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Research

Kevin Natasha Helen Runions Pearce Monks BSc (Hons) BEd MA PhD PhD (Public Health), PostGrad Dip (Health Promotion), BApp Sc MPH BA(Psych) PhD

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

Maternal stressful life events during pregnancy have been associated with immune dysregulation and increased risk for asthma and atopy in offspring. Few studies have investigated whether prenatal stress is associated with increased overall or specific infectious diseases in childhood, nor explored sex differences. We sought to examine the relationship between the nature and timing of maternal stress in pregnancy and hospitalisation with infection in offspring.

Research

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a condition caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol and characterised by severe neurodevelopmental impairment which have lifelong implications. Impairments in executive function, memory, cognition, language and attention are common, and can lead to early and repeat engagement with the criminal justice system.

Research

The 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

Cereal foods are consumed globally and are important sources of polyphenols with potential health benefits, yet dietary intakes are unclear. We aimed to calculate the dietary intakes of polyphenols from cereal foods in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study, and describe intakes by demographic and lifestyle factors.

Research

The transition to parenthood is a high-risk period for many parents and is an important period for child development. Research has identified that parental mental health, reflective functioning (capacity to consider mental states of oneself and others) and coparenting (capacity to work together well as a parenting team) may be particularly significant predictors of later child outcomes, however these factors have seldom been considered together.

Research

Studies on health insurance coverage often rely on measures self-reported by respondents, but the accuracy of such measures has not been thoroughly validated. This paper is the first to use linked Australian National Health Survey and administrative population tax data to explore the accuracy of self-reported private health insurance (PHI) coverage in survey data.

Research

Social disconnectedness and isolation are risk factors for poor mental health. Community-based friendship group interventions have been designed to increase an individual's social capital and consequently their mental wellbeing. Structured and unstructured friendship groups reflect two distinct approaches to friendship group interventions.