Search

Research

As the frequency of eating out-of-home among Australian families increases, concerns have arisen regarding the nutritional quality of Kids' Menus. This study investigated the views of food business owners and managers on Kids' Menus at sit-down venues, specifically factors influencing the choice of meals offered on Kids' Menus and potential initiatives for enhancing the nutritional quality of these menus.

Research

The widespread use of technology in daily life has raised concerns about its potential to disrupt social relationships, particularly within one of the most important human relationships: the parent-child relationship. This study assesses whether parental social media use (measured by a novel parental social media intensity scale) affects the parent-child relationship (measured by the child-parent relationship scale - short form), and whether parental self-efficacy (PSE, measured by the parenting sense of competence scale) moderates this effect.

Research

Alexithymia is characterised by difficulties identifying and describing feelings, as well as a lack of focus on feelings. Alexithymia is a transdiagnostic risk factor for developing a wide array of psychopathologies, such as anxiety and depression, with a key hypothesised mechanism being the impairing impact of alexithymia on emotion regulation competency. However, no study has tested whether difficulties with emotion regulation mediate the link between alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms using longitudinal designs.

Research

Glioblastoma, a lethal high-grade glioma, has not seen improvements in clinical outcomes in nearly 30 years. Ion channels are increasingly associated with tumorigenesis, and there are hundreds of brain-penetrant drugs that inhibit ion channels, representing an untapped therapeutic resource. The aim of this exploratory drug study was to screen an ion channel drug library against patient-derived glioblastoma cells to identify new treatments for brain cancer. 

Research

Although Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A) is the sixth-most common infectious disease globally, its transmission within the household remains an understudied driver of infection. We undertook a systematic review to better understand the transmission of Strep A among people within the home, while highlighting opportunities for prevention. 

Research

Dog ownership is common in families with children and could play a role in children's social-emotional development. This study used longitudinal data on dog ownership and changing dog ownership to investigate their effects on young children's social-emotional development.

News & Events

A new study has confirmed the changing pattern of meningococcal disease in Western Australia.

Research

The most common cause of morbidity and mortality in children with severe cerebral palsy (CP) is respiratory disease. BREATHE-CP (Better REspiratory and Airway Treatment and HEalth in Cerebral Palsy) is a multidisciplinary research team who have conducted research on the risk factors associated with CP respiratory disease, a systematic review on management and a Delphi study on the development of a consensus for the prevention and management of respiratory disease in CP.

Research

Vaccination in pregnancy is the best strategy to reduce complications from influenza or pertussis infection in infants who are too young to be protected directly from vaccination. Pregnant women are also at risk of influenza complications preventable through antenatal vaccination. Both vaccines are funded under the National Immunisation Program for pregnant women in Australia, but coverage is not routinely reported nationally. 

Research

As herpes simplex virus in infancy is not a mandatory notifiable condition in Australia, completeness of ascertainment by the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) has been difficult to evaluate to date. We evaluated case capture in Queensland and Western Australia using statewide laboratory and clinical data and complementary surveillance data collected via the APSU.