Our research in mental health

Our research in mental health is conducted within the Research and Evaluation Unit at the Women's and Children's Hospital. The goal of our research is to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents in Australia.

During the last decade we have led the Child and Adolescent component of the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, and the beyondblue Schools Research Initiative. We also completed the TOLKEIN III project which identified and costed health and education services for the care and treatment of young people with mental disorders in Australia. More recently, we have been asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the South Australian Nurse Family Home Visiting Program (SA-FHV) to improve the wellbeing of mothers and infants. Other research projects have examined the extent to which good quality child-teacher relationships can protect children against the adverse effects of family adversity, and the quality of the Children's Centres Program being developed by the Department of Education and Children's Services in South Australia.

Our research has both local and international relevance and is published in government reports and peer-reviewed journals in Australia and overseas.