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The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers share in State Government science grants

Four The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers are among those who have received funding in the WA State Government's Merit Award Program announced today.

Research

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of folic acid supplementation beyond the first trimester on maternal plasma unmetabolised folic acid in late gestation

Taking folic acid containing supplements prior to and during early pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Neural tube defects occur prior to 28 days postconception, after which, there is no proven benefit of continuing to take folic acid. However, many women continue to take folic acid containing supplements throughout the pregnancy.

Research

Magic Hats and Teddy Bear picnics: Language and visuospatial lateralisation tasks for children

The 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.

Research

Informing Resource Allocation for Investment in Early Childhood: A Review of the International Peer-Reviewed Evidence

Early 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.

Research

The Milk Metabolome of Non-secretor and Lewis Negative Mothers

The functional role of milk for the developing neonate is an area of great interest, and a significant amount of research has been done. However, a lot of work remains to fully understand the complexities of milk, and the variations imposed through genetics. It has previously been shown that both secretor (Se) and Lewis blood type (Le) status impacts the human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) content of human milk. While some studies have compared the non-HMO milk metabolome of Se+ and Se- women, none have reported on the non-HMO milk metabolome of Se- and Le- mothers.

Research

Adolescent education outcomes and maltreatment: The role of pre-existing adversity, level of child protection involvement, and school attendance

Maltreated children are at high risk for low educational achievement, however few studies have accounted for confounding risk factors that commonly co-occur (including child, family and neighbourhood risk factors) and results have been mixed, particularly for adolescents.

Research

Associations of prenatal alcohol exposure and offspring harmful alcohol use: findings from the Raine Study

Epidemiological evidence suggests offspring exposed to prenatal alcohol are at increased risk of alcohol use disorders in adulthood. The evidence on the risk of developing harmful alcohol use in adolescence is less clear.

Research

Genome-wide analyses of individual differences in quantitatively assessed reading- and language-related skills in up to 34,000 people

The use of spoken and written language is a fundamental human capacity. Individual differences in reading- and language-related skills are influenced by genetic variation, with twin-based heritability estimates of 30 to 80% depending on the trait. The genetic architecture is complex, heterogeneous, and multifactorial, but investigations of contributions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were thus far underpowered.

Research

A Parent-Mediated Intervention for Newborns at Familial Likelihood of Autism: Initial Feasibility Study in the General Population

Developmental 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.

Research

Associations between the built environment and emotional, social and physical indicators of early child development across high and low socioeconomic neighbourhoods

Emerging 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.