Honorary Research Associate
BA (Hons) MSci
Areas of research expertise: child development; language development; longitudinal analysis; multiple disadvantage; mental health; treatment of missing data.
Daniel has been at Telethon Kids Institute since 2010, and is a Research Fellow on the Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course (www.lifecoursecentre.org.au). The Life Course Centre brings together Australian and international researchers who aim to address questions surrounding the transmission of disadvantage within families and across generations.
Daniel specialises in large-scale longitudinal studies of children’s health, development, education and wellbeing. His primary research interests are children’s language and literacy development, and the impact of multiple disadvantage on children and their families. These interests have seen Daniel has work on a range of projects using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, including the development of children's receptive vocabulary, adolescent mental health, and school outcomes. He has also worked in multidisciplinary research partnerships with government agencies using linked cross-sectoral government agency datasets to provide practical analysis and insights into best practice service provision and the role of early childhood health and education services in supporting families and young children.
Other research projects have included working on a collaborative project between the Institute, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the WA Department of Health to develop algorithms for more consistent Indigenous status flags on administrative data sets. He has also worked on several program evaluations, including the evaluation of headspace, and the evaluation of the Tasmanian Child and Family Centres.
Prior to joining the Institute Daniel worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in roles including survey manager, demography, regional statistics, indigenous statistics and the Census.
Find Daniel on Google Scholar or ResearchGate.
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Publications
September 2015
Patterns and Predictors of Language and Literacy Abilities 4-10 Years in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
This research focuses on three questions 1) What are the patterns of stability & change; 2) what are the predictors of this progression, and; 3) what is the...
Published research Language Development Human CapabilityJanuary 2015Development and validation of the Australian Aboriginal racial identity and self-esteem survey for 8-12 year old children (IRISE-C)
In Australia, there is little empirical research of the racial identity of Indigenous children and youth as the majority of the current literature focuses on...
Published research Aboriginal Health Human CapabilityJanuary 2015Engaging, supporting and working with children and families in Tasmania’s Child and Family Centres
The results showed that Tasmania's Child and Family Centres had a positive impact on parents' use and experiences of services and supports for young children.
Published research Early Childhood Development Human CapabilityJanuary 2015Is headspace making a difference to young people’s lives?
This report presents the evaluation findings of headspace, a service to improve the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of young people
Published research Human CapabilityMay 2015Two methods for engaging with the community in setting priorities for child health research: Who engages?
The Western Australian Telethon Kids Institute Participation Program employs a range of methods for fostering active involvement of community members in its...
Published research Human CapabilityJuly 2014Risk factors for low receptive vocabulary abilities in the preschool and early school years in the longitudinal study of Australian children
Receptive vocabulary development is a component of the human language system that emerges in the first year of life and is characterised by onward expansion...
Published research Language Development Human CapabilityFebruary 2014Factors associated with trajectories of psychological distress for Australian fathers across the early parenting period
Early postnatal factors associated with fathers' persistent distress were identified, providing opportunities for early identification and targeted early...
Published research Depression and AnxietyJanuary 2014Evidence for the use of an algorithm in resolving inconsistent and missing Indigenous status in administrative data collections
We found that algorithms reduced the amount of missing data and improved within‑individual consistency.
Published research Aboriginal Health & Wellbeing Aboriginal Health Human CapabilitySeptember 2013Factors for Children's Receptive Vocabulary Development from Four to Eight Years in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
Variation in receptive vocabulary ability is associated with variation in children's school achievement, and low receptive vocabulary ability is a risk...
Published research Early Childhood Development Language Development Human CapabilityJuly 2012Adjusting for under-identification of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander births in time series produced from birth records
Statistical time series derived from administrative data sets form key indicators in measuring progress.
Published research Aboriginal Health & Wellbeing Aboriginal Health Human CapabilityMay 2012Early mental health morbidity and later smoking at age 17 years
We examined the relationship between the onset and pattern of childhood mental health disorders and subsequent current smoking status at age 17 years.
Published research Depression and Anxiety Human CapabilityApril 2012Father mental health during the early parenting period: results of an Australian population based longitudinal study
The primary objective of this study was to report on the occurrence of mental health difficulties for a large national sample of Australian fathers of children.
Published research Depression and Anxiety Human CapabilityNovember 2011Early mental health morbidity and later smoking at 17 years of age
We examined the relationship between the onset and pattern of childhood mental health disorders and subsequent current smoking status at age 17 years.
Published research Depression and Anxiety Human Capability Youth HealthMarch 2022School readiness is more than the child: a latent class analysis of child, family, school and community aspects of school readiness
In this paper, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the multidimensional nature of school readiness. In a sample of over 4,000 Australian children in their first year of school, we used latent class analysis to examine patterns of school readiness based on child, family, school and community characteristics, and examine the relationship between these patterns of school readiness and subsequent outcomes (reading comprehension, school absence and emotional and behavioural difficulties).
Published research Human Capability School AttendanceMarch 2022Transfers of disadvantage across three generations using latent class associations within families
There is a large volume of research on the persistence of advantage and disadvantage across generations. Intergenerational studies typically address family resources as independent factors, which ignores how risks cluster together and accumulate over time.
Published research Human CapabilityJanuary 2022Use of administrative record linkage to examine patterns of universal early childhood health and education service use from birth to Kindergarten (age 4 years) and developmental vulnerability in the Preparatory Year (age 5 years) in Tasmania, Australia
In Australia, the health and education sectors provide universal early childhood services for the same population of children. Therefore, there is a strong imperative to view service use and outcomes through a cross-sectoral lens to better understand and address the service needs of young children and their families.
Published research Early Childhood Development Human Capability School AttendanceOctober 2022Early Years and Disadvantage: Matching Developmental Circumstances in Populations to Prevention and Intervention Opportunities
In this chapter we use rich longitudinal data to examine the typical growth of vocabulary in children as they age from 4 years onwards.
Published research Early Childhood Development Human CapabilityAugust 2022Creating Equitable Opportunities for Language and Literacy Development in Childhood and Adolescence
The majority of children acquire language effortlessly but approximately 10% of all children find it difficult especially in the early or preschool years with consequences for many aspects of their subsequent development and experience: literacy, social skills, educational qualifications, mental health and employment.
Published research Early Childhood Development Language Development Human Capability School AttendanceJune 2022Universal child health and early education service use from birth through Kindergarten and developmental vulnerability in the Preparatory Year (age 5 years) in Tasmania, Australia
This study investigated patterns of universal health and education service use from birth through Kindergarten (age 4 years) and estimated associations between cumulative risk and service use patterns, and between service use patterns and children's developmental vulnerability in the Preparatory Year (age 5 years).
Published research Early Childhood Development Human CapabilityJanuary 2021Trajectories of interparental conflict and children's emotional-behavioural functioning at 10-11 years: an Australian population-based study
Interparental conflict (IPC) has the potential to adversely affect children's social, emotional, and behavioural functioning. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between both the severity and chronicity of IPC across early and middle childhood and children's emotional-behavioural functioning at 10-11 years. Specifically, we aimed to: (1) identify distinct trajectories of IPC spanning 10-11 years since birth of the study child as reported by mothers, and (2) examine the emotional-behavioural functioning of children exposed to the identified IPC trajectories.
Published research Early Childhood Development Human CapabilityOctober 2021Interparental Conflict Across the Early Parenting Period: Evidence From Fathers Participating in an Australian Population-Based Study
Current evidence about the prevalence of interparental conflict (IPC) during early parenthood is primarily based on mothers’ reports. Drawing upon Australian longitudinal data from 4136 fathers, the aims of the study were to report on the extent to which fathers report IPC across six biennial time intervals when their children were aged 6–12 months to 10–11 years, identify trajectories of IPC over time and identify postnatal factors (at the initial time point) associated with high risk trajectories of IPC.
Published research Human CapabilityMay 2021Associations Between Developmental Risk Profiles, Mental Disorders, and Student Absences Among Primary and Secondary Students in Australia
This study assessed if the association between mental disorders and higher student absences varies across different profiles of risk factors, and estimated the proportion of student absences associated with mental disorders. Data included responses from a nationally representative Australian survey of child and adolescent mental health.
Published research Human Capability School Attendance Youth HealthOctober 2020Associations between biological and sociodemographic risks for developmental vulnerability in twins at age 5: a population data linkage study in Western Australia
To investigate the prevalence of, and associations between, prenatal and perinatal risk factors and developmental vulnerability in twins at age 5.
Published research Early Childhood Development Human CapabilityApril 2020Associations between clusters of early life risk factors and developmental vulnerability at age 5
This study investigated the associations between clusters of early life risk factors and developmental vulnerability in children's first year of full-time school at age 5
Published research Language Development Human CapabilityFebruary 2019The Great Recession and Children’s Mental Health in Australia
This paper analyzes the effects of “shocks” to community-level unemployment expectations, induced by the Great Recession, on children’s mental well-being
Published research Human CapabilityJanuary 2019Tasmania’s child and family centres building parenting capability: a mixed methods study
This mixed methods study investigated the impact of Tasmania’s Child and Family Centres on parents’ confidence and competence
Published research Early Childhood Development Human CapabilityMay 2019Multiple risk exposures for reading achievement in childhood and adolescence
Across 6 years of school, multiple risk-exposed children lagged behind low risk-exposed children in the order of years of lost gains in reading achievement
Published research Human CapabilityApril 2019Subjective memory complaints predict baseline but not future cognitive function over three years: Results from the Western Australia Memory Study
Subjective memory complaints individuals present distinctive features of memory complaints as compared to non-memory complainers
Published research Human CapabilityJune 2018Development and Assessment of Cumulative Risk Measures of Family Environment and Parental Investments in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
This study aimed to derive and assess summary indices of three domains of the family environment, including a Family Stress Index, Home Education Index and Parenting Index
Published research Human CapabilityFebruary 2018Prenatal and perinatal risks for late language emergence in a population-level sample of twins at age 2
This study investigated the extent to which prenatal and perinatal risk factors were associated with LLE in a population-level sample of twins at age 2 without overt disability.
Published research Human CapabilityJanuary 2017Patterns of multiple risk exposures for low receptive vocabulary growth 4-8 years in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
Our results demonstrate a range of multiple risk profiles in a population-representative sample of Australian children and highlight the mix of risk factors faced by children
Published research Early Childhood Development Language Development Human CapabilityOctober 2017Tasmania’s child and family centres: a place-based early childhood services model for families and children from pregnancy to age five
Tasmania’s child and family centres users made more use of early childhood services than did non-users
Published research Human Capability PlaygroupsNovember 2017Longitudinal trajectories of mental health in Australian children aged 4-5 to 14-15 years
This paper offers a rare opportunity to longitudinally examine mental health in a population-representative study of children aged 4-5 years to 14-15 years
Published research Human CapabilityNovember 2016Barriers to Parent–Child Book Reading in Early Childhood
Parent–child book reading interventions alone are unlikely to meet needs of children and families for whom the absence of reading is psychosocial risk factor
Published research Early Childhood Development Language Development Human Capability