Emotional symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers in childhood: Associations in two Australian birth cohorts.

Background: An increasing body of evidence supports associations between inflammation and mental health difficulties, but the onset and directionality of these relationships are unclear.

Methods: Data sources: Barwon Infant Study (BIS; n = 500 4-year-olds) and Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; n = 1099 10-13-year-olds).

Measures: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire emotional symptoms at 4, 10-11 and 12-13 years, and circulating levels of two inflammatory biomarkers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA), at 4 and 11-12 years.

The maternal health study: Study design update for a prospective cohort of first-time mothers and their firstborn children from birth to age ten.

Background: Maternal health is critical to the health and well-being of children and families, but is rarely the primary focus of pregnancy and birth cohort studies. Globally, poor maternal health and the exposure of women and children to family violence contribute to the perpetuation and persistence of intergenerational health inequalities.

Objectives: The Maternal Health Study was designed to investigate the contribution of social and obstetric risk factors to common maternal physical and psychological morbidities.

Intimate partner violence and child outcomes at age 10: a pregnancy cohort.

Objective: Assess the mental health, physical health, cognitive and language development of 10-year old children in families where mothers have reported intimate partner violence (IPV) compared with children with no reported IPV exposure.

Design: Prospective pregnancy cohort. Maternal report of IPV (Composite Abuse Scale) at 1, 4 and 10 years.

The relationship between language difficulties, psychosocial difficulties and speech-language pathology service access in the community.

Background: A range of factors may impact whether children access speech-language pathology (SLP) services, beyond their communication difficulties. For instance, co-occurring psychosocial difficulties may amplify children's observable difficulties, leading to greater access. It is important to examine such associations because they may reflect inherent differences between children with language difficulties who access services and those who do not, indicating under-servicing for subgroups in the community.

Infant Regulation: Associations with Child Language Development in a Longitudinal Cohort.

Objective: To determine whether infants who have regulatory problems (eg, sleeping, crying, and feeding problems) at 1 year of age are at increased risk of experiencing language difficulties at ages 5 and 11 years, compared with settled infants.

Study Design: Parent survey and child assessment data (n = 1131) were drawn from a longitudinal community cohort study. Latent Class Analysis identified 5 profiles of infant regulation including those who were settled (37%), had tantrums (21%), had sleep problems (25%), were moderately unsettled (13%), and severely unsettled (3%) at 12 months of age.

Predictors in Infancy for Language and Academic Outcomes at 11 Years.

Objectives: To examine the contribution of early life factors and preschool- and school-aged language abilities to children's 11-year language and academic outcomes.

Methods: Participants ( = 839) were from a prospective community cohort study of 1910 infants recruited at 8 to 10 months of age. Early life factors included a combination of child (prematurity, birth weight), family (socioeconomic disadvantage, family history of language difficulties), and maternal factors (education, vocabulary, and age).

Children's language abilities at age 10 and exposure to intimate partner violence in early childhood: Results of an Australian prospective pregnancy cohort study.

Background: Approximately one in four children in Australia have mothers who experience intimate partner violence (IPV). These children are at risk of poor mental health. Less is known about their language outcomes, despite evidence that childhood adversity threatens neurodevelopment, and the home environment effects language development.

Intimate partner violence, maternal depression, and pathways to children's language ability at 10 years.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) between parents is associated with poorer child language development. This study aimed to examine pathways from IPV and maternal depressive symptoms in children's 1st year to language skills at 10 years. Pathways were examined via IPV, maternal depressive symptoms, and maternal involvement in home learning activities (e.

Infant sleep and child mental health: a longitudinal investigation.

Objective: To determine whether infants with severe persistent sleep problems are at increased risk of (1) meeting diagnostic criteria for a psychiatric disorder (age 10 years), and (2) having elevated symptoms of mental health difficulties (ages 4 and 10 years), in comparison with infants with settled sleep.

Design And Setting: Prospective longitudinal community cohort study-the Maternal Health Study. Mothers completed questionnaires/interviews at 15 weeks' gestation; 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post partum; and when their child turned 4 and 10 years old.

Prevalence and features of comorbid stuttering and speech sound disorder at age 4 years.

Background: Stuttering and speech sound disorder may co-occur during early childhood, although the exact rate of comorbidity in a community-cohort sample remains unknown. In isolation, both disorders have the potential for long-term negative effects. Comorbidity rates of 16%-46% reported in previous studies were based on parent report, speech-language therapist surveys, case file audits or direct observation studies from clinical samples.

The development and validation of the Short Language Measure (SLaM): A brief measure of general language ability for children in their first year at school.

Background: There is no sufficiently accurate short-language measure that could be used by speech-language pathologists, teachers or paraprofessionals to screen young school-aged children to identify those requiring in-depth language evaluations. This may be due to poor development of the available measures, which have omitted crucial test development steps. Applying more stringent development procedures could result in a measure with sufficient accuracy.

Profiles and Predictors of Infant Sleep Problems Across the First Year.

Objective: To identify profiles and predictors of maternal-reported infant sleep problems across the first postnatal year.

Methods: Survey data examining maternal mental and physical health, intimate partner violence (IPV), and infant sleep problems and night waking were gathered from a cohort of 1,460 nulliparous women at 15 weeks' gestation and when their infants were 3, 6, 9, and 12 months old.

Results: Latent class analysis revealed 5 profiles of infant sleep problems, including those who had few problems (24.

Infant Regulation and Child Mental Health Concerns: A Longitudinal Study.

Unlabelled: : media-1vid110.1542/5984232215001PEDS-VA_2018-0977 OBJECTIVES: To examine profiles of infant regulatory behaviors and associated family characteristics in a community sample of 12-month-old infants and mental health difficulties at 5 and 11 years of age.

Methods: Items relating to demographic characteristics, maternal distress, and infant regulation were completed by 1759 mothers when their infants were 8 to 12 months old.

Prevalence, comorbidity and factors associated with sleeping, crying and feeding problems at 1 month of age: A community-based survey.

Aim: To examine, in a community cohort of healthy one-month-old infants, (i) the prevalence of early infant sleeping, crying and feeding problems; (ii) the extent to which they co-exist; and (iii) infant and mother characteristics associated with each problem alone and with comorbid problems.

Methods: A survey at 4 weeks of infant age examined the presence of infant sleeping, crying and feeding problems (yes/no); parenting self-efficacy; rating of self as a tense person; and doubts about parenting at bedtime.

Results: A total of 770 mothers (39% of those approached) with a total of 781 infants (11 twins) took part.

Behavioral Outcomes of Infant Colic in Toddlerhood: A Longitudinal Study.

Objective: To assess whether infants with colic that resolved before 6 months of age have poorer medium-term outcomes than infants without colic.

Study Design: Comparative study of 2 prospective, community-based cohorts of children aged 2-3 years in Melbourne, Australia: children from the Baby Biotics study, with previously diagnosed Wessel criteria of colic without problem crying at 6 months (True Colic Cohort), vs children from the Baby Business trial, without problem crying at 1, 4, and 6 months (No Colic Cohort). Caregiver report of child internalizing and externalizing behaviors (primary outcome), temperament, regulatory (crying/sleeping/feeding) problems, and family functioning at child age 2-3 years was collected.

Investigation of the language tasks to include in a short-language measure for children in the early school years.

Background: The inaccurate estimation of language difficulties by teachers suggests the benefit of a short-language measure that could be used to support their decisions about who requires referral to a speech-language therapist. While the literature indicates the potential for the development of a short-language measure, evidence is lacking about which combination of language tasks it should include.

Aims: To understand the number and nature of components/language tasks that should be included in a short-language measure for children in the early school years.

Subgroups in language trajectories from 4 to 11 years: the nature and predictors of stable, improving and decreasing language trajectory groups.

Background: Little is known about the nature, range and prevalence of different subgroups in language trajectories extant in a population from 4 to 11 years. This hinders strategic targeting and design of interventions, particularly targeting those whose difficulties will likely persist.

Methods: Children's language abilities from 4 to 11 years were investigated in a specialist language longitudinal community cohort (N = 1,910).

Language Outcomes at 7 Years: Early Predictors and Co-Occurring Difficulties.

Objective: To examine at 7 years the language abilities of children, the salience of early life factors and language scores as predictors of language outcome, and co-occurring difficulties METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study of 1910 infants recruited at age 8 to 10 months. Exposures included early life factors (sex, prematurity, birth weight/order, twin birth, socioeconomic status, non-English speaking background,family history of speech/language difficulties); maternal factors (mental health, vocabulary, education, and age); and child language ability at 2 and 4 years. Outcomes were 7-year standardized receptive or expressive language scores (low language: ≥1.

Depression and anger in fathers of unsettled infants: A community cohort study.

Aim: To examine the relationship between unsettled infant behaviour and fathers' depressive symptoms, cognitions surrounding infant sleep (anger, doubt), and personal sleep, in a community cohort.

Methods: Data were collected from 102 fathers of healthy infants at 4 weeks, 4 months and 6 months of age. Measures included father report of infant sleep and crying problems, depressive symptoms, cognitions about infant sleep and own sleep quality and quantity.

Health service use and costs for infant behaviour problems and maternal stress.

Aim: We aim to describe health service (HS) use in the first 6 months post-partum and to examine the associations between service costs, infant behaviour and maternal depressive symptoms.

Methods: Participants were 781 infants and mothers in Melbourne, Australia. Mothers reported infant feeding, sleeping and crying problems, depressive symptoms and health service use.

Comparison of methods for recruiting and engaging parents in online interventions: study protocol for the Cry Baby infant sleep and settling program.

Background: Anticipatory guidance around the management of sleep and crying problems in early infancy has been shown to improve both infant behaviour and parent symptoms of postnatal depression. Digital technology offers platforms for making such programs widely available in a cost-efficient manner. However, it remains unclear who accesses online parenting advice and in particular, whether the parents who would most benefit are represented amongst users.

Preventing early infant sleep and crying problems and postnatal depression: a randomized trial.

Objective: To evaluate a prevention program for infant sleep and cry problems and postnatal depression.

Methods: Randomized controlled trial with 781 infants born at 32 weeks or later in 42 well-child centers, Melbourne, Australia. Follow-up occurred at infant age 4 and 6 months.

Baby Business: a randomised controlled trial of a universal parenting program that aims to prevent early infant sleep and cry problems and associated parental depression.

Background: Infant crying and sleep problems (e.g. frequent night waking, difficulties settling to sleep) each affect up to 30% of infants and often co-exist.

Changes in long term neural connectivity following psychological trauma.

Objective: Neural connectivity differences between adults reporting childhood, adulthood or no history of trauma were examined.

Methods: A total of 39 participants completed the Post-traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS; Foa EB. Post-traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS) Manual.