consumer feedback, following a multicentre randomised controlled trial for adolescent mental health problems and substance misuse. The paper focuses on the implementation of a family-based intervention, including fidelity of delivery, family members’ experiences, and their suggestions for program improvements. Methods . Qualitative and quantitative data ( n = 21 ) were drawn from the Deakin Family Options trial consumer focus groups, which occurred six months after the completion of the trial. Consumer focus groups were held in both metropolitan and regional locations in Victoria, Australia. Findings . Overall reductions in parental isolation, increases in parental self-care, and increased separation/in iduation were the key therapeutic features of the intervention. Sharing family experiences with other parents was a key supportive factor, which improved parenting confidence and efficacy and potentially reduced family conflict. Consumer feedback also led to further development of the intervention, with a greater focus on aiding parents to engage adolescents in services and addressing family factors related to adolescent’s mood and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions . Participant feedback provides valuable qualitative data, to monitor the fidelity of treatment implementation within a trial, to confirm predictions about the effective mechanisms of an intervention, and to inform the development of new interventions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-10-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S10802-011-9577-4
Abstract: School connectedness is central to the long term well-being of adolescents, and high quality parent-child relationships facilitate school connectedness. This study examined the extent to which family relationship quality is associated with the school connectedness of pre- and early teenagers, and how this association varies with adolescent involvement in peer drinking networks. The s le consisted of 7,372 10-14 year olds recruited from 231 schools in 30 Australian communities. Participants completed the Communities that Care youth survey. A multi-level model of school connectedness was used, with a random term for school-level variation. Key independent variables included family relationship quality, peer drinking networks, and school grade. Control variables included child gender, sensation seeking, depression, child alcohol use, parent education, and language spoken at home. For grade 6 students, the association of family relationship quality and school connectedness was lower when peer drinking networks were present, and this effect was nonsignificant for older (grade 8) students. Post hoc analyses indicated that the effect for family relationship quality on school connectedness was nonsignificant when adolescents in grade 6 reported that the majority of friends consumed alcohol. The results point to the importance of family-school partnerships in early intervention and prevention.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-06-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.14263
Abstract: Studies have linked adolescent alcohol use with adverse consequences in adulthood, yet it is unclear how strong the associations are and to what extent they may be due to confounding. Our aim was to estimate the strength of association between different patterns of adolescent drinking and longer-term psychosocial harms taking into account in idual, family and peer factors. Participant-level data were integrated from four long-running longitudinal studies: Australian Temperament Project, Christchurch Health and Development Study, Mater Hospital and University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy and Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study. Australia and New Zealand. Participants were assessed on multiple occasions between ages 13 and 30 years (from 1991 to 2012). Number of participants varied (up to n = 9453) by analysis. Three patterns of alcohol use (frequent, heavy episodic and problem drinking) were assessed prior to age 17. Thirty outcomes were assessed to age 30 spanning substance use and related problems, antisocial behaviour, sexual risk-taking, accidents, socio-economic functioning, mental health and partner relationships. After covariate adjustment, weekly drinking prior to age 17 was associated with a two- to threefold increase in the odds of binge drinking [odds ratio (OR) = 2.14 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.57-2.90], drink driving (OR = 2.78 95% CI = 1.84-4.19), alcohol-related problems (OR = 3.04 95% CI = 1.90-4.84) and alcohol dependence (OR = 3.30 95% CI = 1.69-6.47) in adulthood. Frequency of drinking accounted for a greater proportion of the rate of most adverse outcomes than the other measures of alcohol use. Associations between frequent, heavy episodic and problem drinking in adolescence and most non-alcohol outcomes were largely explained by shared risk factors for adolescent alcohol use and poor psychosocial functioning. Frequency of adolescent drinking predicts substance use problems in adulthood as much as, and possibly more than, heavy episodic and problem drinking independent of in idual, family and peer predictors of those outcomes.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2011
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 19-02-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-03-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S10943-022-01515-7
Abstract: This study examined associations between school sector (Government, Catholic or Independent) and depressive symptomology over the secondary school years. Six waves of data collected annually from a representative Australian s le were examined. Multilevel piecewise linear and logistic regression controlling for a variety of demographic variables and protective factors was undertaken. In all sectors, depressive symptomology decreased between 10 and 13 years of age, but significantly increased for girls at age 13. Adolescents in Catholic schools reported significantly fewer symptoms of depression compared to those in Government and Independent schools. Adolescents in Catholic schools were less likely to report clinical levels of depressed mood compared to adolescents in Government schools.
Publisher: AMPCo
Date: 06-2014
DOI: 10.5694/MJA13.10465
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-11-2016
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-2007
Abstract: Some extant theory and empirical research suggests that youth problem behaviors, such as substance abuse and delinquency, reflect a single underlying dimension of behavior, whereas others suggest there are several different dimensions. Few studies have examined potential international differences in the structure of problem behavior, where cultural and policy differences may create more variation in behavior and different structures. This study explored the structure of problem behavior in two representative s les of youth (ages 12-17) from Maine and Oregon in the United States (N = 33,066) and Victoria, Australia (N = 8,500). The authors examined the degree to which data from the two countries produce similar model structures using indicators of problem behavior. Results show that the data are best represented by two factors, substance use and delinquency, and there appear to be more similarities than differences in the models across countries. Implications for understanding problem behavior across cultural and developmental groups and practical and policy implications are discussed.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 31-05-2007
Abstract: This article compares prevalence estimates of substance use and delinquent behavior in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia, two states chosen for their different policy environments around problem behavior. Few comparisons of international differences on rates of multiple problem behavior exist, and most are based on methods that are not matched, raising the question of whether findings are based on methodological differences rather than actual rate differences. The International Youth Development Study used standardized methods to recruit and administer an adaptation of the Communities That Care Youth Survey to representative state s les of fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students in each state. Rates of delinquent behavior were generally comparable. However, striking differences in substance use were noted, with Victoria students reporting higher rates of alcohol use, alcohol misuse, smoking, and inhalant use, whereas Washington State students reported higher rates of marijuana use. Implications for conducting international comparisons are discussed.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-01-2020
No related organisations have been discovered for John Toumbourou.
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