'Of course I didn't work … only when I had to': narratives of women's working lives and what really counted

There was a long-held belief, that, prior to the 1970s, women were no longer involved in paid labour once they were married or began to have children. Official statistics also supported this particular national narrative. This paper argues that this narrative did not accurately reflect the historical situation because the methods used to determine who worked and when did not fully capture all of women's paid labour at the time. This is reflected in a small study of older women and their recollections of paid employment. Some women initially claimed that they did no paid work after marriage, but with low key, in-depth and persistent questioning, it became clear that many women did work in an unofficial capacity (in the black economy) or alongside their husbands in their paid employment. This is a preliminary study that underlines the importance of life-course narratives in the social sciences to delve deeply into women's memories and thus their experiences.

Complexities in the career-family perspectives of young professionals

Work-life balance issues are not a constant but are framed differently at different stages of the life-course. In addition to analysing behaviour, it is also important to develop an understanding of the meaning that actors attach to what they do. This article examines the perspectives of young Australian professionals on career, relationships and family. Work-life balance issues are not a constant but are framed differently at different stages of the life-course. In addition to analysing behaviour, it is also important to develop an understanding of the meaning that actors attach to what they do. This article examines the perspectives of young Australian professionals on career, relationships and family formation as these evolve over the early years after university graduation. It provides an insight into their views about the balance between their career goals and family in the early years of their professional working lives. It reports a longitudinal study of 86 young Australian professionals from 1997 to 2003, which highlights the emergent and contingent nature of decisions about careers and relationships and their relevance for childbearing. Gender plays a role in their plans and expectations but they reject the traditional male breadwinner model. The high value given to dual career relationships may put stress on their ability to balance family aspirations with satisfactory careers.yformation as these evolve over the early years after university graduation. It provides an insight into their views about the balance between their career goals and family in the early years of their professional working lives. It reports a longitudinal study of 86young Australian professionalsfrom 1997 to 2003, which highlights the emergent and contingent nature of decisions about careers and relationships andtheir relevancefor childbearing. Gender plays a role in their plans and expectations but they reject the traditional male breadwinner model. The high value given to dual career relationships may put stress on their ability to balance family aspirations with satisfactory careers.

Older Australians : involvement in civil society in the 1990s

As Australia’s population continues to age, questions about how older individuals use their time holds increasing interest and significance for scholars and policy makers. As individuals near the end of their paid working life, and family roles and responsibilities diminish, the type of activities that will fill this time void have important implications for the health and wellbeing of older Australians and for the strength of civil society. In Australia, there have been sustained moves at all levels of government to encourage the more active engagement in community services of this group of citizens, given the size and significant amount of human capital of this cohort. However, international research suggests that this enthusiasm has not translated into increased volunteer activity for seniors, and that older citizens tend to spend their expanding discretionary time pursuing leisure activities, such as watching television or listening to the radio (Robinson & Godbey 1997; Wilson & Musick 1997; Thoits & Hewitt 2001). This study builds on a broader interest in how people choose to utilise time across the life course and how the experience of ageing shapes such decisions. This aim of this paper is twofold – first, to investigate how older Australians allocated their time in the 1990s, and how these time use patterns changed over a 5-year period, using nationally representative, longitudinal data from two waves of the Australian Time Use Survey. Second, the time use characteristics of those individuals who devote more time to social participation activities are examined, to investigate trends in volunteering across age cohorts, with a focus on those above the age of fifty.

Markers of inflammation in South Asian and European infants from birth to 2 years in Manchester, UK

Inflammatory markers, including serum C-reactive protein (CRP), are predictors of coronary heart disease (CHD) in adults. South Asians in the UK have higher rates of CHD in adulthood than national rates.We tested the hypotheses that South Asian infants would have higher serum concentrations of CRP and homocysteine than European infants up to 2 years of age and that higher infant weight is associated with elevation of inflammatory markers. Infants of South Asian and European origin were investigated in a mixed cross sectional-longitudinal cohort study. Mothers were recruited ante-natally from St Mary’s Hospital,Manchester by postal invitation and telephone call to non-responders. Infants with metabolic or congenital abnormalities, known syndromes or pre-maturity were excluded. Measurements were collected at birth and either 3, 6, 12 or 24 months. High sensitivity CRP and homocysteine were measured by an immulite immunoassay. We used mixed linear modelling to assess whether infant weight, ethnicity, length of follow-up or their interaction were associated with inflammatory makers in infants during follow-up. Data are presented on 306 infants (109 South Asian and 197 European). We found that European infants had higher serum CRP than South Asian infants during follow-up which was of borderline significance.There was no difference in serum homocysteine between ethnic groups during followup and no significant interaction between ethnicity and follow-up. Infant weight was significantly associated with CRP but not homocysteine. In this ongoing longitudinal study,we found little difference in inflammatory markers in infants from birth to 2 years despite markedly higher rates of CHD in South Asian than European adults. Life course exposure to risk factors may play a more dominant role in the development of CHD.

Occupational and non-occupational physical activity and the social determinants of physical activity : results from the Health Survey for England

Background: This article aims to examine the relative contribution of occupational activity to English adults’ meeting of government recommendations for physical activity (PA).

Methods: Data were extracted from a cross-sectional survey of householders in the UK via the Health Survey for England.¹ In total, 14,018 adult participants were included in the analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the odds of achieving PA recommendations with and without including occupational activity and to examine the contribution of gender and social and demographic characteristics.

Results: When occupational PA was included, 36% of men and 25% of women were active at the recommended level. Once occupational PA was removed, these proportions were 23% and 19%, respectively. These results were socially patterned, most notably by age and gender.

Conclusions: Occupational PA provides a substantial contribution to those meeting the government target for PA.

Psychic resonance of the pre-Oedipal mother

Few would deny the importance of the mother in the care of her infant, but her relevance, her resonance and the indelible traces she leaves in the psyche of the developing individual and which thereafter accompanies and influences the life course is investigated in this psychoanalytically informed study.

3D leadership for national renewal

A perpetual immigrant, Professor Frederick relates his life course that brought him to New Zealand and describes what he found here. One of the country’s early advocates of the “knowledge economy” path to economic development, Frederick outlines his vision of leadership for the new millennium that will help restore New Zealand to the top half of the OECD and grow the cake for the prosperity of all. He relates what we expect from our leaders as well as his personal vision to leadership in New Zealand.

The Early Prevention of Obesity in CHildren (EPOCH) collaboration : an individual patient data prospective meta-analysis

Background
Efforts to prevent the development of overweight and obesity have increasingly focused early in the life course as we recognise that both metabolic and behavioural patterns are often established within the first few years of life. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions are even more powerful when, with forethought, they are synthesised into an individual patient data (IPD) prospective meta-analysis (PMA). An IPD PMA is a unique research design where several trials are identified for inclusion in an analysis before any of the individual trial results become known and the data are provided for each randomised patient. This methodology minimises the publication and selection bias often associated with a retrospective meta-analysis by allowing hypotheses, analysis methods and selection criteria to be specified a priori.

Methods/Design
The Early Prevention of Obesity in CHildren (EPOCH) Collaboration was formed in 2009. The main objective of the EPOCH Collaboration is to determine if early intervention for childhood obesity impacts on body mass index (BMI) z scores at age 18-24 months. Additional research questions will focus on whether early intervention has an impact on children's dietary quality, TV viewing time, duration of breastfeeding and parenting styles. This protocol includes the hypotheses, inclusion criteria and outcome measures to be used in the IPD PMA. The sample size of the combined dataset at final outcome assessment (approximately 1800 infants) will allow greater precision when exploring differences in the effect of early intervention with respect to pre-specified participant- and intervention-level characteristics.

Discussion
Finalisation of the data collection procedures and analysis plans will be complete by the end of 2010. Data collection and analysis will occur during 2011-2012 and results should be available by 2013.

A prospective study of diet quality and mental health in adolescents

Objectives: A number of cross-sectional and prospective studies have now been published demonstrating inverse relationships between diet quality and the common mental disorders in adults. However, there are no existing prospective studies of this association in adolescents, the onset period of most disorders, limiting inferences regarding possible causal relationships.
Methods: In this study, 3040 Australian adolescents, aged 11–18 years at baseline, were measured in 2005–6 and 2007–8. Information on diet and mental health was collected by self-report and anthropometric data by trained researchers.
Results: There were cross-sectional, dose response relationships identified between measures of both healthy (positive) and unhealthy (inverse) diets and scores on the emotional subscale of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), where higher scores mean better mental health, before and after adjustments for age, gender, socio-economic status, dieting behaviours, body mass index and physical activity. Higher healthy diet scores at baseline also predicted higher PedsQL scores at follow-up, while higher unhealthy diet scores at baseline predicted lower PedsQL scores at follow-up. Improvements in diet quality were mirrored by improvements in mental health over the follow-up period, while deteriorating diet quality was associated with poorer psychological functioning. Finally, results did not support the reverse causality hypothesis.
Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of diet in adolescence and its potential role in modifying mental health over the life course. Given that the majority of common mental health problems first manifest in adolescence, intervention studies are now required to test the effectiveness of preventing the common mental disorders through dietary modification.

Breath : allegory, knowledge practices, youth at-risk

Youth and risk are artefacts of expertise, constructed at the intersection of a wide range of knowledges about Youth and so-called Youth issues: an intersection marked by institutionalised, scientific representations of education, family, the life course, risk, and so on. In this paper I suggest that the messiness of human experiences and existence requires knowledge practices in the social sciences that can rethink what counts as truth. These interests – which are grounded in the knowledge practices that frame the work being undertaken in a large scale, qualitative investigation of the cultural drivers shaping the alcohol practices of 14 to 24 year old Australian’s - will be addressed through a discussion of the ways in which Tim Winton’s (2008) new novel Breath can be read as an allegorical tale about the terror of being ordinary: and of the teenage years as being a time in a life in which the fear of being ordinary compels Winton’s key characters to seek out, sometimes stumble upon, and embrace that which promises to make their’s a life less ordinary. In these recollections risk is something that breathes energy and purpose into lifeworlds that are dominated by the institutionalised ordinariness of family, school, and work.

Incidence of cardiovascular risk factors by education level 2000-2005 : the Australian diabetes, obesity and lifestyle (AusDiab) cohort study

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with a higher prevalence of major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, few longitudinal studies have examined the association between SES and CVD risk factors over time. We aimed to determine whether SES, using education as a proxy, is associated with the onset of CVD risk factors over 5 years in an Australian adult cohort study.

Participants in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study (AusDiab) study aged 25 years and over who attended both baseline and 5-year follow-up examinations (n=5 967) were categorised according to educational attainment. Cardiovascular risk factor data at both time points were ascertained through questionnaire and physical measurement.

Women with lower education had a greater risk of progressing from normal weight to overweight or obesity than those with higher education (age-adjusted OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.06-2.31). Both men and women with lower education were more likely to develop diabetes (age-adjusted OR from higher education 1.75, 95% CI 1.14-2.71 and 3.01, 95% CI 1.26-7.20, respectively). A lower level of education was associated with a greater number of risk factors accumulated over time in women (OR of progressing from having two or less risk factors at baseline to three or more at follow up, 2.04, 95% 1.32-3.14).

In this Australian population-based study, lower educational attainment was associated with an increased risk of developing both individual and total CVD risk factors over a 5-year period. These findings suggest that SES inequalities in CVD will persist into the future.

Promoting social inclusion of frail older people living in the community

The increasingly diverse needs and wants of Australia's ageing population, like those in many other societies, are drawing attention to aged care as an increasingly important area of broader health and social policy. Active qgeing and a focus on enabling people to remain living in their own homes in the community are two of the key components of this policy shift.

The policy shift towards active ageing recognises and aims to support the desires of older people to remain active members of their communities as they age. Active ageing is 'the process of optimising opportunities for physical, social and mental wellbeing throughout the life-course, in order to extend healthy life expectancy, productivity and quality oflife in older age' (AIPC 2008: 26).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the rights, needs, preferences and capacities of older people should be central to active ageing policies, and these should be framed by a life-course approach to ageing (WHO 2002). The development of age-friendly communities, social inclusion and engagement are emerging as key policy issues in the context of an ageing population.

Recent research demonstrates the importance of a sense of belonging in maintaining a sense of identity and increasing the wellbeing of an individual. The sense of belonging that comes about through community engagement also plays a role in successful adjustment to ageing, including prolonging good health and reduced risk of entry into residential aged care.

Book review: Understanding human development:a multi-dimensional approach (2nd ed.)

Book review: This book has much to offer social work and human services students. It covers many key theories, ideas, and debates relevant to a wide range of practice fields in a comprehensive, clearly organised, and engaging fashion. The author proposes, as on overarching premise, a “multidimensional” approach to understanding lifespan development and experiences of trauma, stress, and grief, as well as responses of adaptation and resilience across the life course. Consistent with social work values, the multidimensional approach “places an emphasis on the constant interaction of the biological, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of our inner worlds with the relational, social, structural, and cultural dimensions of our outer worlds” (p. 394).

Client self-assessment in community aged care: A comparative study involving older Australians and their case managers

Self-assessment of support needs is a relatively new and under-researched phenomenon in domiciliary aged care. This article outlines the results of a comparative study focusing on whether a self-assessment approach assists clients to identify support needs and the degree to which self-assessed needs differ from an assessment conducted by community care professionals. A total of 48 older people and their case managers completed a needs assessment tool. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were used to ascertain older people’s views and preferences regarding the self-assessment process. The study suggests that while a co-assessment approach as outlined in this article has the potential to assist older people to gain a better understanding of their care needs as well as the assessment process and its ramifications, client self-assessment should be seen as part of a co-assessment process involving care professionals. Such a co-assessment process allows older people to gain a better understanding of their support needs and the wider community aged care context. The article suggests that a co-assessment process involving both clients and care professionals contains features that have the capacity to enhance domiciliary aged care.