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Objective : This study examines the mental health and associated risk factors of children with hearing loss. Methods : A cross‐sectional analysis of the impact of hearing loss among Australian children using data drawn from Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (2004) (LSACs) (n=4589). LSACs provides data which assesses family circumstances, children's hearing problems, chronic health conditions, social and emotional difficulties, communications disorders and language, motor skills and educational outcomes. Outcomes for children aged 4–5 years identified with hearing loss (n=93) were compared with 4,496 children without hearing loss. Results : Children with hearing loss showed elevated prevalence across most dimensions of emotional and behavioural difficulties, and on indicators of communication disorders, language and cognitive development, and motor skills. Reduced receptive language skills and increased difficulties understanding others were predictive of increased psychosocial difficulties in children with hearing problems. Conclusion : Australian children with hearing problems face multiple concurrent health and developmental problems. Moreover, children with hearing problems exhibit behavioural problems when they do not understand what is going on around them. Without appropriate interventions, these children are at risk of developing mental health disorders. Implications : An epidemiological study of hearing in children is indicated. Children with receptive hearing problems require access to amplification, communication training, and psychosocial support. Attention must also be given to building design to reduce physical barriers to hearing.

BackgroundIt is well known that children of parents with mental illness are at greater risk of mental illness themselves. However the patterns of familial mental health problems across multiple generations in families are less clear. This study aimed to examine mental health relationships across three generations of Australian families.MethodsMental health data, along with a range of family demographic information, were collected from over 4600 families in Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative cohort study. The social and emotional wellbeing of two cohorts of children aged 4–5 years and 8–9 years was measured using the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The mental health of mothers and fathers was measured using the Kessler 6-item K6 scale, and the mental health history of maternal and paternal grandmothers and grandfathers was measured using a dichotomous parent-report item. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used assess the relationships between grandparent and parent mental health and child social and emotional wellbeing at ages 4–5 years and 8–9 years.ResultsBoth cohorts of children had greater mental health distress with higher SDQ scores on average if their mother or father had a mental health problem. For children aged 8–9 years, a history of mental health problems in maternal grandmothers and grandfathers was associated with higher SDQ scores in grandchildren, after controlling for maternal and paternal mental health and other family characteristics. For children aged 4–5 years, only a mental health history in paternal grandfathers was associated with higher SDQ scores.ConclusionsThe mental health histories of both parents and grandparents play an important role in the social and emotional wellbeing of young children.

This article examines how managers grant employees access to family-friendly work conditions and the institutional, organization and individual-level factors affecting their decision-making processes. This research question is addressed by comparing family-friendly conditions in collective agreements in the Australian retail and public service sectors. An analysis of interviews with management staff in the two sectors then explores how access to these family-friendly conditions works in practice. We found that at an institutional level, the different collective agreement conditions in each sector enabled or constrained managers’ ability to create family-friendly working arrangements for employees. Industry-specific pressures and workplace ‘cultures’ also shaped the ease with which managers could grant employees access to conditions. Most importantly, managers’ discretion operated on the basis of a cost–benefit analysis, where managers weighed up the benefits of retaining an employee’s skills and knowledge against the costs of implementing a particular family-friendly arrangement. The article concludes by considering managerial discretion in relation to recent reforms to Australia’s industrial relations laws.