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Jenny Helen Kingsley Downs Leonard Wong BApplSci (physio) MSc PhD MBChB MPH MBBS, MPH, MMedStat Head, Child Disability Principal Research Fellow
This study explored mental health profiles in Australian school students using indicators of well-being (i.e., optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness) and psychological distress (i.e., sadness and worries). The sample included 75,757 students (ages 8-18 years) who completed the 2019 South Australian Wellbeing and Engagement Collection.
Irritability is a transdiagnostic indicator of child and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems that is measurable from early life. The objective of this systematic review was to determine the strength of the association between irritability measured from 0 to 5 years and later internalizing and externalizing problems, to identify mediators and moderators of these relationships, and to explore whether the strength of the association varied according to irritability operationalization.
Adolescent birth rates in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) remain the highest in Southeast Asia. There is growing recognition that adolescent pregnancy in Lao PDR is occurring within and outside marriage, but there is a lack of robust qualitative evidence to understand girls' pathways to adolescent pregnancy and contributing factors, especially outside of union (cohabitation or marriage).
Some young people who identify as transgender and seek gender-affirming medical care subsequently reidentify with their sex registered at birth. Evidence regarding the frequency and characteristics of this experience is lacking.
The rising incidence of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W in Western Australia, Australia, presents challenges for prevention. We assessed the effects of a quadrivalent meningococcal vaccination program using 2012-2020 IMD notification data.
The changing phenotype of coronarvirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may quickly render guideline-recommended interventions obsolete. We developed a 40-question clinician survey in consultation with the Australasian COVID-19 Trial site investigators. The survey was designed to assess clinician perceptions of the current treatment strategies and future research priorities in the management of non-critically ill patients admitted to hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Preliminary research has found evidence to suggest alexithymia acts as a risk factor for the development of psychopathology symptoms, due to its impairing role on emotion regulation ability. Eating disorder symptoms have been extensively linked to high levels of alexithymia and emotion regulation difficulties, yet little is known about the precise mechanisms behind these interactions.
During 2013–2017, the mortality rate ratio for rheumatic heart disease among Indigenous versus non-Indigenous persons in Australia was 15.9, reflecting health inequity. Using excess mortality methods, we found that deaths associated with rheumatic heart disease among Indigenous Australians were probably substantially undercounted, affecting accuracy of calculations based solely on Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
The eradication of smallpox is considered one of the greatest achievements of humankind, thanks to vaccination. The widespread availability of childhood vaccines has substantially reduced childhood morbidity and mortality. Devastating infections, such as polio, have almost disappeared due to vaccination. In 2021, it was estimated that vaccination against ten selected pathogens will have averted 69 million deaths between 2000 and 2030. Increases in vaccine coverage and introduction of additional vaccines should reduce lifetime mortality by 72% in the 2019 birth cohort. However, access to vaccines that prevent life-threatening and disabling infectious diseases remains unequal.