Search

Autism is a developmental condition that can be detected in early childhood. Early intervention can improve outcomes, though many children are not identified until they reach primary school. Early childhood educators are well placed to monitor children's development and identify those who may benefit from additional supports, though implementation of standardised tools and processes is limited. The National Disability Insurance Scheme in Australia has increased the onus on educators to support families to access funded services. A workshop on evidence-informed practice in early detection for autism was provided for early childhood professionals. The theory of practice architectures informed development and analysis of pre- and post-workshop surveys to explore changes in early childhood educators' perspectives on factors influencing universal developmental monitoring and referrals to early intervention supports using an evidence-based tool, the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R). Post-workshop increases in early childhood educators' perceived knowledge and confidence are evident, though recent policy reforms present challenges. Population surveillance using SACS-R in early childhood education is effective for identification and referral for children who have autism, and capacity building for professionals to use SACS-R is recommended.

Effective teamwork is integral to the functioning of many professions. Employers desire work-ready graduates who have developed the so-called 'soft skills' involved in teamwork. One way for students to practise and gain feedback on their team skills is through team-based assessment tasks. The TeamUP Rubric was developed to teach and assess five domains of teamwork skills through peer feedback. Initial evaluation of the five domains and use of the TeamUP with health and arts students has provided initial support for its utility as a measure of teamwork. In the current study the scale structure of each of the five domains was evaluated using Mokken scale analysis (MSA). MSA is a non-parametric item response theory approach that evaluates the internal structure of an evaluation tool. One-hundred and seventy-seven primary education students were recruited for the study. All participants were undertaking a teamwork assignment in a unit of study in their education degree at an Australian regional university. They completed the TeamUP Rubric assessment for themselves and for each of the students in their team. Each TeamUP domain met the requirements for a Mokken scale. The current study supports the validity of the scores derived from the TeamUP Rubric and further supports its use as a tool for teaching and assessing teamwork.

Introduction: Children living in rural, regional and remote locations experience challenges to receiving services for mental illness and challenging behaviours. Additionally, there is a lack of clarity about the workforce characteristics to address the needs of this population. Objective: To scope the literature on the rural, regional and remote child mental health and behavioural workforce and identify barriers and enabling mechanisms to mental health service provision. Design: A scoping review utilising the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. A database search was undertaken using Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ProQuest and Scopus to identify papers published 2010–2023. Research articles reporting data on mental health workforce characteristics for children aged under 12 years, in rural, regional or remote locations were reviewed for inclusion. Findings: Seven hundred and fifty‐four papers were imported into Covidence with 22 studies being retained. Retained studies confirmed that providing services to meet the needs of children's mental health is an international challenge. Discussion: The thematic analysis of the review findings highlighted four workforce strategies to potentially mitigate some of these challenges. These were: (1) The use of telehealth for clinical services and workforce upskilling; (2) Role shifting where non mental health professionals assumed mental health workforce roles; (3) Service structure strategies, and (4) Indigenous and rural cultural factors. Conclusion: A range of potential strategies exists to better meet the needs of children with mental health and behavioural issues. Adapting these to specific community contexts through co‐design and production may enhance their efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a chronic and complex condition experienced by over 300 million people worldwide. While research on the impact of nutrition on chronic physical illness is well documented, there is growing interest in the role of dietary patterns for those experiencing symptoms of depression. This study aims to examine the association of diet quality (Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies version 2) and depressive symptoms (Centre for Epidemiological Studies for Depression short form) of young Australian women over 6 years at two time points, 2003 (n 9081, Mean age = 27·6) and 2009 (n 8199, Mean age = 33·7) using secondary data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. A linear mixed-effects model found a small and significant inverse association of diet quality on depressive symptoms (β = −0·03, 95 % CI (−0·04, −0·02)) after adjusting for covarying factors such as BMI, social functioning, alcohol and smoking status. These findings suggest that the continuation of a healthy dietary pattern may be protective of depressive symptoms. Caution should be applied in interpreting these findings due to the small effect sizes. More longitudinal studies are needed to assess temporal relationships between dietary quality and depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to: (a) determine the inter-rater reliability of the proposed muscle dysmorphia criteria, (b) investigate if muscle dysmorphia (MD) represented a syndrome of frequently co-occurring symptoms, and (c) determine the level of correlation between the proposed MD criteria and the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale. Men (N = 48) aged 18 years and older who were currently participating in resistance training were assessed using the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale and a one-on-one interview. Two qualified psychologists assigned a diagnosis of MD to those participants who appeared to meet the proposed criteria for MD. Inter-rater reliability and the frequency of co-occurring symptoms in participants were assessed. The correlation between MD and the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale was explored. The inter-rater reliability between the researchers was low (Cohen's kappa = .39;p ≤ .05). A Binomial test revealed that MD represented a syndrome of frequently co-occurring symptoms; there was a significant probability (>.70) of a participant with one diagnostic symptom of MD (criterion 2a or 3) to exhibit another symptom (criterion 1) of the disorder. Point-biserial correlation indicated that the proposed MD criteria, excluding criterion 2b, were significantly correlated with the total score of the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale and its subscales, excluding Muscle Satisfaction. The study provides some evidence to question the acceptance of the proposed MD criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]