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Research

Community Elders in Boorloo (Perth) identified early childhood education (ECE) as a priority area for Aboriginal children’s research. This is due to a lower number of Aboriginal children attending ECE programs compared to non-Aboriginal children. Attending ECE programs sets children up for school success and is an indicator for positive life outcomes in later life. Therefore, we sought to co-design and implement a program that encourages Aboriginal children and families to attend ECE programs, known as Moort Dandjoo Kaadadjiny.

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Early childhood is foundational for optimal and inclusive lifelong learning, health and well-being. Young children with disabilities face substantial risks of sub-optimal early childhood development, requiring targeted support to ensure equitable access to lifelong learning opportunities, especially in low- and middle-income countries. 

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This study was guided by three research aims: firstly, to examine the longitudinal trends of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) among gender and sexuality diverse (LGBTQA2S+) young people through adolescence (ages 14-19); secondly, to assess longitudinal associations between poor mental health and HR-QoL among LGBTQA2S+ young people through adolescence; and thirdly, to examine differences in HR-QoL among LGBTQA2S+ young people during early adolescence (ages 14 and 15) depending on select school-, peer-, and parent-level factors.

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School-based nutrition education (NE) has an important role in promoting healthy eating habits and helping prevent chronic diseases – particularly among disadvantaged children and youth who are more likely to experience poor diet quality. 

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Mental health concerns present significant challenges for Australian youth. Arts organizations play a key role in promoting preventative mental health strate-gies through enhancing the social and emotional well-being (SEWB) of youth. However, little is known about how the arts promote SEWB and the processes and contexts through which this occurs. 

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Globally, as scale up of early childhood education (ECE) continues, monitoring ECE quality is imperative to promote service aspects that drive positive outcomes for children. Monitoring of ECE quality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is scarce, limited by challenges in varied conceptualisations of quality, lack of measurement tools that reflect local culture and context, and implementation difficulties in low resource settings.

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Although school-based delivery of online interventions can effectively prevent depression and other common mental disorders, little is known about the characteristics of students who engage with these programs. This study aimed to identify predictors of two indicators of adolescent engagement (program usage and skill enactment) with a school-based online depression prevention program. The study also explored the association between skill enactment and mental health outcomes. 

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This study addresses a knowledge gap in the literature about early adolescent cyberbullying victimization and the related positive and negative emotional wellbeing and academic achievement outcomes experienced over time. 

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Previous research has demonstrated wellbeing benefits for positive education programmes (PEPs) facilitated by clinicians or experts or outside the school context. The current study explored the effects of a Year 10 PEP led by teachers trained in positive education and embedded within the Australian secondary school context.

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Schools are increasingly recognized as important settings for mental health promotion, but it is unclear what actions schools should prioritize to promote student mental health and wellbeing. We undertook a policy review of global school-based mental health promotion policy documents from United Nations agencies to understand the frameworks they use and the actions they recommend for schools.