Nurturing families: One year pilot outcomes for a modified Parent Child Assistance Program in Australia.

Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) exposure during pregnancy is linked to serious adverse child outcomes, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) supports women with problematic AOD use, who are pregnant or have young children, and are not effectively engaging with services. PCAP has been shown to reduce alcohol exposed pregnancies, promote AOD abstinence, increase employment and family planning and improve child outcomes.

It takes a village: Influencing policy and practice to prevent alcohol use in pregnancy and promote better outcomes for individuals living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by exposure to alcohol in utero. It has pervasive, lifelong impacts and is recognised as a major public health concern in many countries where alcohol is used. The FASD Research Australia Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council to generate and translate evidence to address prevention, diagnosis, and management of FASD in Australia.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders screening tools: A systematic review.

Background: Screening facilitates the early identification of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and prevalence estimation of FASD for timely prevention, diagnostic, and management planning. However, little is known about FASD screening tools.

Aims: The aims of this systematic review are to identify FASD screening tools and examine their performance characteristics.

Ear Abnormalities Among Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To systematically review and conduct meta-analysis on studies that report the type and prevalence of functional and structural ear abnormalities among children with prenatal alcohol exposure and/or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

Study Design: MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ERIC, CINAHL, and Maternity and Infant Care were searched from 1806 through March 2021. Reference lists of relevant articles were manually searched.

Oral and written communication skills of adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) compared with those with no/low PAE: A systematic review.

Background: Prenatal 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. Adolescence is a critical time for development, supporting the transition into adulthood, but it is considered a high-risk period for those with FASD.

The oral and written narrative language skills of adolescent students in youth detention and the impact of language disorder.

Background: Unmet language and literacy needs are common among young people who are involved with youth justice systems. However, there is limited research regarding the functional text-level language skills of this population with regard to narrative macrostructure (story grammar) and microstructure (semantics and syntax) elements.

Methods: In this study, we examined macrostructure and microstructure elements in the oral and written narrative texts of 24 adolescent students of a youth detention centre.

Emergency Department Presentations by Children in Remote Australia: A Population-based Study.

Aboriginal leaders invited us to examine the frequency and reasons for emergency department (ED) presentations by children in remote Western Australia, where Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (PAE) is common. . ED presentations (2007-11 inclusive) were examined for all children born in the Fitzroy Valley in 2002-03.

Early Motor Function of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Context: Early motor impairments have been reported in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), but it is not clear if early detection of motor impairments can identify children at risk for NDD or how early such impairments might be detected.

Objective: To characterize early motor function in children later diagnosed with NDD relative to typically developing children or normative data.

Data Sources: The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus electronic databases were searched.

: Evaluation of a training intervention to increase capacity in managing detained youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and neurodevelopmental impairments.

The first study to investigate the prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) within an Australian juvenile detention centre has identified the highest known prevalence of FASD among a justice-involved population worldwide. However, there has been limited investigation into the capacity of the custodial workforce to identify and manage young people in Australian detention centres with FASD or other neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI), and no published interventions aiming to develop environments appropriate for those with FASD in justice settings. Using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication checklist, this study describes the conception, implementation and evaluation of a training intervention aiming to upskill the custodial workforce in the management of youth with FASD and NDI; 117 staff participated in the intervention, and 109 completed pre- and post-intervention surveys.

School-based intervention to address self-regulation and executive functioning in children attending primary schools in remote Australian Aboriginal communities.

Executive functioning and self-regulation influence a range of outcomes across the life course including physical and mental health, educational success, and employment. Children prenatally exposed to alcohol or early life trauma (ELT) are at higher risk of impairment of these skills and may require intervention to address self-regulation deficits. Researchers partnered with the local Aboriginal health organization and schools to develop and pilot a manualized version of the Alert Program® in the Fitzroy Valley, north Western Australia, a region with documented high rates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and ELT.

'That thing in his head': Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australian caregiver responses to neurodevelopmental disability diagnoses.

Little is known about the significance of cultural differences to how caregivers receive a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disability. As part of a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder prevalence study among sentenced, detained youth, our qualitative study explored the experiences of diagnostic assessment among detained young people and their caregivers. We present findings from the perspectives of caregivers.

Disability "In-Justice": The Benefits and Challenges of "Yarning" With Young People Undergoing Diagnostic Assessment for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in a Youth Detention Center.

Undertaking research with young people presents an array of methodological challenges. We report the findings from a qualitative study that took place alongside a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) prevalence study among detainees in Australia. Of 38 participants, 27 were Aboriginal youth.

The Representativeness of Participants With Severe Mental Illness in a Psychosocial Clinical Trial.

Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are increased in severe mental illnesses (SMI). Trials of psychosocial health interventions to improve physical health in SMI, including in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, have shown some benefit. However, the representativeness of participants in such trials has not been determined.

Challenges in Accurately Assessing Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in a Study of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in a Youth Detention Center.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can result in permanent disability, including physical, neurodevelopmental, and cognitive impairments, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Individuals with FASD are more likely to engage with the law, including being placed in detention, than individuals without FASD. Young people who were sentenced to detention participated in a FASD prevalence study in Western Australia.

Language diversity, language disorder, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder among youth sentenced to detention in Western Australia.

Background: While studies confirm high prevalence of language disorder among justice-involved young people, little is known about the impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) on language among this population. It is also not clear how language skills vary according to language diversity in Australian youth justice settings, where a disproportionate number of justice-involved youth are Aboriginal and may not speak Standard Australian English (SAE) as their first language. Language skills are important to understand, as language disorder and language difference can lead to a mismatch between the communication skills of a young person and the communication skills of the justice workforce with whom they are communicating.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD): Knowledge, attitudes, experiences and practices of the Western Australian youth custodial workforce.

Background: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a condition caused by prenatal alcohol exposure and characterised by lifelong physical, behavioural and cognitive abnormalities. Primary disabilities, such as impairment in memory, attention, cognition, language, executive function, and adaptive function, can lead to young people with FASD becoming engaged with the justice system. Little is known about the extent of FASD in youth detention in Australia, or of the capacity custodial staff have to manage and support young people with FASD.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and youth justice: a prevalence study among young people sentenced to detention in Western Australia.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) among young people in youth detention in Australia. Neurodevelopmental impairments due to FASD can predispose young people to engagement with the law. Canadian studies identified FASD in 11%-23% of young people in corrective services, but there are no data for Australia.

Pediatric hospital admissions in Indigenous children: a population-based study in remote Australia.

Background: We analysed hospital admissions of a predominantly Aboriginal cohort of children in the remote Fitzroy Valley in Western Australia during the first 7 years of life.

Methods: All children born between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2003 and living in the Fitzroy Valley in 2009-2010 were eligible to participate in the Lililwan Project. Of 134 eligible children, 127 (95%) completed Stage 1 (interviews of caregivers and medical record review) in 2011 and comprised our cohort.

Fine motor skills in a population of children in remote Australia with high levels of prenatal alcohol exposure and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Many children in the remote Fitzroy Valley region of Western Australia have prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). Individuals with PAE can have neurodevelopmental impairments and be diagnosed with one of several types of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Fine motor skills can be impaired by PAE, but no studies have developed a comprehensive profile of fine motor skills in a population-based cohort of children with FASD.

Prevalence and profile of Neurodevelopment and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) amongst Australian Aboriginal children living in remote communities.

Background: Despite multiple risk factors for neurodevelopmental vulnerability, few studies have assessed neurodevelopmental performance of Australian Aboriginal children. An important risk factor for neurodevelopmental vulnerability is prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), which places children at risk for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

Aims: This study assesses neurodevelopment outcomes in a population of Australian Aboriginal children with and without PAE.

Graphomotor skills in children with prenatal alcohol exposure and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: A population-based study in remote Australia.

Background/aim: Few studies have examined graphomotor skills in children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

Methods: Graphomotor skills were assessed in 108 predominantly Australian Aboriginal children aged 7.5-9.

Gross motor performance in children prenatally exposed to alcohol and living in remote Australia.

Aim: This study aimed to determine the gross motor (GM) performance of Aboriginal children living in remote Australia. The relationship between GM skills, prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) was explored.

Methods: A population-based observation study was conducted in 2011 to assess motor performance in children living in the Fitzroy Valley, Western Australia, using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2).

Study protocol for screening and diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) among young people sentenced to detention in Western Australia.

Introduction: Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause lifelong disability, including physical, cognitive and behavioural deficits, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Among individuals with FASD, engagement with justice services is common. Little is known about the prevalence of FASD among young people engaged with the Australian justice system.

Visual-motor integration, visual perception, and fine motor coordination in a population of children with high levels of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Visual-motor integration (VMI) skills are essential for successful academic performance, but to date no studies have assessed these skills in a population-based cohort of Australian Aboriginal children who, like many children in other remote, disadvantaged communities, consistently underperform academically. Furthermore, many children in remote areas of Australia have prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), which are often associated with VMI deficits.

Methods: VMI, visual perception, and fine motor coordination were assessed using The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, including its associated subtests of Visual Perception and Fine Motor Coordination, in a cohort of predominantly Australian Aboriginal children (7.