Search

Autistic children experience a high rate of sleep problems, which have been associated with maternal mental health difficulties. However, the directionality of these relationships has received little attention. The extent to which children's sleep problems influence maternal mental health difficulties and vice versa remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the bidirectional relationships between the sleep problems of autistic children and maternal mental health difficulties over 12 years. Six biennial waves of longitudinal data from when children were 4 to 5 years old were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The sample comprised 397 child-mother dyads. Maternal mental health was assessed with the Kessler-6, while sleep problems were assessed through a series of questions relating to common sleep problems in children. The results demonstrated significant bidirectional effects between maternal mental health and child sleep problems at key developmental transition time points. Specifically, when children transitioned from preschool to primary school and again when the children transitioned from primary school to high school. These findings highlight the need for increased support for both the child and mother at these critical time points to reduce the negative impact of maternal psychological distress on child sleep problems and vice versa.

The study characterised differences in costs associated with raising a child between four rare disorders and examined the associations between these costs with clinical severity. Caregivers of 108 individuals with Prader-Willi, Angelman (AS), Chromosome 15q Duplication and fragile X (FXS) syndromes completed a modified Client Services Receipt Inventory and participants completed intellectual/developmental functioning and autism assessments. AS incurred the highest yearly costs per individual ($AUD96,994), while FXS had the lowest costs ($AUD33,221). Intellectual functioning negatively predicted total costs, after controlling for diagnosis. The effect of intellectual functioning on total costs for those with AS was significantly different to the other syndromes. The study highlights the significant costs associated with these syndromes, particularly AS, linked with severity of intellectual functioning.

Housing influences life chances and trajectories through many roles, differently and in relation to the socioeconomic characteristics of people and population groups. This article uses the concept – 'housing niches' to present an alternative, bottom-up, plural and bundled view of housing and advantage. Using a large, representative sample of an Australian rental population (the Australian Rental Housing Conditions Dataset [ARHCD]), our analysis describes housing as multidimensional, bound across other aspects of people's lives. Understanding advantage requires methodologies that capture risk as cumulative, mediated by multilevel social processes that expose and select particular populations to particular residential environments that contribute to people's multiple disadvantage. Housing niches compel research and debate on comprehensive housing policy as not only necessary, but to have an imperative of cumulative risk and more broadly, inequality and poverty reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The given document is a final report of a research project titled "Disruption in regional housing: Policy responses for more resilient markets." It examines housing trends and supply processes in rural and regional areas of Australia, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report highlights challenges such as shortages of land for development and workforce shortages that continue to affect housing supply. It includes case studies and insights from policy makers, emphasizing the need for support for community housing providers and place-based policies. The report suggests various policy responses, including utilizing existing programs, implementing direct government action, and implementing place-based policies. It emphasizes the importance of addressing housing challenges in regional areas to prevent further pressure on metropolitan housing markets. The report also discusses the findings of a quantitative research project on regional housing markets in Australia, identifying six clusters of housing markets with their own characteristics and challenges. It emphasizes the need for tailored policy responses to address the specific challenges faced by each housing cluster. The report further discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing supply and highlights resource limitations as a barrier to affordable housing supply in regional Australia. It provides case studies of regional housing markets and highlights the challenges faced by smaller communities and those located far from major cities. The report also discusses the housing challenges and pressures faced by specific regions in Australia, such as Dubbo, Bendigo, and Murray Bridge. It suggests that addressing these challenges will require coordination between government agencies and flexible funding. The report concludes by discussing the outcomes of an investigative panel and [Extracted from the article]

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted people’s mental health and wellbeing. Using a national dataset of >11,000 Australians collected before and during the first two years of the pandemic, this study examines housing and mental health effects of COVID-19, and the extent to which access to government income support (social security measures, crisis payments and wage subsidy), early superannuation withdrawal, mortgage and rent relief, and tenant eviction moratoriums offered protection. Results show that the mental health gap between private rental and more secure housing tenures and between good- and poor-quality housing widened during the pandemic. Government income support provided a social safety net and was important in buffering housing instability especially when strong eviction moratoriums were lacking. Mortgage relief measures were associated significantly lower risks of housing affordability stress. Strong eviction moratoriums were effective in reducing risks of residential instability and forced moves. The pandemic exposed health vulnerabilities generated from people’s housing circumstances, reinforcing the need for public policies to address these social inequities to improve health and wellbeing. Findings emphasise the importance of tenure security, housing quality and enforcement of rental market interventions during disasters and identify the benefits of policies providing income support and strong eviction protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing inequality is far more than a housing matter. To discover how housing inequality has been used across disciplines, and how this may inform future housing research, we performed a systematic scoping review. We found that housing inequality provides multiple understandings as well as a variety of uses, for example, as a measurement tool, a conceptual device, or as subject matter. To draw together useful lessons from this conceptually diverse body of work, we identify four principle uses of 'housing inequality' in the literature – an outcome, an experience, a product, and a construct. These four framings offer a level of conceptual clarity for thinking about, and researching, the different expressions of housing inequality. It contributes to housing research by providing an approach for taking into account the multiple and complex roles of housing, and its distribution and impacts across society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines changing trends in housing affordability in the Netherlands and its link to mental health across tenures and age cohorts. Using the LISS panel dataset over 11 years (2008 to 2019), we assess trends in the prevalence of unaffordable housing and subsequently examine its relationship with psychological wellbeing based on 'Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5)' responses. Our research shows a clear overall increase in the experience of unaffordable housing. Increases are, however, starkly differentiated by tenure and age, occurring almost entirely within the rental sector and disproportionately affecting younger adults. We also find a clear link between living in housing that is unaffordable and poorer mental health scores, and this association is particularly strong among renters and younger people. The results underscore how changes in housing systems have intensified housing precarity, specifically within the rental sector, and reveal how this may contribute to worsening mental health at the population level and shape tenure-based health inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]