From journal articles to Quick Guides and webinars, you will find tools and information to support.
This multi-authored article, published in PLOS One, examines families’ experiences of COVID-19 impacts and the associations between COVID-19 impacts and maternal and child mental health. The authors surveyed 319 mothers from Victoria and Tasmania who had experienced adversity during pregnancy in 2013-14, and found high rates of self-quarantine, job or income loss, family stress and difficulty managing home learning. Poorer mental health for mothers and children was found to be associated with self-quarantine, financial hardship and family stress.
The Commissioner for Children and Young People Western Australia has released this report reviewing the current evidence on girls’ wellbeing to understand the reasons for the wellbeing gap between male and female young people. It was found that gender stereotypes, driven in part by increasing social media usage, affect self-esteem, low engagement in physical activity, reduced feelings of safety and independence, and decreased sense of belonging for girls. The report calls for urgent action to improve girls’ wellbeing outcomes.
This report from ReachOut Australia evaluates the effectiveness of ReachOut’s tailored and targetd support services for regional, rural and remote young people and assesses whether it has contributed to improvements in their mental health and wellbeing. The research found that young people perceive support from ReachOut to be relevant, engaging and validating. It also found that the support provides a space to connect with other rural young people and plays a role in enabling young people to take further action to support their mental health.
Dr Maddison Riachi reports on research investigating the topic of mental health and mental health service utilisation of young people whose use of violence has brought them to the attention of Victoria Police.
We hear from Maddison Riachi, who is a current Doctoral Candidate completing her Doctor of Psychology (Clinical and Forensic) at Swinburne University and The Centre of Forensic Behavioural Science. Maddison has recently completed research investigating the topic of mental health and mental health service utilisation of young people whose use of violence has brought them to the attention of Victoria Police. We’re then joined by our panel of Specialist Family Violence Advisors in Mental Health to discuss access to mental health support services, identifying AVITH and working holistically.
This case study sheds a light on the Youth Leadership Program Area at Centre for Multicultural Youth. It talks about principles and values which respect the views and abilities of young people from diverse backgrounds, and has transferable lessons for all kinds of youth participation models.
This short article from Emerging Minds offers advice for practitioners on how to support families and children while they are on the waiting list for specialist assessment or care for mental health issues. This piece was inspired by research into barriers and facilitators to early childhood mental health pathways in the Barwon region in southwest Victoria. One of the barriers identified was long wait times for appointments, and the following practices were suggested by professionals interviewed for this research.
This research paper reviews the current literature relating to adolescent violence in the home, identifies known best practice, and evaluates the importance of taking a family-focused, therapeutic approach to adolescent family violence, in place of a punitive one.
This promising practice guide from Orygen draws on an emerging, yet disparate, evidence-base about promising practices aimed at improving the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. It aims to support service providers, commissioners, and policy-makers to adopt strengths-based, equitable and culturally responsive approaches that better meet the needs of this high-risk population.
