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The aim of this study was to determine whether the extent of improvement in self-regulation achieved between ages 4 and 6 years is associated with the level of behavioral problems later in childhood. Participants were 4-year-old children (n = 510) attending preschools in South Australia. Children's level of self-regulation was assessed using the parent-completed Devereux Early Childhood Assessment when children were aged 4, 5, and 6. Children's level of behavioral problems was assessed using total, internalizing, and externalizing scores on parent- and teacher-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQs) when children were 6 years old. Random effects regression was used to describe the changes to children's self-regulation between 4 and 6 years. Linear regression models were then used to determine the strength of the association between the extent of self-regulation improvement and level of behavioral problems. Greater improvement in self-regulation, adjusted for family characteristics and baseline self-regulation scores, was associated with lower levels of parent- (B = -3.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-4.49, -2.65]) and teacher-rated SDQ total difficulties scores at 6 years (B = -2.42, 95% CI [-3.50, -1.34]). These effects remained after adjustment for level of parent-rated behavioral problems at 4 years. Similar effects were found for internalizing and externalizing scores at age 6 years. The results highlight the importance of improvements in self-regulation from 4-6 years for childhood behavioral problems during the early school years. Children with lower levels of improvement in self-regulation early in life are at risk for higher levels of behavioral problems both at home and at school.

Objectives: This study developed predictive models for one‐week acute and six‐month persistent pain following root canal treatment (RCT). An additional aim was to study the gain in predictive efficacy of models containing clinical factors only, over models containing sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A secondary data analysis of 708 patients who received RCTs was conducted. Three sets of predictors were used: (1) combined set, containing all predictors in the data set; (2) clinical set and (3) sociodemographic set. Missing data were handled by multiple imputation using the missing indicator method. The multilevel least absolute selection and shrinkage operator (LASSO) regression was used to select predictors into the final multilevel logistic models. Three measures, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and precision‐recall curve (AUPRC) and calibration curves, were used to assess the predictive performance of the models. Results: The selected‐in factors in the final models, using LASSO regression, are related to pre‐ and intra‐treatment clinical symptoms and pain experience. Predictive performance of the models remained the same with the inclusion (exclusion) of the socio‐demographic factors. For predicting one‐week outcome, the model built with combined set of predictors yielded the highest AUROC and AUPRC of 0.85 and 0.72, followed by the models built with clinical factors (AUROC = 0.82, AUPRC = 0.66). The lowest predictive ability was found in models with only sociodemographic characteristics (AUROC = 0.68, AUPRC = 0.40). Similar patterns were observed in predicting six‐month outcome, where the AUROC for models with combined, clinical and sociodemographic sets of predictors were 0.85, 0.89 and 0.66, respectively, and the AUPRC were 0.48, 0.53 and 0.22, respectively. Conclusions: Clinical factors such as the severity and experience of pre‐operative and intra‐operative pain were discovered important to the subsequent development of pain following RCTs. Adding sociodemographic characteristics to the models with clinical factors did not change the models' predictive performance or the proportion of explained variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phrase "best practice" is used often in student affairs, but the term lacks a common and accepted definition. This results in the implementation of programs and services that are neither grounded nor assessed. A model is proposed here that suggests a best practice process that integrates foundational student affairs documents and applies the principles of comprehensive assessment. Using this model, student affairs professionals can develop, implement, and improve programs and services to impact students and the profession. (Contains 2 figures.)

While there is some evidence of long-term social benefits from early childhood educational interventions conducted in socially disadvantaged populations in the USA, there is limited evidence of similar benefits in different populations and countries. This study examined a range of social outcomes of adults aged 34-67 years who, between 1940 and 1972, attended a Kindergarten Union preschool in South Australia, a comprehensive, high-quality, centre-based preschool program. There were modest benefits on educational attainment, risk of unemployment and income, but no evidence was found to support effects on type of occupation, full-time employment or housing tenure. Preschool programs have the potential to enhance human capital development into adulthood. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Background Populations willing to participate in randomized trials may not correspond well to policy-relevant target populations. Evidence of effectiveness that is complementary to randomized trials may be obtained by combining the 'target trial' causal inference framework with whole-of-population linked administrative data. Methods We demonstrate this approach in an evaluation of the South Australian Family Home Visiting Program, a nurse home visiting programme targeting socially disadvantaged families. Using de-identified data from 2004–10 in the ethics-approved Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) platform, we characterized the policy-relevant population and emulated a trial evaluating effects on child developmental vulnerability at 5 years (n  = 4160) and academic achievement at 9 years (n  = 6370). Linkage to seven health, welfare and education data sources allowed adjustment for 29 confounders using Targeted Maximum Likelihood Estimation (TMLE) with SuperLearner. Sensitivity analyses assessed robustness to analytical choices. Results We demonstrated how the target trial framework may be used with linked administrative data to generate evidence for an intervention as it is delivered in practice in the community in the policy-relevant target population, and considering effects on outcomes years down the track. The target trial lens also aided in understanding and limiting the increased measurement, confounding and selection bias risks arising with such data. Substantively, we did not find robust evidence of a meaningful beneficial intervention effect. Conclusions This approach could be a valuable avenue for generating high-quality, policy-relevant evidence that is complementary to trials, particularly when the target populations are multiply disadvantaged and less likely to participate in trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine whether items comprising a preschool well-child check for use by family doctors in Australia with 4-5-year old children predicts health and academic outcomes at 6-7 years. The well-child check includes mandatory (anthropometry, eye/vision, ear/hearing, dental, toileting, allergy problems) and non-mandatory (processed food consumption, low physical activity, motor, behavior/mood problems) items. The predictive validity of mandatory and non-mandatory items measured at 4-5 years was examined using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Outcomes at 6-7 years included overweight/obesity, asthma, health care/medication needs, general health, mental health problems, quality of life, teacher-reported mathematics and literacy ability (n = 2, 280-2, 787). Weight or height >90th centile at 4-5 years predicted overweight/obesity at 6-7 years with 60 % sensitivity, 79 % specificity and 40 % positive predictive value (PPV). Mood/behavior problems at 4-5 predicted mental health problems at 6-7 years with 86 % sensitivity, 40 % specificity and 8 % PPV. Non-mandatory items improved the discrimination between children with and without mental health problems at 6-7 years (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.75 compared with 0.69 for mandatory items only), but was weak for most outcomes. Items used in a well-child health check were moderate predictors of overweight/obesity and mental health problems at 6-7 years, but poor predictors of other health and academic outcomes. Keywords Screening * Child health * Obesity * Mental health problems * Predictive validity, Introduction Many countries have programs for screening the health and development of preschool children [1, 2]. Generally, the aim of such screening programs is to identify potential problems early in [...]