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Join a Focus Group for the Sibling Support Study! Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia are conducting research which explores the
As Neurodiversity Celebration Week draws to a close, we are shining a light on an important study underway at The Kids Research Institute Australia, led by Dr Thom Nevill, a Research Officer within our Human Development and Community Wellbeing and Child Disability teams.
The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course
This PhD project aims to examine the associations and causal pathways between racial discrimination and the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children and young people aged 0-17 years.
In 2024–2025, we listened to 40 siblings from across Australia share their experiences of family life and social connection. Most had a brother or sister with developmental disability, and others did not. Together, they offered open and thoughtful reflections on roles and responsibilities at home, friendships, fam
This project is a partnership between researchers, the Aboriginal community and government to provide evidence for policy addressing major health priority areas for Aboriginal children and families.
Altered drive to socially engage is a transdiagnostic feature across multiple psychopathologies. Yet, lack of clarity regarding specific processes that constitute social drive, along with insufficient measurement methods, has hindered understanding in this area. This study ascertained the feasibility of approximating difficulties within specific fine-grained social drive processes as proposed by 2 theoretical frameworks: “orienting,” “wanting,” “pursuing,” “liking,” “learning,” and “reticence” within a reward processing framework and “orienting,” “seeking and maintaining,” and “liking” within a social motivation framework.
Young Minds Matter is the largest survey of child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing ever conducted in Australia.
Alexithymia—a trait characterized by difficulties in emotion processing—is of high interest in the autism field. However, the lack of validated alexithymia measures for autistic individuals limits progress. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the psychometric properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) across autistic and non-autistic samples. Using the PAQ, we investigated how alexithymia manifests in autistic individuals and its links with poor mental health outcomes (anxiety).
This study provides evidence that continued participation in playgroups is associated with better outcomes for children from disadvantaged families.
Autistic children have an increased likelihood of anxiety, but more research is needed on the characteristics that predict various types of anxiety in this population.
We begin to bridge this knowledge gap by assessing evidence on social gradients in indigenous health in Australia.
Although up to 89% of autistic children experience feeding difficulties, little is known about the impact of these difficulties on mealtime participation. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of feeding difficulties on the mealtime participation of autistic children and their families based on caregiver experiences.
We do not know much about what support services people think are okay for young autistic children. This study was a survey of 253 people. We asked autistic adults, parents, and professionals from Australia and New Zealand whether they thought it was okay to provide support services to autistic children.
Gathering Autistic young people's testimony is critical for understanding their lived experience of education and designing settings in which these students can thrive. Despite increasing knowledge in this field, we lack perspectives from a broad range of Autistic students which necessarily limits our ability to build inclusive, supportive environments for all. This study explored the educational experiences of preschool and school-aged Autistic students from diverse age groups, backgrounds, and educational settings.