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Playful ParentingPlayful parenting is engaging & connecting with your child through different forms of play. Play is an enjoyable activity that is freely entered into, with a goal of shared joy.
News & Events
Building a secure attachment with your childSecure attachments help children build resilience, self-worth, emotion regulation skills and healthy relationships.
Research
The orofacial, oromotor, speech, and voice characteristics of adolescents in youth detention: a comparison of groups with and without prenatal alcohol exposureLanguage disorder is highly prevalent in youth justice; however, orofacial, oromotor, speech, and voice anomalies have been largely overlooked. There has been some documentation of these among individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), and adolescents with PAE are over-represented in youth justice.
Research
Basic epidemiology of wellbeing among children and adolescents: A cross-sectional population level studyWellbeing and mental health are fundamental rights of children and adolescents essential for sustainable development. Understanding the epidemiology of child and adolescent wellbeing is essential to informing population health approaches to improving wellbeing and preventing mental illness.
Research
Oral and written communication skills of adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) compared with those with no/low PAE: A systematic reviewPrenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is associated with growth deficits and neurodevelopmental impairment including foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Difficulties with oral and written communication skills are common among children with PAE; however, less is known about how communication skills of adolescents who have PAE compare with those who do not.
Research
Sensitivity of the child behaviour checklist sleep items and convergent validity with the Sleep Disorders Scale for Children in a paediatric ADHDThe Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a commonly used measure of child and adolescent functioning, which includes seven items that can be aggregated to provide a purportedly valid measure of sleep functioning. The objective of this study was to examine the convergent validity of the CBCL in a paediatric ADHD population and to evaluate the sensitivity of the instrument when benchmarked against the Sleep Disorders Scale for Children (SDSC).
Research
Intention to Engage in Alcohol Use during Pregnancy: The Role of Attitudes and PrototypesThere is no known risk-free level of alcohol use in pregnancy. Despite this, many still believe that occasional drinking is safe. To-date, there is limited evidence of the influences on women's decisions about low to moderate alcohol use in pregnancy.
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The effectiveness of a day hospital mentalization-based therapy programme for adolescents with borderline personality traits: Findings from Touchstone—Child and Adolescent Mental Health ServiceIndividuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are at a substantial risk of harm to themselves and others, experience high levels of functional impairment and typically are high users of tertiary healthcare to address their mental health concerns. As indicators for BPD typically emerge in adolescence, a day therapy service in Bentley, Western Australia, Touchstone Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), was developed as an intensive intervention for adolescents with indicators for BPD and its associated symptomology.
Research
Associations between the human immune system and gut microbiome with neurodevelopment in the first 5 years of life: A systematic scoping reviewThe aim of this review was to map the literature assessing associations between maternal or infant immune or gut microbiome biomarkers and child neurodevelopmental outcomes within the first 5 years of life. We conducted a PRISMA-ScR compliant review of peer-reviewed, English-language journal articles.
Research
Well-being and Distress in University Students with ADHD Traits: the Mediating Roles of Self-Compassion and Emotion Regulation DifficultiesTertiary education is particularly demanding for students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who often struggle with emotion regulation and are at greater risk of internalising disorders compared to their peers. Self-compassion is a skill associated with positive mental health and adaptive emotion regulation that might support students in managing the emotional challenges of studying with ADHD.