Reducing electronic media use in 2-3 year-old children: feasibility and efficacy of the Family@play pilot randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Participation in electronic media use among 2-3 year olds is high and associated with adverse health and developmental outcomes. This study sought to test the feasibility and potential efficacy of a family-based program to decrease electronic media (EM) use in 2-3-year-old children. METHODS: Family@play was a six-session pilot randomised controlled trial delivered to parents of 2-3 year-old children from August to September 2012 in a community environment in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Development of program content was guided by Social Cognitive and Family Systems Theories. The primary outcome was children's electronic media use. Secondary outcomes included children's time in sitting, standing and stepping. Data collectors were blinded to group allocation. Parents completed comprehensive process evaluation measures and participated in focus group discussions following completion of the program. Regression analyses were undertaken and effect sizes calculated using principles of intention to treat. RESULTS: Twenty-two participants (n = 12 intervention; n = 10 control) provided complete baseline data; complete data from 16 participants (n = 6 intervention; n = 10 control) were available post-intervention. Process evaluation results were high, showing the acceptability of the program. Compared with children in the control group, there were greater decreases in total EM use among children in the intervention group (adjusted difference [95 % CI] = -31.2 mins/day [-71.0-8.6] Cohen's d = 0.70). Differences for other outcomes were in the hypothesised direction and ranged from small for postural (sitting, standing, stepping) outcomes to moderate to large for individual electronic media (e.g. TV viewing, DVD/video viewing). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first family-based study to engage families of 2-3 year old children outside the United States and target multiple EM behaviours. Family@play was shown to be a feasible and acceptable intervention to deliver to families of 2-3 year old children. Potential efficacy is evident from moderate to large effect sizes. A larger trial is warranted to test the efficacy of the program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( ACTRN12612000470897 ).

Swivelling the spotlight: stardom, celebrity and ‘me’

Celebrity studies critiques the ways in which celebrity culture constructs discourses of authenticity and disclosure, offering the cultural and economic circulation of the ‘private’ self. Rarely, however, do we turn the spotlight on ourselves as not only scholars of stardom and celebrity, but also part of the audience. Autoethnography has become increasingly important across different disciplines, although its status within media and cultural studies is less visible and secure, not least because the emphasis on personal attachments to media forms may threaten the discipline’s still contested claim to cultural legitimacy. The study of stars and celebrities has often found itself at the ‘lower’ end of this already debased continuum, perhaps making such tensions particularly acute. Based on three personal narratives of engagements with stars and celebrities, this co-authored article explores the potential relationships between autoethnography and celebrity studies, and considers the personal, intellectual, and political implications of bringing the scholar into the celebrity frame.

Zebrafish as a model for leukemia and other hematopoietic disorders

Zebrafish is an established model for the study of vertebrate development, and is especially amenable for investigating hematopoiesis, where there is strong conservation of key lineages, genes, and developmental processes with humans. Over recent years, zebrafish has been increasingly utilized as a model for a range of human hematopoietic diseases, including malignancies. This review provides an overview of zebrafish hematopoiesis and describes its application as a model of leukemia and other hematopoietic disorders.

Ethical issues and lessons in the voices of Pacific children project

Knowledge of the needs and experiences of children with disability living in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea (PNG) is limited and that which does exist, does not focus on data collected directly from children themselves. This project aims to establish a method of data collection to determine the self-reported needs and priorities of children living with disability in Vanuatu and PNG. The project involves a multi-staged capacity building approach between two Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs): PNG Assembly of Disabled Persons (PNGADP) and the Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association Vanuatu (DPA); and Save the Children and Deakin University. The research is funded by an Australian Development Research Award and is being undertaken between 2013 and 2015. The research will collect data from up to 50 children with disability aged between 5 and 18 years in each country.

Population prevalence of personality disorder and associations with physical health comorbidities and health care service utilization: a review

Personality disorder (PD), outcomes of diverse comorbid physical health conditions, and the associated burden on health service resources have seldom been studied at a population level. Consequently, there is limited evidence that might inform a public health approach to managing PD and associated mental and physical disability. A review was conducted of population-based studies examining the prevalence of PD and associations between physical comorbidities and service utilization. The prevalence of any PDs were common (4.4% -21.5%) among populations spanning England, Wales, Scotland, Western Europe, Norway, Australia, and the United States. Preliminary evidence supports associations between PDs from Clusters A and B and physical comorbidities, namely cardiovascular diseases and arthritis. PD appears to increase health care utilization, particularly in primary care. In order to facilitate rational population health planning, further population studies are required.

Anxiety, depression and fatigue at 5-year review following CNS demyelination

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression are common in multiple sclerosis (MS). We evaluated the prevalence and factors associated with anxiety, depression and fatigue at the 5-year review of a longitudinal cohort study following a first clinical diagnosis of CNS demyelination (FCD).

METHODS: Cases with a FCD were recruited soon after diagnosis and followed annually thereafter. A variety of environmental, behavioural and clinical covariates were measured at five-year review. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Hospital Anxiety & Depression Scale (HADS), and fatigue by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).

RESULTS: Of the 236 cases, 40.2% had clinical anxiety (median HADS-A: 6.0), 16.0% had clinical depression (median HADS-D: 3.0), and 41.3% had clinical fatigue (median FSS: 4.56). The co-occurrence of all three symptoms was 3.76 times greater than expectation. Younger age, higher disability, concussion or other disease diagnosis were independently associated with a higher anxiety score; male sex, higher disability, being unemployed, less physical activity, and antidepressant and/or anxiolytic-sedative medication use were independently associated with a higher depression score. Higher disability, immunomodulatory medication use, other disease diagnosis and anxiolytic-sedative medication use were independently associated with having fatigue, while female sex, higher BMI, having had a concussion, being unemployed and higher disability were associated with a higher fatigue score.

CONCLUSION: These results support previous findings of the commonality of anxiety, depression and fatigue in established MS and extend this to post-FCD and early MS cases. The clustering of the three symptoms indicates that they may share common antecedents.

Predicting climate warming effects on green turtle hatchling viability and dispersal performance

Ectotherms are taxa considered highly sensitive to rapid climate warming. This is because body temperature profoundly governs their performance, fitness and life history. Yet, while several modelling approaches currently predict thermal effects on some aspects of life history and demography, they do not consider how temperature simultaneously affects developmental success and offspring phenotypic performance, two additional key attributes that are needed to comprehensively understand species responses to climate warming. Here, we developed a stepwise, individual-level modelling approach linking biophysical and developmental models with empirically derived performance functions to predict the effects of temperature-induced changes to offspring viability, phenotype and performance, using green sea turtle hatchlings as an ectotherm model. Climate warming is expected to particularly threaten sea turtles, as their life-history traits may preclude them from rapid adaptation. Under conservative and extreme warming, our model predicted large effects on performance attributes key to dispersal, as well as a reduction in offspring viability. Forecast sand temperatures produced smaller, weaker hatchlings, which were up to 40% slower than at present, albeit with increased energy stores. Conversely, increases in sea surface temperatures aided swimming performance. Our exploratory study points to the need for further development of integrative individual-based modelling frameworks to better understand the complex outcomes of climate change for ectotherm species. Such advances could better serve ecologists to highlight the most vulnerable species and populations, encouraging prioritization of conservation effort to the most threatened systems.

It ain't just what you do and the way that you do it: why discourse matters in higher education communities of practice

A number of Australian universities have established and sponsored interdisciplinary communities of practice (CoPs) to develop teaching and learning. CoPs are popularly defined as groups of people who share a passion for something and, together, learn how to do it better. Without further specification, this definition is of limited use in understanding intentionally established CoPs in higher education settings. The term CoP is used and applied in a range of ways in higher education and has been accompanied by some scholarly debate about the meaning and relevance of CoPs to academe. The prevalent response to such debate has been to propose typologies. While typology can be useful, epistemology and discourse are also significant in understanding and developing higher education CoPs. In this paper I focus on discourse surrounding CoPs as a conceptual and developmental factor which has been insufficiently considered in the literature on higher education CoPs. I draw on findings from interviews with 33 CoP members and facilitators in three Australian universities. My findings indicate that discourse surrounding CoPs is significant in shaping notions of participatory value. Connecting with the literature, my findings also reveal a ‘big D’ Discourse of collegiality whereby CoPs offer social support and knowledge sharing to build capacity, as well as spaces in which a collegial academic identity can thrive. This coincides in complex and unpredictable ways with a Discourse of managerialism. I conclude that discourse should supplement typology and epistemology in adaptively shaping understandings of contemporary higher education CoPs and their future development.

Comparison of performance on process- and product-oriented assessments of fundamental motor skills across childhood

Process-oriented motor competence (MC) assessments evaluate how a movement is performed. Product-oriented assessments evaluate the outcome of a movement. Determining the concurrent validity of process and product assessments is important to address the predictive utility of motor competence for health. The current study aimed to: (1) compare process and product assessments of the standing long jump, hop and throw across age groups and (2) determine the capacity of process assessments to classify levels of MC. Participants included 170 children classified into three age groups: 4–5, 7–8 and 10–11 years old. Participants’ skills were examined concurrently using three process assessments ((Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd edition [TGMD-2]), Get Skilled; Get Active, and developmental sequences) and one product measure (throw speed, jump and hop distance). Results indicate moderate to strong correlations between (1) process assessments across skills and age groups (r range = .37–70) and (2) process and product assessments across skills and age groups (r range = .26–.88). In general, sensitivity to detect advanced skill level is lowest for TGMD-2 and highest for developmental sequences for all three skills. The use of process and product assessments is suggested to comprehensively capture levels of MC in human movement.

Contemporary publics: shifting boundaries in new media, technology and culture

If the twentieth century has been dominated by discussions of the public, public life, and the public sphere, Contemporary Publics argues that, in the twenty-first century, we must complicate the singularity of that paradigm and start thinking of our world in terms of multiple, overlapping, and competing publics. In three distinct streams—art, media and technology, and the intimate life—this volume offers up the intellectual and political significance of thinking through the plurality of our publics. “Countering Neoliberal Publics: Screen and Space,” explores how different artistic practices articulate the challenges and desires of multiple publics. “Making and Shaping Publics: Discourse and Technology” showcases how media shape publics, and how new and emerging publics use these technologies to construct identities. “Commodifying Public Intimacies” examines what happens to the notion of the private when intimacies structure publics, move into public spaces, and develop value that can be exchanged and circulated.