Reports and Findings

Research

Strong evidence supports our current understandings of student bullying behaviours and ways schools can prevent and respond effectively to bullying behaviour. In the late 1990’s, however, little was understood about the most effective ways to reduce bullying in Australian schools. In response to schools’ need for evidence-informed action, a pipeline of research called Friendly Schools was initiated in 1999 which for the past twenty years, has provided robust whole-school evidence-based knowledge and skills to support policy makers, school staff and other practitioners working in schools and families across Australia.

Research

Emerging research suggests that maternal immune activation (MIA) may be associated with an increased risk of adverse neurodevelopmental and mental health outcomes in offspring. Using data from the Raine Study, we investigated whether MIA during pregnancy was associated with increased behavioral and emotional problems in offspring longitudinally across development.

Research

Children have a universal right to live free from exposure to family and domestic violence (FDV). Children exposed to FDV can experience long-term effects on their physical and psychological health and their social competencies including social, emotional, and cognitive skills and behaviours that underpin successful social adaptation and academic achievement. The aim of this study was to investigate if children exposed to FDV were more likely to be vulnerable on school readiness measures compared to those children who were not exposed.

Research

There is a paucity of data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Malawi. Here we present a study of AMR of extended-spectrum β-lactamases-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) isolated from hospital and community settings in Blantyre, Malawi.

Research

Research on psychological flow is well established, although criticisms remain regarding conceptual and measurement issues associated with the construct. This scoping review maps flow-related research across scientific disciplines, examining the conceptualization, measurement instruments, and outcomes of flow between 2012 and 2019. Across 236 sources that met the review criteria, 108 different flow-related constructs were measured by 141 instruments, and 84 possible antecedents were identified.

Research

Diabetes distress, self-efficacy and health literacy are associated with diabetes self-management and health outcomes. Measures of coping styles and their impact on diabetes self-management and diabetes-related distress may add value in identifying those at risk of poorer health outcomes. Current evidence of associations between psychological flexibility/inflexibility and diabetes related health outcomes is limited.

Research

Despite education about the risks of excessive sun exposure, teenagers in Australia are sun-seeking, with sunburn common in summer. Conversely, some regular (time-limited) exposure to sunlight (that avoids sunburn) is necessary for vitamin D and healthy bones and other molecules important for immune and metabolic health. New interventions are thus required to better support teenagers to make healthy and balanced decisions about their sun behaviors.

Research

The potential of using an electroencephalogram (EEG) to detect hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes has been investigated in both time and frequency domains. Under hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamp conditions, we have shown that the brain's response to hypoglycemic episodes could be described by the centroid frequency and spectral gyration radius evaluated from spectral moments of EEG signals.

Research

Nick Gottardo MBChB FRACP PhD Head of Paediatric and Adolescent Oncology and Haematology, Perth Children’s Hospital; Co-head, Brain Tumour Research Program, The Kids Research Institute Australia nicholas.gottardo@thekids.org.au Head of Paediatric

Research

This study describes predictors of pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage and density in Fiji. We used data from four annual cross-sectional surveys, pre- and post-introduction of ten-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in October 2012.