Mounting evidence finds that early life environmental factors increased the probability of autism spectrum disorder. We estimated prospective associations between early life environmental factors and autism spectrum disorder symptoms in children at the age of 2 years in a population-derived birth cohort, the Barwon Infant Study. Autism spectrum…

Young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their educational outcomes by actively engaging in their education (their 'project-of-self'), but many also take responsibility for the care of family members who have serious health concerns (their 'project-of-family'). Drawing on the concepts of responsibilisation and neoliberal governance,…

The association between aberrant behaviour and depression was examined in a sample of 150 young males with Autism Spectrum Disorder via parent ratings on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Major Depressive Disorder subscale of the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory (CASI-4-D). Although several subscales of the ABC were significantly…

Child characteristics including age, gender, risk-taking behaviour and sensation seeking are thought to influence children's ability to appraise risks. The present study investigated children's risk perceptions and appraisals in the context of common outdoor physical play activities. Risk perceptions and appraisal of four- and five-year olds were…

In typically developing children, boys are more commonly diagnosed than girls with disruptive behavior disorders, namely, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. For children with intellectual disability (ID), the evidence for this gender effect is less clear. In this report we examine gender…

It is well known that communities face high costs in the care of individuals with intellectual disability (ID). Factors that influence those costs are less well studied. This study examined the relationship between behavioral problems and the costs of caring for children with ID. Parents/family carers of 109 children with ID were surveyed using a…

Objective: This study examines the association between maternal anxiety from pregnancy to 5 years and child attention problems at 5 and 14 years. Method: Birth cohort of 3,982 individuals born in Brisbane between 1981 and 1983 are assessed. Self-reported measures of maternal anxiety are assessed at four time points. Maternal reports of child…

Following a biopsychosocial model, the study investigated the role of child factors (gender, IQ), maternal factors (psychological distress, maternal education and vocabulary, maternal distress) and environmental factors (SES) in the relationship between language impairment and behaviour problems in preschool children. Participants were drawn from…

School-age children with movement problems such as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are known to have social and emotional difficulties. However, little research has investigated younger children to determine whether these problems emerge at school age or are present earlier. The aim of the current study was to investigate the…

The Early Development Index (EDI) is a teacher-completed checklist, intended to be a population-level tool to measure children's readiness for school and to alert communities to potential developmental problems in children. In response to the increasing popularity of the EDI, this paper provides a critical and timely evaluation and identifies the…

Behavioural sleep problems (childhood insomnias) can cause distress for both parents and children. This paper reports a model describing predictors of high sleep problem scores in a representative population-based random sample survey of non-Aboriginal singleton children born in 1995 and 1996 (1085 girls and 1129 boys) in Western Australia.…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2016, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 of April to 2 of May, 2016. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and…

The aim of the study reported here was to establish whether the behavioural profiles of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) come to approximate the profile of children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) over time. The parents of 21 children with HFA and 19 children with AS, all aged between five and 11 years and matched on chronological and…

This text describes curriculum guidelines that provide a set of principles that should form the basis for curriculum decision making in early childhood centers in Australia. The guidelines also make explicit some of the social and educational values that underpin the development, implementation, and evaluation of curricula. The guidelines are…