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Participant attrition is a significant challenge for longitudinal studies, particularly those involving disadvantaged populations. We attempted to re-engage n = 990 families in a five-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial of an early childhood parenting intervention. Tracing was attempted for n = 90/990 (9.1%) uncontactable participants. Evidence for the identification of a matching Facebook profile was classified as strong, moderate or weak. A private message was sent to those with strong evidence (n = 63/90, 70.0%), of which 32 responded, 22 agreed to participate and 19 provided data. Compared to participants engaged using traditional methods, those re-engaged through Facebook were more likely at initial recruitment to have a younger child (p =0.02), to be a single parent (p =0.04), less educated (p <0.001), lower income (p =0.01) and in an unemployed household (p <0.001). Findings suggest that social media can be an effective engagement tool, helping to minimise overall and selective attrition in longitudinal studies, particularly for hard-to-reach populations.

This study investigates associations between trajectories of children's vocabulary development and subsequent behavioral and emotional difficulties via two potential mediating mechanisms; literacy and peer problems. Nationally representative data from 4,983 Australian children were used to examine trajectories of receptive vocabulary (4-5, 6-7, and 8-9 years) and hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems and emotional symptoms (8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 years), and literacy and peer problems (8-9 years). Lower growth in vocabulary was related to trajectories of hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems, and emotional symptoms. Literacy was a key mediator explaining these associations. Results were consistent for children below the 50th percentile for vocabulary at 4-5 years compared to the full sample. These findings suggest that early literacy-based interventions may alleviate declining academic, emotional and behavioral functioning in adolescence.

The deleterious effects of maternal depression on child emotional and behavioral development are well documented, yet many children exposed to maternal depression experience positive outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify psychosocial factors associated with the emotional-behavioral resilience of four-year-old children of first-time mothers experiencing depressive symptoms across the early childhood period. Data were from 1085 mother-child dyads in the Maternal Health Study collected prospectively at five time-points from pregnancy to child age four. Longitudinal trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms were identified, and children were regarded as resilient or competent if they scored in the normal range on the Total Difficulties subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. We found that 22% of women had a pattern of moderate to high depressive symptoms, and within this group 78% of their children were identified as resilient. Maternal tertiary education and maternal involvement in home learning activities were unique predictors of children's resilience. Higher maternal age at the time of pregnancy and financial security were factors associated with positive outcomes for all children. The findings highlight the importance of policy and intervention efforts to strengthen the quality of maternal-child interactions and the home learning environment to promote the emotional and behavioral functioning of children whose mothers are experiencing mental health difficulties in the early years of parenting.

Oral language development is a key outcome of elementary school, and it is important to identify factors that predict it most effectively. Commonly researchers use ordinary least squares regression with conclusions restricted to average performance conditional on relevant covariates. Quantile regression offers a more sophisticated alternative. Using data of 17,687 children from the United Kingdom's Millennium Cohort Study, we compared ordinary least squares and quantile models with language development (verbal similarities) at 11 years as the outcome. Gender had more of an effect at the top of the distribution, whereas poverty, early language, and reading to the child had a greater effect at the bottom. The picture for TV watching was more mixed. The results are discussed in terms of the provision of universal and targeted interventions.

This study aimed to determine the effects of the Active Early Learning (AEL) childcare center‐based physical activity intervention on early childhood executive function and expressive vocabulary via a randomized controlled trial. Three‐hundred‐and‐fourteen preschool children (134 girls) aged 3–5 years from 15 childcare centers were randomly assigned to the intervention (8 centers; n = 170 children) or control group (7 centers, n = 144 children) in May 2019. Participants were mostly Australian (85%) and from slightly higher areas of socio‐economic status than the Australian average. There was an AEL intervention effect on inhibition (β = 0.5, p =.033, d = 0.29) and expressive vocabulary (β = 1.97, p =.001, d = 0.24). Integration of the AEL physical activity intervention into the daily childcare routine was effective in enhancing children's executive function and expressive language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although negative anticipatory emotions are typically seen as risk factors for poorer psychological outcomes over COVID‐19, emotion theorists suggest that this risk may be attenuated if balanced by the experience of positive emotion. Thus, the current study examined whether interactions between positive and negative anticipatory emotions were concurrently associated with psychological distress and greater personal wellbeing/posttraumatic growth (PTG) at three distinct periods (i.e., pre‐lockdown, during lockdown, post‐lockdown), and whether associations varied by these three COVID‐19 time periods. The study utilizes two large longitudinal Australian samples, surveyed in 2020 prior to, during, and after a strict 4‐month lockdown that occurred in Australia. Overall, positive emotions attenuated the adverse psychological outcomes arising from higher levels of negative emotion (i.e., higher psychological distress and lower personal wellbeing). Observed effects varied according to COVID‐19 threat exposure. Specifically, the interaction was significantly associated with psychological distress prior to the lockdown for Sample 2, and during the lockdown for both samples. The interaction was significantly associated with wellbeing (Sample 2) prior to, and during, the lockdown but only marginally associated post‐lockdown. The interaction, however, was not significantly associated with PTG (Sample 1). The results suggest that it is valuable for future research to consider greater emotional complexity (i.e., mixed emotions) over COVID‐19, and other stressors more generally, to encompass a more nuanced understanding of resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim was to explore the association between COVID-19 pandemic-related product shortages and symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in Australian families, concurrently and longitudinally, while controlling for demographic, health, and psychological characteristics. This prospective study used two waves of data (baseline, Time 0 = April 2020; Time 1 = May 2020) from a longitudinal cohort study of Australian parents of a child aged 0‐18 years. Parents were surveyed at baseline about whether they had experienced product shortages related to COVID-19. DASS21 was used to measure symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress at both waves. The sample included 2,110 participants (N = 1,701, 80.6% mothers). About 68.6% of the respondents reported being impacted by one or more shortages. Product shortages correlated significantly with higher combined and individual scores for anxiety, depression, and stress (r = 0.007 to 0.18, all p < 0.001) at baseline. At Time 1, parental emotion regulation explained 4.0% of the variance (p <.001). Our findings suggest a role for improving parental emotion regulation in coping with stressors, such as shortages and lockdowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has markedly impacted functioning for children and adolescents including those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We explored home learning difficulties (HLD) during COVID-19 restrictions in Australian children (aged 5–17) with ADHD, aiming to: (1) describe home learning experiences, and (2) examine associations between child anxiety (i.e., concurrent anxiety symptoms and pre-existing anxiety disorder status) and HLD. Baseline data from the longitudinal ADHD COVID-19 Survey were used (n = 122). Parents reported on school factors and HLD; pre-existing anxiety and co-occurring difficulties; anxiety, ADHD, and oppositional symptoms; demographics; and medications. Parents retrospectively reported more children often looked forward to school pre-pandemic, than during the pandemic. Anxiety symptoms, but not pre-existing anxiety disorder status, were associated with HLD after accounting for covariates. ADHD inattention symptoms were also associated with HLD. Results support recommendations to continue pre-pandemic supports to assist with ADHD symptoms during home learning, and strategies/supports for families are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES) is a widely used measure of parent emotion socialization; however, it is a lengthy measure and it is unclear whether all items are appropriately aligned with, and fully capture, the underlying constructs. We aimed to examine content validity of the CCNES, evaluate the theoretical alignment between the CCNES and Gottman, Katz and Hooven's meta-emotion theory, and develop two short-forms. Participants were parents of children aged 4 to 10 years (N = 937) from the longitudinal study the Child and Parent Emotion Study (https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e038124). Content experts qualitatively evaluated parent-report items of the CCNES and additional items that measured empathy. Nineteen of the 84 items were found to not align with the meta-emotion theory. The latent structures of the CCNES and empathy subscales were quantitatively evaluated via confirmatory factor analysis. Items with poor psychometric properties were subsequently removed. An 18-item short-form (three emotion coaching subscales, three emotion dismissing subscales) and 6-item brief short-form (one emotion coaching subscale, one emotion dismissing subscale) with strong psychometric properties were created using a calibration sample (n = 468, that is, 50% of N = 937) and cross-validated with a validation sample. The short-form CCNES measures provide viable, theoretically consistent alternatives to the original CCNES measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]