Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Socioeconomic disparities in the mental health of Indigenous children in Western Australia

    188088_67491_Socioeconomic_disparities_in_the_mental_health_70330.pdf (385.6Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Shepherd, Carrington
    Li, Jianghong
    Mitrou, F.
    Zubrick, Stephen
    Date
    2012
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Shepherd, Carrington C.J. and Li, Jianghong and Mitrou, Francis and Zubrick, Stephen R. 2012. Socioeconomic disparities in the mental health of Indigenous children in Western Australia. BMC Public Health. 12. (756): pp. 1-12.
    Source Title
    BMC Public Health
    DOI
    10.1186/1471-2458-12-756
    ISSN
    1471-2458
    Remarks

    This article is published under the Open Access publishing model and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Please refer to the licence to obtain terms for any further reuse or distribution of this work.

    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18912
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Background: The burden of mental health problems among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is a major public health problem in Australia. While socioeconomic factors are implicated as important determinants of mental health problems in mainstream populations, their bearing on the mental health of Indigenous Australians remains largely uncharted across all age groups. Methods: We examined the relationship between the risk of clinically significant emotional or behavioural difficulties (CSEBD) and a range of socioeconomic measures for 3993 Indigenous children aged 4–17 years in Western Australia, using a representative survey conducted in 2000–02. Analysis was conducted using multivariate logistic regression within a multilevel framework. Results: Almost one quarter (24%) of Indigenous children were classified as being at high risk of CSEBD. Our findings generally indicate that higher socioeconomic status is associated with a reduced risk of mental health problems in Indigenous children. Housing quality and tenure and neighbourhood-level disadvantage all have a strong direct effect on child mental health. Further, the circumstances of families with Indigenous children (parenting quality, stress, family composition, overcrowding, household mobility, racism and family functioning) emerged as an important explanatory mechanism underpinning the relationship between child mental health and measures of material wellbeing such as carer employment status and family financial circumstances.Conclusions: Our results provide incremental evidence of a social gradient in the mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Improving the social, economic and psychological conditions of families with Indigenous children has considerable potential to reduce the mental health inequalities within Indigenous populations and, in turn, to close the substantial racial gap in mental health. Interventions that target housing quality, home ownership and neighbourhood-level disadvantage are likely to be particularly beneficial.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • The socioeconomic pattern of health and developmental outcomes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
      Shepherd, Carrington C J (2012)
      The pervasive health and social disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is an acknowledged part of Australian society. The contemporary data reveal striking inequalities between Indigenous and ...
    • Time pressure and the wellbeing of parents with young children in Australia
      Johnson, Sarah E. (2010)
      Parental time pressure, in terms of actual workload and subjective reports, is high and likely to increase in the future, with ongoing implications for personal wellbeing. The combination of parenting young children and ...
    • Socioeconomic disparities in physical health among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Western Australia
      Shepherd, Carrington; Li, Jianghong; Zubrick, Stephen (2012)
      Objective. Few empirical studies have specifically examined the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and health in Indigenous populations of Australia. We sought to provide insights into the nature of this ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.