Short articles

This article presents a summary of the findings reported in 'Latent profiles of early developmental vulnerabilities in a NSW child cohort at age 5 years' (2018) and 'Early developmental risk for subsequent childhood mental disorders in an Australian population cohort' (2018).

Over the past 20 years, Australia has emerged as a leader in campaigns that have focused on increasing mental health literacy, particularly for adult/adolescent depression and anxiety disorders. But what about child mental health literacy, which refers to adult knowledge and beliefs about mental health problems for children under 12 years of age? Aside from the recent work of the Emerging Minds: National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health (NWCCMH) and beyondblue's BeYou initiative, there has been a noticeable lack of focus on child mental health literacy both in Australia and internationally.

This short article has been adapted from the longer research paper recently published in the Journal of Affective Disorders: ‘Depression literacy and stigma influence how parents perceive and respond to adolescent depressive symptoms.’ The paper reported the findings of an Australian study that surveyed 440 parents of adolescents.

Attachment security is known to play an important role in children's development. The role of Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) professionals is to enhance the development and wellbeing of children with a disability.2 However, little is known about the knowledge, views or practice of ECI professionals regarding attachment.

This article highlights the key findings and resources of the project titled Invisible Practices: Intervention with fathers who use violence. The project aimed to increase the capacity of practitioners to work with fathers who use violence, and to develop evidence-based principles and practice guidelines for practitioners and organisations.

This short article has been adapted from a paper: ‘Does a perinatal infant mental health team hold the family in mind? Opportunities and challenges for working systemically in this specialised field’, based on a small, qualitative study of perinatal infant mental health clinicians, that was recently published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapists.

Are there sub-groups of children with similarities in the development of depressive symptoms? And, if there are, could this be a basis for early intervention and prevention of depressive symptoms? This short article is based on the longer paper ‘ Longitudinal trajectories of child and adolescent depressive symptoms and their predictors – a systematic review and meta- analysis’.

Despite the significance of psychological distress in parents, it is an under-investigated area. It is also very rarely a main focus of child or family mental health interventions or services, despite evidence that parents with children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties typically have higher levels of psychological distress. To answer some of these important questions an online survey of over 2,000 Australian parents of 4–14-year-old children was carried out.

Given that adolescence is a high-risk time for the development of mental health and substance use disorders, with half of all lifetime mental disorders commencing by the age of 14 years, such initiatives are to be applauded. What has been less well researched and understood is the mental health and service needs of younger children, particularly those aged under 12 years.

Children in out-of-home care in Australia are up to four times more likely to experience problems with mental health than their mainstream peers. Carers have emerged as powerful agents of change for these children. The quality of day-to-day care that children receive from foster and kinship carers and the nature of the caring environment are major factors influencing their mental health and wellbeing.

This short article looks at how child abuse prevention can be achieved through a positively-oriented approach to child wellbeing. The key premise is that safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments are essential to prevent child abuse and neglect, and to ensure all children reach their full potential.

This short article is part of a series highlighting upcoming presentations at the Australian Institute of Family Studies 2018 Conference that focus on child mental health or children at risk of experiencing mental health difficulties.