Research Assistant, PhD Candidate
BPsych(Hons)
Alanna forms part of the leadership group of the Child Health, Development, and Education Team and is a PhD Candidate in the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. At the Telethon Kids Institute, Alanna’s research focuses on factors influencing children’s early health and development outcomes, as well as evaluation of programs and supports for families and young children across Australia. Internationally, Alanna consults for the World Bank, predominantly across the Asia-Pacific, providing support for the implementation of child health, development, and education programs and working with various measures of child development for monitoring and evaluation purposes.
Alanna’s PhD research seeks to improve strategies for population level measurement and monitoring of children's early development in low and middle income countries. Specifically, her project is focused on the early Human Capability Index , a holistic measure designed to capture early child development across diverse cultures and contexts. Alanna has coordinated adaptation of instrumentation to local context, supervision of fieldwork, and analysis and reporting on data into scientific outputs and policy briefs, leading to significantly greater investments in early child health and development in these countries.
Alanna has published on topics including child development, early education, parental engagement and the home environment, stunting and health behaviours, as well as psychometric assessment of child development measurement tools. She sits on the Public Health Association of Australia South Australia Branch Executive Committee, and the Brain and Behaviour Research Focus Area Leadership Committee at the Telethon Kids Institute. Ultimately, Alanna’s work aims to inform policy and services to promote development in the early years, particularly in low resource settings.
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Projects
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Publications
February 2022
Prevalence 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 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 NutritionDecember 2021Breakfast skipping and cognitive and emotional engagement at school: A cross-sectional population level study
Research on the consequences of breakfast skipping among students tends to focus on academic outcomes, rather than student wellbeing or engagement at school. This study investigated the association between breakfast skipping and cognitive and emotional aspects of school engagement.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Nutrition School AttendanceAugust 2020Associations Among Early Stimulation, Stunting, and Child Development in Four Countries in the East Asia–Pacific
This study examined associations among preschool attendance, home learning activities, stunting status, and early child development using data from the validation study of the East Asia–Pacific Early Child Development Scales (EAP-ECDS).
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Childhood Development School AttendanceJune 2020Measuring early child development in low and middle income countries: Investigating the validity of the early Human Capability Index
Inclusion of early child development in the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda raises issues of how this goal should be monitored, particularly in low resource settings. The aim of this paper was to explore the validity of the early Human Capability Index (eHCI); a population measure designed to capture the holistic development of children aged 3-5 years. Convergent, divergent, discriminant and concurrent validity were examined by exploring the associations between eHCI domains and child (sex, age, stunting status, preschool attendance) and family (maternal education, home learning environment) characteristics. Analyses were repeated using data from seven low and middle income countries.
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Childhood DevelopmentMay 2020Overcoming challenges in measuring early childhood development across cultures
These challenges in measuring early childhood development are exacerbated when making comparisons across cultures
Published research Child Health, Development & EducationMay 2020Exploring Associations Between Playgroup Attendance and Early Childhood Development at School Entry in Australia: A Cross-Sectional Population-Level Study
Children who attended playgroup had better development at school entry relative to those who had not attended playgroup
Published research Child Health, Development & EducationFebruary 2019Assessing Diversity in Early Childhood Development in the East Asia-Pacific
In all six countries, child development scores increased with age and urban children consistently performed better than rural children
Published research Child Health, Development & EducationApril 2019Early childhood education and child development in four countries in East Asia and the Pacific
Results indicate that early childhood education is beneficial for children's early development
Published research Child Health, Development & EducationDecember 2019Measuring early childhood development in multiple contexts: the internal factor structure and reliability of the early Human Capability Index in seven countries
Findings support the aims of the early Human Capability Index in being adaptable and applicable for use within a range of low and middle income countries
Published research Child Health, Development & Education Early Childhood DevelopmentOctober 2018Socioeconomic status and early child development in East Asia and the Pacific: The protective role of parental engagement in learning activities
Results indicated the existence of SES gradients in early development in multiple domains in China, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu
Published research Child Health, Development & EducationFebruary 2018The social impacts of mining on local communities in Australia
Mining developments are being required to consider how they affect local communities and implement strategies to minimise negative impacts they may be causing
Published research Child Health, Development & Education -
Education and Qualifications
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Awards/Honours
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Active Collaborations