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Co-design and youth participatory action research are promising methodologies for increasing youth engagement in well-being interventions. The current study included 10 recent high school graduates employed as youth advisors to co-design a youth-friendly positive psychology intervention targeting the post-school transition. The youth advisors received foundational training in positive psychology, psychological needs theory and emerging adulthood. They held regular meetings to develop a Positive Transitions programme (PTP) text messaging intervention, informed by discussion of key themes, issues and relevant practical tips. This paper aims to examine the co-design process from the perspective of the youth advisors. Each youth advisor completed a survey, and six of the advisors also participated in a focus group exploring their co-design experiences. Youth advisors noted a range of personal benefits from the co-design experience including learning, enjoyment, teamwork, achievement, and pride. Areas for improvement included clarity of the project scope and the provision of support and feedback. Insights from this process are discussed, with the aim of guiding future work seeking to design youth-friendly well-being interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Monitoring oral language skills at the population level would provide valuable data to inform policy decisions to better support children’s oral language skills in schools. The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) is a teacher-rated population measure of early child development that includes a rating of children’s oral communication in the classroom (OCC). Method: This study evaluates the validity of the OCC indicator for population monitoring of children’s oral language skills, capitalising on data from two datasets: the 2012 AEDC cohort (n = 289 973) and a subsample of children from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children for whom AEDC data were also collected (n = 720). Result: Construct validity was demonstrated by showing significant differences in OCC ratings between subpopulations of children who would be expected to differ in terms of oral language skills at school entry (e.g. children with a diagnosed speech-language impairment compared to those with no impairment). OCC ratings were associated with externally validated measures of language, suggesting convergent validity. No relationship was found between OCC ratings and physical health scores, indicating divergent validity. Conclusion: The findings support the use and interpretation of the OCC indicator as a tool for population-level monitoring of oral language in Australian school entrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Evidence suggests that early proficiency in the language of school instruction is an important predictor of academic success for bilingual children. This study investigated whether English-proficiency at 4–5 years of age predicts academic language and literacy skills among Australian bilingual children at 10–11 years of age, as part of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC, 2012). Method: The LSAC comprises a nationally representative clustered cross-sequential sample of Australian children. Data were analysed from a sub-sample of 129 bilingual children from the LSAC Kindergarten cohort (n = 4983), for whom teachers completed the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) checklist (a population measure of early childhood development) and the Academic Rating Scale (ARS) language and literacy subscale. Result: Linear regression analyses revealed that bilingual children who commenced school with stronger English proficiency had higher academic language and literacy scores at the end of primary school (β = 0.45). English proficiency remained a significant predictor, even when accounting for gender and socio-economic disadvantage (β = 0.38). Conclusion: The findings indicate that bilingual children who begin school without English proficiency are at risk of difficulties with academic language and literacy, even after 6 years of schooling. Risk factors need to be identified so early support can be targeted towards the most vulnerable children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Relatively high levels of depression are observed during the transition to adulthood. Hence, it is important to identify the factors that can reduce the incidence of depression at this time. Social capital is theorised to protect against depression by providing greater access to support and psychological resources. Social capital incorporates both interpersonal relationships and broader community-level factors. However, most research has focused on the influence of relationships with parents and peers in the development of depression in young people, with little attention given to the role of broader social capital factors relating to perceptions of and engagement with the wider community. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Australian Temperament Project (ATP), this article examines the effects of close interpersonal relationships (with parents and peers) and broader, community-level aspects of social capital (trust and civic engagement) on depression during the transition to adulthood. Using hierarchical multiple regression, alienation from peers was found to predict higher depression, whereas good communication with peers was associated with a reduction of depressive symptoms. After controlling for the effects of close interpersonal relationships, trust in authorities and organisations made a significant contribution to the prediction of lower depression. Implications for intervention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]