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Background and Hypothesis Māori, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, experience increased rates of psychotic disorders and first-episode psychosis. However, it is unclear whether they also present with increased psychosis risk symptoms, such as subclinical psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). Measurement of risk symptoms is key for early intervention. Further, it is unclear if systemic factors such as the increased rates of social adversity and discrimination or cultural biases contribute to this disparity in psychosis rates. Study Design This study surveyed 466 18- to 30-year olds in New Zealand, and compared Māori to non-Māori participant responses on the Prodromal Questionnaire Brief, alongside the history of childhood trauma, discrimination, and financial adversity. Study Results Māori reported a higher number of PLEs compared to non-Māori—however, this was not associated with increased distress related to these experiences. The increased number of psychosis-like experiences reported by Māori was likely explained by systemic factors such as childhood trauma, discrimination, and financial stress. Māori were more likely to report that the PLEs were positive. Conclusions Measurement of psychosis risk for Māori is nuanced, and increased scores on these tools may reflect pathologizing potentially normative experiences for Māori, such as spiritual encounters or discrimination, alongside the impact of increased rates of systemic discrimination, trauma, and financial stress.

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Background Oral language skills are associated with children’s later self-regulation and academic skills; in turn, self-regulation in early childhood predicts successful functioning later in life. Yet research to date has not tested the combined benefits of interventions for oral language and self-regulation skills. Objective The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the separate and combined effectiveness of an oral language intervention (ENRICH) and a self-regulation intervention (ENGAGE) with early childhood teachers and parents for children’s oral language, self-regulation, and academic functioning. Methods The Best Start study (Kia Tīmata Pai in te reo Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand) is a cluster randomized controlled trial with teachers and children in approximately 140 early childhood centres in New Zealand. Centres are randomly assigned to receive either oral language intervention only (ENRICH), self-regulation intervention only (ENGAGE), both interventions (ENRICH + ENGAGE), or an active control condition. Teachers’ and parents’ practices and children’s oral language and self-regulation development are assessed at baseline at age 1.5 years and at approximately 9-month intervals to age 5, and academic performance will be assessed at age 6. Teacher-child interactions will also be videotaped approximately every 9 months in a randomly selected subset of the centres. Finally, children’s brain and behavior development and interactions with their parents will be assessed approximately every 6 months to age 6 years in a sub-group of volunteers. Discussion Our previous studies show the separate benefits of oral language and self-regulation interventions with parents and educators for young children. In this study, we are investigating the separate and combined benefits of these two interventions in a large-scale cluster randomized controlled trial of teachers, parents, and young children. The results will inform theories of self-regulation development and the design of early childhood curricula. Trial registration This trial was registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR) as ACTRN12621000845831.

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