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The Causal Effect of Parent–Child Interactions on Child Language Development at 3 and 4 YearsLanguage development is critical for children's life chances. Promoting parent-child interactions is suggested as one mechanism to support language development in the early years. However, limited evidence exists for a causal effect of parent-child interactions on children's language development.
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Children arriving hungry in the first year of school: population trends in Australia from 2009 to 2021Access to adequate nutrition is a human right. In 2023, 23% of Australian households were severely food insecure, reducing food intake, skipping meals or days of eating. Food insecurity in early childhood is linked to poor health and development. Specifically, breakfast provides children with the necessary nutrients required for sustained attention, memory, and cognitive growth. Australian research has reported that one in three children aged 8–18 years regularly skip breakfast. However, there is little understanding of the prevalence of food insecurity among young children in Australia.
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Mental health profiles and academic achievement in Australian school studentsThis study explored mental health profiles in Australian school students using indicators of well-being (i.e., optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness) and psychological distress (i.e., sadness and worries). The sample included 75,757 students (ages 8-18 years) who completed the 2019 South Australian Wellbeing and Engagement Collection.
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Early childhood education quality and child development in Lao PDRGlobally, as scale up of early childhood education (ECE) continues, monitoring ECE quality is imperative to promote service aspects that drive positive outcomes for children. Monitoring of ECE quality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is scarce, limited by challenges in varied conceptualisations of quality, lack of measurement tools that reflect local culture and context, and implementation difficulties in low resource settings.
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The relationship between early adolescent cyberbullying victimization and later emotional wellbeing and academic achievementThis study addresses a knowledge gap in the literature about early adolescent cyberbullying victimization and the related positive and negative emotional wellbeing and academic achievement outcomes experienced over time.
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Review of Universal Access Funded Aboriginal Children with Hearing Impairment Support ProgramIn 2021 the South Australian Department for Education commissioned The Kids Research Institute Australia to undertake a review of the Hearing Impairment Support Program (HISP).
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Evaluation of the Positive Parenting ProgramIn 2016, the Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP) and The Kids Research Institute Australia (The Kids) were engaged to evaluate the implementation and impact of Triple P in South Australia.
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Analysis of gender differences between boys and girls in South AustraliaThe Department for Education commissioned this report to understand how such gender differences in early childhood may influence outcomes later in life.
A The Kids Research Institute Australia study has found the average six-month-old Australian baby has more than one hour of screen time each day.
Research
The Investigation of Health-Related Topics on TikTok: A Descriptive Study ProtocolThe social media application TikTok allows users to view and upload short-form videos. Recent evidence suggests it has significant potential for both industry and health promoters to influence public health behaviours. This protocol describes a standardised, replicable process for investigations that can be tailored to various areas of research interest, allowing comparison of content and features across public health topics.