Senior Research Officer
BPsych(Hons), PhD (Public Health)
@marybrushe
she/her/hers
Dr Brushe is a Senior Research Officer at Telethon Kids Institute whose research focuses on understanding and supporting the health, development and education of young children. She has a particular interest in screen time in early childhood and how families can be best supported to use screen time in healthy ways. Her PhD also focused on the early home language environments, how that impacts early development and early life socioeconomic inequalities. Mary also collaborates on a range of projects focusing on children and adolescent mental health and wellbeing, food insecurity and school breakfast programs, and evaluations of government early years programs.
Dr Brushe has expertise in social epidemiology, longitudinal data analysis, participant recruitment and data collection, the development of interventions through co-design methodologies, literature review/synthesis, public health advocacy, and research translation to ensure her research reaches policy makers and the community.
Mary is also the Vice President of the Public Health Association of Australia (SA Branch), an active member of the 0-3 Early Years Taskforce in South Australia, the PHAA Child and Youth Health Special Interest Group, and the Co-Chair of the Student and Postdoc Committee for the International Social Epidemiology Society. She is always interested in forming new collaborations with passionate researchers, policymakers or practitioners working in public health and the early years system.
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Projects
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Publications
March 2024
Screen Time and Parent-Child Talk When Children Are Aged 12 to 36 Months
Growing up in a language-rich home environment is important for children's language development in the early years. The concept of "technoference" (technology-based interference) suggests that screen time may be interfering with opportunities for talk and interactions between parent and child; however, limited longitudinal evidence exists exploring this association.
Published research Early Childhood Development Language Development Technology & Kids Early Years SystemsApril 2024Mental health profiles and academic achievement in Australian school students
This study explored mental health profiles in Australian school students using indicators of well-being (i.e., optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness) and psychological distress (i.e., sadness and worries). The sample included 75,757 students (ages 8-18 years) who completed the 2019 South Australian Wellbeing and Engagement Collection.
Published research Early Neurodevelopment and Mental Health Youth mental health Early Years SystemsMarch 2023The Investigation of Health-Related Topics on TikTok: A Descriptive Study Protocol
The social media application TikTok allows users to view and upload short-form videos. Recent evidence suggests it has significant potential for both industry and health promoters to influence public health behaviours. This protocol describes a standardised, replicable process for investigations that can be tailored to various areas of research interest, allowing comparison of content and features across public health topics.
Published research Child Disability Ear Health Youth Mental Health Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention Food and Nutrition Early Years SystemsJun 2023Objectively measured infant and toddler screen time: Findings from a prospective study
Screen time guidelines recommend no screens under two years due to the potential negative impacts on development. While current reports suggest many children exceed this, research relies on parent reports of their children's screen exposure. We objectively assess screen exposure during the first two years and how it differs by maternal education and gender.
Published research Early Childhood Development Technology & Kids Early Years SystemsJanuary 2023Implementing a combined individual placement and support and vocational peer work program in integrated youth mental health settings
To describe the implementation and outcomes of a combined individual placement and support (IPS) and vocational peer work program for young people with mental ill-health.
Published research Early Childhood Development Youth mental healthApril 2022Prevalence of breakfast skipping among children and adolescents: a cross-sectional population level study
Interventions to promote breakfast consumption are a popular strategy to address early life inequalities. It is important to understand the epidemiology of children and adolescents who skip breakfast so that interventions and policy can be appropriately considered.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Childhood Development NutritionFebruary 2022Prevalence of electronic device use before bed among Australian children and adolescents: a cross-sectional population level study
To understand the prevalence of children and adolescents’ electronic device use (EDU) in the hour before bed and identify sociodemographic groups that are at increased risk of problematic use.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Neurodevelopment and Mental HealthSeptember 2021Shared Decision Making With Young People at Ultra High Risk of Psychotic Disorder
While the majority of young people who meet the criteria for being considered at increased risk of psychosis do not go on to develop a psychotic disorder, young people are currently being identified and treated in early intervention services.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Youth mental healthAugust 2021Basic epidemiology of wellbeing among children and adolescents: A cross-sectional population level study
Wellbeing and mental health are fundamental rights of children and adolescents essential for sustainable development. Understanding the epidemiology of child and adolescent wellbeing is essential to informing population health approaches to improving wellbeing and preventing mental illness.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education School Attendance Early Neurodevelopment and Mental Health Youth mental healthMay 2021The education word gap emerges by 18 months: findings from an Australian prospective study
The idea of the '30 million word gap' suggests families from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds engage in more verbal interactions with their child than disadvantaged families. Initial findings from the Language in Little Ones (LiLO) study up to 12 months showed no word gap between maternal education groups.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Childhood Development Language DevelopmentSeptember 2020Inside the black box of youth participation and engagement: Development and implementation of an organization-wide strategy for Orygen, a national youth mental health organization in Australia
The involvement of young people in the development, implementation and evaluation of youth mental health services, policy and research programs is essential to ensure they are appropriate and responsive to the needs of young people. Despite the increasingly central role that youth engagement and participation plays internationally, such activities are rarely described in detail.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Youth HealthAugust 2020Associations between School Readiness and Student Wellbeing: A Six-Year Follow Up Study
It is well established that children’s school readiness is associated with their later academic achievement, but less is known about whether school readiness is also associated with other measures of school success, such as students’ social and emotional wellbeing. While some previous research has shown a link between early social and emotional development and student wellbeing, results are mixed and the strength of these relationships vary depending on whether data is based on child, teachers or parents ratings and which specific student wellbeing outcomes are measured.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Childhood Development School AttendanceFebruary 2020How many words are Australian children hearing in the first year of life?
These results show that a word gap related to maternal education is not apparent up to twelve months of age
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Language Development -
External Publications
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Education and Qualifications
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Awards/Honours
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Active Collaborations