Perceived Workplace Discrimination on the Basis of Parent Status in Australia: Who Is Vulnerable and How Does It Link to Mothers' and Fathers' Mental Health?

This study focused on employees' perceived discrimination due to parenthood; and mental health, occupational stress and turnover intention. Methods: Survey (2016) of an Australian convenience sample of employed parents: women ( n = 2950) and men ( n = 1318). Results: Forty-two percent of all mothers reported missing out on promotion ( n = 1234/2950); one-third reported negative comments from managers ( n = 805/2950, 27%) or colleagues ( n = 832/2950, 28%).

"I didn't want to let go of the dream": Exploring women's personal stories of how their low milk supply was discovered.

Problem: Low milk supply is the most common reason women give for stopping breastfeeding early and yet there is a lack of understanding about these women's experiences.

Background: Most women plan to breastfeed but many experience challenges such as low milk production, leading them to seek help and support.

Aim: To explore women's personal stories of how their low supply was discovered.

Family Bonds with Pets and Mental Health during COVID-19 in Australia: A Complex Picture.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the health-promoting features of human-animal relationships, particularly for families with children. Despite this, the World Health Organization's (1986) Ottawa Charter remains human-centric. Given the reciprocal health impacts of human-animal relationships, this paper aims to (i) describe perceived pet-related benefits, worries, and family activities; and to (ii) examine differences in perceived benefits, worries, and activities for parents and children with and without clinical mental health symptoms.

How the mental health of working parents in Australia changed during COVID-19: A pre- to during pandemic longitudinal comparison.

Background: Cross-sectional studies indicate that mental health has deteriorated in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic, including for parents. However, robust longitudinal studies interrogating change from before to during the pandemic remain rare. The current study analysed data from Australian parents surveyed in 2016 and August 2020.

Key features of a trauma-informed public health emergency approach: A rapid review.

COVID-19 is a major threat to public safety, and emergency public health measures to protect lives (e.g., lockdown, social distancing) have caused widespread disruption.

"You Can't Replace That Feeling of Connection to Culture and Country": Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Parents' Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This Aboriginal-led study explores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents' experiences of COVID-19. 110 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents were interviewed between October 2020 and March 2022. Participants were recruited through community networks and partner health services in South Australia, Victoria, and Northern Territory, Australia.

A Culturally Responsive Trauma-Informed Public Health Emergency Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in Australia, Developed during COVID-19.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted peoples' livelihoods and mental wellbeing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia continue to experience intergenerational trauma associated with colonization and may experience trauma-related distress in response to government responses to public health emergencies. We aimed to develop a culturally responsive trauma-informed public health emergency response framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Rural primary care workforce views on trauma-informed care for parents experiencing complex trauma: A descriptive study.

Background: An important service system for rural parents experiencing complex trauma is primary health care.

Aim: To investigate workforce knowledge, attitudes and practices, and barriers and enablers to trauma-informed care in rural primary health care.

Material & Methods: This study used a descriptive, cross-sectional design.

Parent and child mental health during COVID-19 in Australia: The role of pet attachment.

Restrictions, social isolation, and uncertainty related to the global COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted the ways that parents and children maintain family routines, health, and wellbeing. Companion animals (pets) can be a critical source of comfort during traumatic experiences, although changes to family routines, such as those caused by COVID-19, can also bring about challenges like managing undesirable pet behaviours or pet-human interactions. We aimed to examine the relationship between pet attachment and mental health for both parents and their children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

Using participatory action research to co-design perinatal support strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents experiencing complex trauma.

Problem & Background: Support is important for all parents but critical for those experiencing complex trauma. The The Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future project uses participatory action research to co-design effective perinatal support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents.

Aim: This research aims to identify and refine culturally appropriate support strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents experiencing complex trauma.

Protocol for the Adaptation of a Direct Observational Measure of Parent-Child Interaction for Use With 7-8-Year-Old Children.

Objective: Parenting sensitivity and mutual parent-child attunement are key features of environments that support children's learning and development. To-date, observational measures of these constructs have focused on children aged 2-6 years and are less relevant to the more sophisticated developmental skills of children aged 7-8 years, despite parenting being equally important at these ages. We undertook a rigorous process to adapt an existing observational measure for 7-8-year-old children and their parents.

Tablet-based adaptation and administration of the Castles and Coltheart Reading Test 2 for a large longitudinal study.

Tablet-adapted measures provide an efficient, accurate method of data collection for large-scale studies. The Castles and Coltheart Reading Test 2 (CC2) is a standardized paper-and-pencil measure of children's reading ability. In the current study, the CC2 was administered to 603 children aged 7-8 years via iPad using electronic data capture software.

Modelling the early expressive communicative trajectories of infants/toddlers with early cochlear implants.

For children with normal hearing (NH), early communication skills predict vocabulary, a precursor to grammar. Growth in early communication skills of infants with cochlear implants (CIs) was investigated using the Early Communication Indicator (ECI), a play-based observation measure. Multilevel linear growth modelling on data from six ECI sessions held at three-monthly intervals revealed significant growth overall, with a non-significant slower growth rate than that of children with NH (comparison age centred at 18 months).

Recruiting fathers for parenting research using online advertising campaigns: Evidence from an Australian study.

Background: Fathers are underrepresented in parenting and child health research. Given there is a strong link between fathers' parenting behaviour and children's well-being, there is a need to find ways to engage fathers more consistently. The current short report provides information and learnings about recruiting fathers online using social media.

Ethical Considerations in Using Social Media to Engage Research Participants: Perspectives of Australian Researchers and Ethics Committee Members.

Researchers increasingly use social media (SM) to recruit, retain, and trace participants, yet empirical literature investigating the ethics of engaging participants via SM is lacking. We conducted a survey of 401 Australian researchers and human research ethics committee (HREC) members to examine their experience, attitudes, and ethical concerns toward engaging participants via SM. Data revealed that researchers and HREC members share similar concerns and attitudes about using SM in general and in research.

Using Paid and Free Facebook Methods to Recruit Australian Parents to an Online Survey: An Evaluation.

Background: The prevalence of social media makes it a potential alternative to traditional offline methods of recruiting and engaging participants in health research. Despite burgeoning use and interest, few studies have rigorously evaluated its effectiveness and feasibility in terms of recruitment rates and costs, sample representativeness, and retention.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the feasibility of using Facebook to recruit employed Australian parents to an online survey about managing work and family demands, specifically to examine (1) recruitment rates and costs; (2) sample representativeness, compared with a population-based cohort of parents; and (3) retention, including demographic and health characteristics of parents who returned to complete a follow-up survey 6 weeks later.

Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review.

Background: The internet is an increasingly popular tool in family and child research that is argued to pose new ethical challenges, yet few studies have systematically assessed the ethical issues of engaging parents and children in research online. This scoping review aims to identify and integrate evidence on the ethical issues reported when recruiting, retaining and tracing families and children in research online, and to identify ethical guidelines for internet research.

Methods: Academic literature was searched using electronic academic databases (Scopus, PsycINFO, Embase, ERIC, CINAHL and Informit) and handsearching reference lists for articles published in English between January 2006 and February 2016.

EHLS at School: school-age follow-up of the Early Home Learning Study cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Targeted interventions during early childhood can assist families in providing strong foundations that promote children's health and wellbeing across the life course. There is growing recognition that longer follow-up times are necessary to assess intervention outcomes, as effects may change as children develop. The Early Home Learning Study, or 'EHLS', comprised two cluster randomized controlled superiority trials of a brief parenting intervention, smalltalk, aimed at supporting parents to strengthen the early childhood home learning environment of infants (6-12 months) or toddlers (12-36 months).

What Influences Parental Engagement in Early Intervention? Parent, Program and Community Predictors of Enrolment, Retention and Involvement.

Poor participant engagement undermines individual and public health benefits of early intervention programs. This study assessed the extent to which three types of engagement (participant enrolment, retention and involvement) were influenced by individual, program and contextual factors. Data were from a cluster randomised controlled trial (N = 1447) of a community-based parenting program, delivered at two levels of intensity (group sessions with and without individualised home coaching) conducted in Victoria, Australia.

What Influences Parents' Fear about Children's Independent Mobility? Evidence from a State-Wide Survey of Australian Parents.

Purpose: To identify factors associated with generalized and stranger-specific parental fear (PF) about children's independent mobility (CIM), a critical aspect of physical activity.

Design: Cross-sectional survey; random sampling frame, minimum quotas of fathers, rural residents.

Setting: State of Victoria, Australia.

The Agreement between Parent-Reported and Directly Measured Child Language and Parenting Behaviors.

Parenting behaviors are commonly targeted in early interventions to improve children's language development. Accurate measurement of both parenting behaviors and children's language outcomes is thus crucial for sensitive assessment of intervention outcomes. To date, only a small number of studies have compared parent-reported and directly measured behaviors, and these have been hampered by small sample sizes and inaccurate statistical techniques, such as correlations.

Enhancing the early home learning environment through a brief group parenting intervention: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: The quality of the home learning environment has a significant influence on children's language and communication skills during the early years with children from disadvantaged families disproportionately affected. This paper describes the protocol and participant baseline characteristics of a community-based effectiveness study. It evaluates the effects of 'smalltalk', a brief group parenting intervention (with or without home coaching) on the quality of the early childhood home learning environment.