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Report showing poor outcomes for young people who’ve been in out-of-home care underscores need for more support

A The Kids report which found young people leaving foster care are in desperate need of more help transitioning to adulthood has lent strength to a national push to extend formal support to the age of 21.

Pregnancy and birth outcomes of mothers with intellectual disability and their infants: Advocacy needed to improve well-being

For mothers with intellectual disability, modifiable risk factors for adverse outcomes need addressing

A prevalence study on parents with intellectual disability and their children

Melissa Helen O'Donnell Leonard BPsych (Hons), MPsych, GradDip Ed, PhD MBChB MPH Honorary Research Associate Principal Research Fellow +61 419 956

Alcohol-Related Harm in Young People

Melissa Fiona O'Donnell Stanley BPsych (Hons), MPsych, GradDip Ed, PhD FAA FASSA MSc MD FFPHM FAFPHM FRACP FRANZCOG HonDSc HonDUniv HonFRACGP HonMD

Infants entering care: developmental needs and care trajectories

Melissa O'Donnell BPsych (Hons), MPsych, GradDip Ed, PhD Honorary Research Associate Honorary Research Associate Areas of research expertise: Child

Using Linked Population Data to Investigate the Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Children's Outcomes

Melissa Rebecca O'Donnell Glauert BPsych (Hons), MPsych, GradDip Ed, PhD BPsych (Hons) PhD Honorary Research Associate Honorary Research Associate 08

Prenatal and Infant Reports and Child Protection Involvement: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

In Australia, infants have the highest rate of child protection involvement. Many jurisdictions in Australia and internationally have introduced policies for prenatal planning and support, however little is known about outcomes of infants reported prenatally. This study is the first to use cross-jurisdictional, individual-record data to examine child protection pathways associated with prenatal and infant reports.

Urgent need to reduce preventable deaths in Aboriginal Mums

A study by researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia has found Aboriginal mothers are at a significantly greater risk of preventable death than other Australia

The social determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide...

Consideration of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples must be situated within a context that recognises the impact of racism...

A psychometric evaluation of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale for Australian Aboriginal youth

There is a paucity of quantitative measures of resilience specifically validated for young Aboriginal people in Australia. We undertook the first investigation of validity and reliability of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale in a sample of Australian Aboriginal people, with a focus on youth. We conducted a cross-sectional study of resilience among a sample of 122 Aboriginal youth (15–25 years old) in New South Wales and Western Australia, featuring self-completes of the 10-item CD-RISC in online (N = 22) and face-to-face (N = 100) settings.