Research Interests: Health Promotion, Children and Families, Child Welfare, Australia, Diet, and 12 moreCurriculum, Humans, Female, Male, Early Childhood Development, Questionnaires, School health services, Food habits, Public health systems and services research, Pediatric Obesity, Digital Media Learning, and Motor activity
Background: Women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) face many challenges during their pregnancy, birth and in the postnatal period, including breastfeeding initiation and continuation while maintaining stable glycaemic control. In both Sweden... more
Background: Women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) face many challenges during their pregnancy, birth and in the postnatal period, including breastfeeding initiation and continuation while maintaining stable glycaemic control. In both Sweden and Australia the rates of breastfeeding initiation are high. However, overall there is limited information about the breastfeeding practices of women with T1DM and the
factors affecting them. Similarities in demographics, birth rates and health systems create bases for discussion.
Aim: The aim of this paper is to discuss psychosocial factors, policies and practices that impact on the breastfeeding practices of women with T1DM.
Findings: Swedish research indicates that the overall breastfeeding rate in women with T1DM remains significantly lower than in women without diabetes in the first 2 and 6 months after childbirth with no differences in exclusive breastfeeding. Breastfeeding initiation and continuation among women with T1DM in Sweden has been shown to be influenced by health services delivery, supportive breastfeeding polices and socio-economic factors, particular perceived support from social networks and health professionals.
Conclusion: There is limited research on the impact of attitudes towards breastfeeding, emotional and social well-being and diabetes-related stress on the decision of women with T1DM to initiate and continue to breastfeed for at least 6 months. A more comprehensive understanding of the breastfeeding
practices and psychosocial factors operating during the first 6 months after birth for women with T1DM will be instrumental in the future design of interventions promoting initiation and continuation of breastfeeding in Sweden, Australia and elsewhere.
factors affecting them. Similarities in demographics, birth rates and health systems create bases for discussion.
Aim: The aim of this paper is to discuss psychosocial factors, policies and practices that impact on the breastfeeding practices of women with T1DM.
Findings: Swedish research indicates that the overall breastfeeding rate in women with T1DM remains significantly lower than in women without diabetes in the first 2 and 6 months after childbirth with no differences in exclusive breastfeeding. Breastfeeding initiation and continuation among women with T1DM in Sweden has been shown to be influenced by health services delivery, supportive breastfeeding polices and socio-economic factors, particular perceived support from social networks and health professionals.
Conclusion: There is limited research on the impact of attitudes towards breastfeeding, emotional and social well-being and diabetes-related stress on the decision of women with T1DM to initiate and continue to breastfeed for at least 6 months. A more comprehensive understanding of the breastfeeding
practices and psychosocial factors operating during the first 6 months after birth for women with T1DM will be instrumental in the future design of interventions promoting initiation and continuation of breastfeeding in Sweden, Australia and elsewhere.
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Obesity in our childbearing population has increased to epidemic proportions in developed countries; efforts to address this issue need to focus on prevention. The Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postbirth (HIPPP) Collaborative - a... more
Obesity in our childbearing population has increased to epidemic proportions in developed countries; efforts to address this issue need to focus on prevention. The Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postbirth (HIPPP) Collaborative - a group of researchers, practitioners, policymakers and end-users - was formed to take up the challenge to address this issue as a partnership. Application of systems thinking, participatory systems modelling and group model building was used to establish research questions aiming to optimise periconception lifestyle, weight and health. Our goal was to reduce the burden of maternal obesity through systems change.
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This study examined changes in body image and predictors of body dissatisfaction during pregnancy. It was expected that higher levels of depression, social comparison tendencies, teasing, societal pressure to be thin and public... more
This study examined changes in body image and predictors of body dissatisfaction during pregnancy. It was expected that higher levels of depression, social comparison tendencies, teasing, societal pressure to be thin and public self-consciousness would predict body dissatisfaction prospectively. Healthy pregnant women (n=128) completed questionnaires on three occasions during their pregnancies reporting on a total of four time points: 3 months prior to pregnancy (retrospectively reported), in the early to mid-second trimester, the late-second/early-third trimester, and the latter part of the third trimester. For the most part women reported adapting to the changes that occurred in their body; however, women were most likely to experience higher levels of body dissatisfaction in early to mid-second trimester. Findings related to predictors of body dissatisfaction revealed that both social and psychological factors contributed to body image changes in pregnancy. Implications of the fi...
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The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) is growing in Australia, with women higher users than men. Yet, only a few Australian studies have explored the use of CAM during pregnancy. To explore the use of CAM, the types of... more
The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) is growing in Australia, with women higher users than men. Yet, only a few Australian studies have explored the use of CAM during pregnancy. To explore the use of CAM, the types of CAM practitioners consulted, physical symptoms/complaints for which CAM are used by a sample of pregnant Australian women, and women's perceptions of the efficacy of CAM in treating those complaints. Three hundred and twenty-one pregnant women, who volunteered for a study exploring women's well-being during pregnancy, completed a self-report questionnaire in their late second/early third trimester. Seventy-three per cent of women had used at least one kind of complementary therapy in the prior eight weeks of pregnancy. Over one-third of the women had visited at least one alternative medicine practitioner during pregnancy. Approximately one-third of the women reported taking CAM to alleviate a specific physical symptom, with 95.7% of these wo...
Teachers in many parts of the world are mandated reporters of child abuse and maltreatment but very little is known concerning how they question children in suspicious circumstances. Teachers (n=36), who had previously participated in a... more
Teachers in many parts of the world are mandated reporters of child abuse and maltreatment but very little is known concerning how they question children in suspicious circumstances. Teachers (n=36), who had previously participated in a mock interview scenario designed to characterize their baseline use of various question-types when attempting to elicit sensitive information from children, were given online training in choosing effective questions. They engaged in simulated interviews with a virtual avatar several times in one week and then participated in a mock interview scenario. The amount and proportion of open-ended questions they used increased dramatically after training. The overall number of questions, and amount and proportions of specific and leading questions decreased. In particular, large decreases were observed in more risky yes-no and other forced-choice questions. Given that most teachers may feel the need to ask a child about an ambiguous situation at some point during their careers it is worthwhile to incorporate practice asking effective questions into their training, and the present research suggests that an e-learning format is effective. Additionally, effective questions encourage the development of narrative competence, and we discuss how teachers might include open-ended questions during regular classroom learning.
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Few studies of media use and adiposity explore the influence of parenting on children’s lifestyle behaviors. Screen media access, bedroom television, lack of physical activity, and snacking on energy-dense foods have long been implicated... more
Few studies of media use and adiposity explore the influence of parenting on children’s lifestyle behaviors. Screen media access, bedroom television, lack of physical activity, and snacking on energy-dense foods have long been implicated in child overweight. This research used data from the first three waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to investigate, prospectively, the associations between parental practices in early to middle childhood and children’s behaviors and weight in late childhood. A path model was used to investigate whether consistent parenting
predicted setting of boundaries for access to and use of media, and was indirectly associated with children’s lifestyle behaviors that increase the likelihood of healthy weight maintenance. The findings demonstrated that children’s lifestyles pertinent to weight maintenance and media use cluster together and involve both old and new media.
Authors' preprint version of paper published in the Journal of Children and Media 9(1), 2015. Document may vary slightly from the published version.
predicted setting of boundaries for access to and use of media, and was indirectly associated with children’s lifestyle behaviors that increase the likelihood of healthy weight maintenance. The findings demonstrated that children’s lifestyles pertinent to weight maintenance and media use cluster together and involve both old and new media.
Authors' preprint version of paper published in the Journal of Children and Media 9(1), 2015. Document may vary slightly from the published version.
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Authors' pre-print version of article published in Early Childhood Development and Care, 2014. Paper may vary from the published version.
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This paper aimed to systematically evaluate the mental health and well-being outcomes observed in previous community-based obesity prevention interventions in adolescent populations. Systematic review of literature from database inception... more
This paper aimed to systematically evaluate the mental health and well-being outcomes observed in previous community-based obesity prevention interventions in adolescent populations. Systematic review of literature from database inception to October 2014. Articles were sourced from CINAHL, Global Health, Health Source: Nursing and Academic Edition, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO, all of which were accessed through EBSCOhost. The Cochrane Database was also searched to identify all eligible articles. PRISMA guidelines were followed and search terms and search strategy ensured all possible studies were identified for review. Intervention studies were eligible for inclusion if they were: focused on overweight or obesity prevention, community-based, targeted adolescents (aged 10-19 years), reported a mental health or well-being measure, and included a comparison or control group. Studies that focused on specific adolescent groups or were treatment interventions were excluded from rev...
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Children placed in out-of-home care are a particularly disadvantaged group in society, who have often been exposed to trauma and socioeconomic disadvantage. As a result, they experience poorer health outcomes than children in the general... more
Children placed in out-of-home care are a particularly disadvantaged group in society, who have often been exposed to trauma and socioeconomic disadvantage. As a result, they experience poorer health outcomes than children in the general population, especially mental health outcomes. One health outcome that has yet to be researched thoroughly is overweight and obesity of children placed in out-of-home care.
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ABSTRACT Background: Pregnancy has been identified as a risk factor for increasing rates of obesity in women. In recent years, psychological factors have been demon- strated to play a key role in contributing to and maintaining postpartum... more
ABSTRACT Background: Pregnancy has been identified as a risk factor for increasing rates of obesity in women. In recent years, psychological factors have been demon- strated to play a key role in contributing to and maintaining postpartum weight retention (PWR). Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the relation- ship between psychological distress during late pregnancy and early postpartum, specifically depression, anxiety, stress, and body dissatisfaction, and early PWR. Methods: Pregnant women (N = 227) completed a series of questionnaires at 32 weeks gestation and 3 months postpartum. Results: The most salient predic- tor of PWR was gestational weight gain (GWG). In a prospective hierarchical regression analysis, only GWG contributed unique prediction of early PWR. In a second hierarchical regression analysis examining cross-sectional relationships with three-month PWR, GWG and early postpartum stress contributed unique variance while the contribution of feelings of fatness approached significance. Conclusions: Given the large association of GWG to early PWR, interventions should focus on the prevention of GWG during pregnancy, as well as screening for body dissatisfaction and stress in the early postpartum.
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Obesity and being overweight affect almost half of all women of childbearing age, with postpartum weight retention (PWR) being a key contributing factor. Retention of postpartum weight has a number of negative health implications for... more
Obesity and being overweight affect almost half of all women of childbearing age, with postpartum weight retention (PWR) being a key contributing factor. Retention of postpartum weight has a number of negative health implications for mothers and offspring, including longer-term higher body mass index (BMI). There is increasing evidence that psychological factors are associated with PWR, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, and body dissatisfaction. However, what is less known is how these psychological factors might interact with maternal physiological and physical weight factors, sociocontextual influences, pregnancy-related medical factors, and maternal behaviours to lead to PWR. We have incorporated identified psychological influences within an empirically supported, multifactorial, conceptual model of hypothesised predictors of PWR, and argue that a systematic and rigorous evaluation of this conceptual model will inform the development of appropriate prevention strate...
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... & Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz Available online: 05 Dec 2011. ... Several longitudinal studies have identified TV viewing during the preschool years as an important risk factor for developing overweight and obesity in... more
... & Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz Available online: 05 Dec 2011. ... Several longitudinal studies have identified TV viewing during the preschool years as an important risk factor for developing overweight and obesity in adolescence and adulthood (Hancox, Milne, & Poulton, 200423. ...
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Research Interests: Psychometrics, Adolescent, Fatigue, Prospective studies, Pregnancy, and 15 moreHumans, Affective Disorders, Sleep Quality, Personality Assessment Inventory, Female, Male, Depressive Disorder, Beck Depression Inventory, Affective, Adult, Somatoform disorders, Pregnant Women, Antenatal Care, Depressive Symptoms, and Psychological Models
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The aim of this study was to explore the effects of repeat viewing on comprehension of explicitly and implicitly presented information in an animated movie. Seventy-three pre-school children watched an animated film and were tested for... more
The aim of this study was to explore the effects of repeat viewing on comprehension of explicitly and implicitly presented information in an animated movie. Seventy-three pre-school children watched an animated film and were tested for comprehension after either their single or ...
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... Suddendorf, T., Simcock, G. and Nielsen, M. 2007. ... In the LSR task, a live video image presents the children with their marked self (eg sticker on top of head) and, as with MSR, when shown their live reflection children should... more
... Suddendorf, T., Simcock, G. and Nielsen, M. 2007. ... In the LSR task, a live video image presents the children with their marked self (eg sticker on top of head) and, as with MSR, when shown their live reflection children should reach for the mark/sticker if they have developed a ...
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The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate relationships among women's body attitudes, physical... more
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate relationships among women's body attitudes, physical symptoms, self-esteem, depression, and sleep quality during pregnancy. Pregnant women (N=215) at 15-25 weeks gestation completed a questionnaire including four body image subscales assessing self-reported feeling fat, attractiveness, strength/fitness, and salience of weight and shape. Women reported on 29 pregnancy-related physical complaints, and completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. In regressions, controlling for retrospective reports of body image, more frequent and intense physical symptoms were related to viewing the self as less strong/fit, and to poorer sleep quality and more depressive symptoms. In a multi-factorial model extending previous research, paths were found from sleep quality to depressive symptoms to self-esteem; self-esteem was found to be a mediator associated with lower scores on feeling fat and salience of weight and shape, and on higher perceived attractiveness.