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Informing Resource Allocation for Investment in Early Childhood: A Review of the International Peer-Reviewed EvidenceEarly childhood investment decisions represent critical policy frameworks that ideally reflect a strong evidence base. This review seeks to assess early childhood intervention priorities based on return on investment without limitation by health, education or social science sector.
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A qualitative exploration of motivations and barriers for community leisure organisations’ engagement with the Jooay™ mobile appParticipation in leisure activities is key to the physical and mental health of children and adolescents with disabilities. The Jooay™ mobile app aims to link children and adolescents with disability to participation opportunities in their community.
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Factors influencing participation in home, school, and community settings by children and adolescents with neuromuscular disorders: A qualitative descriptive studyThis study explored how children and adolescents with a neuromuscular disorder (NMD) and their parents experienced barriers and enablers to the child's participation.
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A Parent-Mediated Intervention for Newborns at Familial Likelihood of Autism: Initial Feasibility Study in the General PopulationDevelopmental theory and previous studies support the potential value of prodromal interventions for infants at elevated likelihood of developing autism. Past research has supported the efficacy of parent-mediated prodromal therapies with infants from as early as 7 months. We outline the rationale for implementing interventions following this model from even earlier in development and report on the feasibility of a novel intervention developed following this model of parent-mediated infant interventions.
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Associations between the built environment and emotional, social and physical indicators of early child development across high and low socioeconomic neighbourhoodsEmerging evidence indicates that the built environment influences early child development. Access to, and the quality of, built environment features vary with the socioeconomic status (SES) of neighbourhoods. It has not yet been established whether the association between built environment features and early child development varies by neighbourhood SES.
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The effects of birth spacing on early childhood development in high-income nations: A systematic reviewThis study aimed to systematically review the literature on the associations between birth spacing and developmental outcomes in early childhood (3–10 years of age). Studies examining the associations between interpregnancy intervals and child development outcomes during and beyond the perinatal period have not been systematically reviewed.
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Whole-cell pertussis vaccine in early infancy for the prevention of allergy in childrenAtopic diseases are the most common chronic conditions of childhood. The apparent rise in food anaphylaxis in young children over the past three decades is of particular concern, owing to the lack of proven prevention strategies other than the timely introduction of peanut and egg.
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The longitudinal relationship between BOLD signal variability changes and white matter maturation during early childhoodIntra-individual transient temporal fluctuations in brain signal, as measured by fMRI blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) variability, is increasingly considered an important signal rather than measurement noise.
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Magic Hats and Teddy Bear picnics: Language and visuospatial lateralisation tasks for childrenThe behavioural outcomes associated with atypical cerebral lateralization during the early stages of cognitive development is an interesting research venture. However, there are few tasks for assessing lateralization in young children. The current study describes the Magic Hat task and the Teddy Bear Picnic task, which were designed to measure the lateralization of language and visuospatial attention, respectively, in children as young as three years old.
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Prevalence and pattern of energy drink intake among Australian adolescentsEnergy drinks (ED) are popular among young people despite evidence of associated health risks. Research into the prevalence and pattern of ED intake among young people is sparse. The present study investigates the prevalence and pattern of ED intake among a large sample of adolescents, including how many consume them, how often, for what reasons and in what contexts.