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: Objectives: Parenting is central to children's optimal development and accounts for a substantial proportion of the variance in child outcomes, including up to 40% of child mental health. Parenting is also one of the most modifiable, proximal, and direct factors for preventing and treating a range of children's problems and enhancing wellbeing. To determine the effectiveness of new approaches to parenting intervention, and to evaluate how to optimise reach and uptake, sufficient funding must be allocated for high quality research. Method: We reviewed funding awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council (ARC) for parenting intervention research during 2011–2020. Results: Parenting intervention research received 0.25% of the NHMRC and ARC research budgets. Conclusions: There is a substantial mismatch between the funding of parenting intervention research and the impact of improved parenting on short‐ and long‐term child outcomes. To rectify this, it is critical that Australian Government funding schemes include parenting interventions as priority areas for funding. Implications for public health: Changes in allocation of funding to parenting research will support the establishment of evidence for the effective development, implementation and dissemination of parenting interventions to maximise health outcomes for children and their families., Parenting interventions play a central role in promoting and protecting the health, wellbeing and educational outcomes of children, adolescents and families, as well as preventing and treating difficulties when they [...]

Sexual harassment inflicted by adolescents on their peers is a major public health issue, but its prevalence across childhood is not known. We provide the first nationally representative data on the prevalence of peer sexual harassment across childhood, using cross-sectional data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS). The ACMS surveyed 8,503 people aged 16 and over about their experiences of child maltreatment and associated health outcomes. The prevalence of peer sexual harassment was assessed using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ)-R2 Adapted Version (ACMS), with survey data weighted to reflect characteristics of the Australian population. Overall, 1 in 10 (10.4% (95% Confidence Intervals (CI) [9.7, 11.3])) Australians experienced peer sexual harassment during childhood. Peer sexual harassment is an issue disproportionately affecting gender-diverse individuals (24.0%, 95% CI [15.5, 35.2]) and women (15.3%, 95% CI [14.0, 16.7%]), compared to men (5.0%, 95% CI [4.3, 5.9]). Rates of peer sexual harassment were also very high among sexuality diverse participants (prevalence estimates ranging between 14.2% and 29.8%). Peer sexual harassment was predominately inflicted by male peers (9.6%, 95% CI [8.9, 10.4]), compared to 1.8% (95% CI [1.5, 2.2]) reporting harassment from female peers. These findings have implications for understanding and reducing attitudes supporting peer sexual harassment in childhood, particularly against girls and gender and sexuality diverse youth, and associations with other gendered violence both in childhood and later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporal punishment is associated with adverse outcomes; however, little empirical data exists about the state of corporal punishment in Australia. This paper presents the first national prevalence estimates of experiences of corporal punishment during childhood among Australians and its use as adults by Australian parents and caregivers. We also report community beliefs about the necessity of corporal punishment. Results show corporal punishment remains common in Australia. A high proportion of Australians (62.5%) experienced corporal punishment in childhood, including almost 6 in 10 (58.4%) young people aged 16–24. Approximately half of all parents surveyed (53.7%) had used corporal punishment. A quarter of Australians (26.4%) believe corporal punishment is necessary to raise children, 73.6% do not view it as necessaryThe use of corporal punishment and belief in its necessity are lower among younger people. Findings indicate the experience of corporal punishment remains unacceptably high in Australia but that the use of corporal punishment and beliefs about its necessity may be changing. These findings have significant implications for policy and practice in Australia. Changes in legislation could reduce this form of violence toward children. Relatively low rates of endorsement of the necessity of corporal punishment suggest the Australian community may be receptive to attempts for law reform in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined rates of mental health disorders and health risk behaviors in people with diverse gender identities and associations with five types of child maltreatment. We used data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), a nationally representative survey of Australian residents aged 16 years and more, which was designed to understand the experience of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence). Mental disorders—major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), alcohol use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and health risk behaviors—smoking, binge drinking, cannabis dependence, self-harm, and suicide attempt in the past 12 months were assessed. People with diverse gender identities who experienced child maltreatment were significantly more likely to have GAD (43.3%; 95% CI [30.3, 56.2]) than those who had experienced child maltreatment who were either cisgender men (13.8%; [12.0, 15.5]) or cisgender women (17.4%; [15.7, 19.2]). Similarly, higher prevalence was found for PTSD (21.3%; [11.1, 31.5]), self-harm (27.8%; [17.1, 38.5]) and suicide attempt (7.2%; [3.1, 11.3]) for people with diverse gender identities. Trauma-informed approaches, attuned to the high likelihood of any child maltreatment, and the co-occurrence of different kinds may benefit people with diverse gender identities experiencing GAD, PTSD, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, or other health risk behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little population-based evidence exists about prevalence of lifetime disclosure and non-disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA). Evidence is lacking about disclosure by girls and women compared with boys and men, and gender diverse individuals. It is unclear if disclosure is more common in contemporary society, and if disclosure is influenced by abuse severity and perpetrator type., Objective: We aimed to identify prevalence of lifetime disclosure of CSA, and prevalence by gender, age group, abuse severity and perpetrator., Participants and Setting: The Australian Child Maltreatment Study collected information about CSA victimisation from a nationally representative sample of 8503 individuals aged 16 and over; 28.5 % (n = 2348) experienced CSA and provided information about disclosure., Methods: We generated national estimates of lifetime CSA disclosure, compared results by gender and age group, and identified differences by severity and perpetrator., Results: Prevalence of lifetime CSA disclosure was 54.8 %, and prevalence of non-disclosure was 45.2 %. Disclosure was more common for women (60.3 %) than men (42.2 %). Disclosure was more common among those aged 16-24 (70.5 %) than those aged 25-44 (61.9 %) and 45 and over (46.2 %). Prevalence was similar across four CSA sub-types (47.2 %-58.2 %). Disclosure varied across perpetrator classes., Conclusions: Population-wide, almost one in two people who experience CSA had not disclosed. Men and those aged 45 and over were less likely to disclose. Increased disclosure by younger participants indicates progress in societal understanding of CSA. However, continued widespread non-disclosure indicates further efforts are needed to support those with lived experience of CSA to seek assistance., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Research suggests that the dimensions of childhood maltreatment (type, age of onset, duration, frequency and perpetrator) play an important role in determining health and wellbeing outcomes, though little information is available on these dimensions for any care experienced cohorts. This study aimed to determine if any variation in maltreatment dimensions were experienced between two subsets of the nationally representative Australian Child Maltreatment Study, both of which reported childhood maltreatment histories: care-experienced ( n = 358) and non-care-experienced ( n = 4922). Using a series of independent t-tests and chi-square tests, we compared the two groups on seven dimensions (number of maltreatment types, range of maltreatment items, age of onset, duration, frequency, perpetrator number, and perpetrator type) for the five child maltreatment types (physical, emotional, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence). Results showed that the care-experienced group reported a higher intensity of maltreatment, being younger when maltreatment first started, experiencing greater variety of maltreatment types, for longer periods, more times and by more perpetrators than maltreated people with no care experience. We conclude that children and young people in out-of-home care experience maltreatment at a higher intensity than the rest of the population, which has implications for effective treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.