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Objectives: To examine associations between being the subject of child protection reports in early childhood and diagnoses of mental disorders during middle childhood, by level of service response. Design, setting, participants: Retrospective analysis of linked New South Wales administrative data, 2001–2016, for a population cohort of children (mean age in 2016, 13.2 years; SD, 0.37 years) enrolled in the longitudinal NSW Child Development Study (NSW-CDS), wave 2 linkage. Main outcome measures: Associations between being the subject of a child protection report (any, and by level of child protection response) during early childhood (birth to 6 years of age) and diagnoses of mental disorders during middle childhood (6–14 years). Results: 13 796 of 74 462 children in the NSW-CDS (18.5%) had been the subjects of reports to child protection services during early childhood: 1148 children had been placed in out-of-home care at least once, and 1680 had been the subjects of substantiated risk-of- significant- harm reports but were not placed in care, while 9161 had non-substantiated reports, and 1807 had reports of facts that did not reach the threshold for significant harm. After adjusting for sex, socio-economic disadvantage, perinatal complications, and parental mental illness, early childhood contact with protection services was associated with increased frequency of being diagnosed with a mental disorder during middle childhood (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.72; 95% CI, 2.51–2.95). The frequency was highest for children who had been placed in out-of-home care (aOR, 5.25; 95% CI, 4.46–6.18). Conclusion: Childhood-onset mental disorders are more frequently diagnosed in children who come to the attention of child protection services during early childhood, particularly in children placed in out-of- home care.

Background Cross-agency administrative data can improve cost-effective triage systems for child protection and other human service delivery. Objective To determine the minimum set of cross-agency indicators that could accurately classify placement in out-of-home-care (OOHC) before age 13–14 years. Participants and setting Participants were 72,079 Australian children (mean age = 13.16 years; SD = 0.37; 51.4% male) and their parents, for whom linked administrative records spanning the years 1994–2016 were available for analysis within the ‘New South Wales Child Development Study’. Methods First, a series of logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between cross-agency (health, justice, education) risk indicators and membership of the sub-cohort of 1239 children who had an OOHC placement prior to age 13–14 years, relative to (1) the sub-cohort of 55,473 children who had no previous contact with child protection services, and (2) the sub-cohort of 15,367 children who had been reported to child protection services but had no record of OOHC placement. We then explored the classification characteristics associated with a smaller combination of risk factors, and the utility of specific familial risk factors, for classifying membership of the OOHC subgroup. Results A combination of six risk indicators evident before OOHC placement can classify children placed in OOHC with approximately 95% accuracy, and the presence of at least four of these risk indicators provides excellent specificity (99.6%). Conclusions A combination of risk factors observable in administrative datasets held by multiple government agencies may be used to target support services to prevent entry into OOHC for children from vulnerable families.

This study examined associations between maltreatment and early developmental vulnerabilities in a population sample of 68,459 children (Mage = 5.62 years, SD = .37) drawn from the Australian state of New South Wales, using linked administrative data for the children and their parents (collected 2001–2009). Associations were estimated between (a) any maltreatment, (b) the number of maltreatment types, and (c) the timing of first reported maltreatment and vulnerability and risk status on multiple developmental domains (i.e., physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and communication). Pervasive associations were revealed between maltreatment and all developmental domains; children exposed to two or more maltreatment types, and with first maltreatment reported after 3 years of age, showed greater likelihood of vulnerability on multiple domains, relative to nonmaltreated children.

Objective: Detecting the early emergence of childhood risk for adult mental disorders may lead to interventions for reducing subsequent burden of these disorders. We set out to determine classes of children who may be at risk for later mental disorder on the basis of early patterns of development in a population cohort, and associated exposures gleaned from linked administrative records obtained within the New South Wales Child Development Study. Methods: Intergenerational records from government departments of health, education, justice and child protection were linked with the Australian Early Development Census for a state population cohort of 67,353 children approximately 5 years of age. We used binary data from 16 subdomains of the Australian Early Development Census to determine classes of children with shared patterns of Australian Early Development Census–defined vulnerability using latent class analysis. Covariates, which included demographic features (sex, socioeconomic status) and exposure to child maltreatment, parental mental illness, parental criminal offending and perinatal adversities (i.e. birth complications, smoking during pregnancy, low birth weight), were examined hierarchically within latent class analysis models. Results: Four classes were identified, reflecting putative risk states for mental disorders: (1) disrespectful and aggressive/hyperactive behaviour, labelled ‘misconduct risk’ (N = 4368; 6.5%); (2) ‘pervasive risk’ (N = 2668; 4.0%); (3) ‘mild generalised risk’ (N = 7822; 11.6%); and (4) ‘no risk’ (N = 52,495; 77.9%). The odds of membership in putative risk groups (relative to the no risk group) were greater among children from backgrounds of child maltreatment, parental history of mental illness, parental history of criminal offending, socioeconomic disadvantage and perinatal adversities, with distinguishable patterns of association for some covariates. Conclusion: Patterns of early childhood developmental

The New South Wales Child Development Study (NSW-CDS) was established to enable a life course epidemiological approach to identifying risk and protective factors for childhood and adolescent-onset mental health problems, and other adverse outcomes (e.g. educational underachievement, welfare dependence, criminality). The study methodology entails repeated waves of record linkage for a population of Australian children in the state of NSW, funded by competitive funding awards (see Funding), and conducted in partnership with multiple NSW government departments. Table 1 summarizes the study phases (waves of record linkage) and measurements...

Aims: Childhood maltreatment and a family history of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) are each associated with social-emotional dysfunction in childhood. Both are also strong risk factors for adult SSDs, and social-emotional dysfunction in childhood may be an antecedent of these disorders. We used data from a large Australian population cohort to determine the independent and moderating effects of maltreatment and parental SSDs on early childhood social-emotional functioning. Methods: The New South Wales Child Development Study combines intergenerational multi-agency data using record linkage methods. Multiple measures of social-emotional functioning (social competency, prosocial/helping behaviour, anxious/fearful behaviour; aggressive behaviour, and hyperactivity/inattention) on 69 116 kindergarten children (age ~5 years) were linked with government records of child maltreatment and parental presentations to health services for SSD. Multivariable analyses investigated the association between maltreatment and social-emotional functioning, adjusting for demographic variables and parental SSD history, in the population sample and in sub-cohorts exposed and not exposed to parental SSD history. We also examined the association of parental SSD history and social-emotional functioning, adjusting for demographic variables and maltreatment. Results: Medium-sized associations were identified between maltreatment and poor social competency, aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity/inattention; small associations were revealed between maltreatment and poor prosocial/helping and anxious/fearful behaviours. These associations did not differ greatly when adjusted for parental SSD, and were greater in magnitude among children with no history of parental SSD. Small associations between parental SSD and poor social-emotional functioning remained after adjusting for demographic variables and maltreatment. Conclusions: Childhood maltreatment and histor