Short articles

A recent rapid evidence assessment (REA) conducted by the Parenting Research Centre (PRC) highlights the association between bullying experiences in the preteen years and a range of negative mental health outcomes for preteens and adolescents.

Childhood exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious global health problem, with approximately 1 in 4 children exposed to IPV throughout their childhood. This study explored what helps children to do well, despite experiencing IPV.

Connecting with other providers is an important part of improving service delivery, particularly for those in rural and remote contexts where there may be a lack of services and supervision. Project ECHO offers professionals from rural or under-served areas the chance to discuss cases with a panel of specialists through regular videoconferencing sessions, gaining advice from specialty experts as well as other peers in the network.

This short article describes how Australian parents' difficulties when juggling work and family responsibilities (referred to as 'work-family conflict') influence their relationship with their partner, their interactions with their children, and subsequently their children's mental health across childhood and adolescence.

Children look to parents and caregivers to guide them in how to behave when distressing or overwhelming events, such as bushfires and heavy smoke haze occur. As a parent or caregiver, the best support you can give your child is to be calm and reassuring, respond to their questions, keep them connected with friends and family, and take care of your own mental health and wellbeing. These general tips can help you to support your child during this challenging time.

Most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents in Australia grow and flourish in supportive family environments that enable good mental health and social development. Despite the challenges posed by discrimination, low socio-economic environments, and the historic and ongoing marginalisation of First Nations culture, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are resilient, showing positive outcomes despite the presence of adversity. This study investigated the protective factors that help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to be resilient.

Untangling the direction and nature of the relationships between peer victimisation, depression and anxiety is difficult because they often co-occur. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, this study aimed to answer several questions, including whether peer victimisation, depression and anxiety predict each other, and whether any of these domains have unique relationships with negative wellbeing outcomes.

Young children's mental health is influenced by their experiences across a wide range of settings, including home, school, and their wider community and neighbourhood environment. Features of the neighbourhood such as access to good-quality housing, parks, and local services can positively shape children's early life experiences. Researchers conducted a systematic review of international research literature, investigating how the neighbourhood-built environment relates to young children's mental health.

Up to half of all Australian children and adolescents who meet criteria for a mental health disorder receive insufficient treatment (or no treatment at all), even though effective treatments are available. Children with complex mental health conditions are particularly at risk of inadequate treatment because input is generally needed from schools and community services as well as healthcare providers.

This short article has been adapted from a paper recently published in Child and Family Social Work: ‘Cumulative harm in the child protection system: The Australian context’ (https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12621). The paper was based on a systematic literature review of how ‘cumulative harm’ is understood and operationalised within current Australian child protection legislation, policy and practice.

Evidence-based parenting interventions have been shown to have immediate and long-term positive effects on children's wellbeing. More recently, research has shown increased positive changes in children's behaviour and better parenting practices resulting from programs involving fathers as well as mothers. Yet fathers are underrepresented in services that concern child wellbeing.

This short article is a summary of the longer paper titled, ‘Testing competing mediators of the association between pre-conception maternal depression and child health-related quality of life.’