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The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers who worked with young people to develop an app designed to help teenagers stay safe in the sun have been named joint winners of a new award for ‘Best Practice in Children’s Consultation’.
Anxiety is a leading mental health concern in childhood. Whilst a range of therapeutic approaches effectively reduce anxiety in young children, several barriers impact their implementation into practice. Digital interventions could help overcome some of these challenges; however, whether these can effectively target anxiety for children with and without Neurodevelopmental Conditions is unknown.
Effective social skills are essential for functional social support, help-seeking, and resource access. Digital social skills training plays a key role in empowering individuals to develop social competence, improve access to various support and resources, and enhance locus of control through dynamic media.
Transgender and gender diverse (“trans”) people are more likely to experience adverse mental health outcomes due to the social adversities that are commonly experienced. One ameliorating factor for poor mental health outcomes can be connection to community, often facilitated in online spaces such as TikTok.
Social media allows users to connect with others’ experiences and points of view, with TikTok being the fastest-growing platform worldwide. Highly viewed videos related to neurodiversity on TikTok have an increasing role in understanding and acceptance of neurodivergent individuals.
The generous support of West Australians through Channel 7’s Telethon Trust will help support crucial child health research at The Kids Research Institute Australia in 2022.
Globally, rates of children with physical and mental health problems are increasing. Health issues in early childhood often persist into adulthood, highlighting the need to ensure children are supported to flourish from the start of life.
Behavioural sleep problems are common in children. The challenges with establishing and maintaining good sleep hygiene may prove challenging to overcome based on environmental issues such as the liberal availability of electronic media from a young age, permissive parenting, difficult family dynamics and limited parental/carer understanding of a child's sleep needs as they progress through childhood and adolescence.
The Kids Research Institute Australia cyber safety expert Professor Donna Cross says parents should use the ‘three C’s’ to help keep their children safe online.
The potential for human-computer interaction to have a substantial impact on adults is well documented. However, its potential importance prior to birth has rarely been reported. Parental use of smartphones and tablet computers could influence the relationship between parent and baby during pregnancy (prenatal attachment) and thus child development.