This study investigated the relative contributions of risk-taking behaviour (RTB), parental attachment, and depression to delinquency. Data were gathered from 108 university students and youth group members, aged between 17 and 23 years (M = 19 years). Each participant completed four self-report questionnaires: the Australian Self-report Delinquency Scale, the Adolescent Risk-taking Questionnaire, the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, and the Beck Depression Inventory. The three predictor variables were significantly related to each other, and risk-taking behaviour and depression uniquely predicted total delinquency. While parent attachment was not a significant predictor of delinquency, when the subscales of parent attachment were assessed individually, parental trust and communication inversely predicted delinquent behaviour. Although based on a nondeviant sample, the findings suggest that adolescents who display poor parent attachment, depression, or high risk-taking behaviour, singularly or in combination, are more prone to engage in delinquent behaviour. The results hold a number of potentially important implications for both further studies and the design and provision of intervention and preventative programs.

Background: Screening tools have been recommended for use in aged care to improve the detection and treatment of depression. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a program for the routine implementation of the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia in Australian facilities, to determine whether use of the instrument by nurses led to further monitoring of depressive symptoms, medical referral, and changes in treatments prescribed for depression.

Methods: A file review was completed for 412 participants out of a total of 867 older people (47.5%) who resided in ten aged care facilities. The review examined Cornell Scale assessment data, medication charts, medical history, nursing progress notes, and resident care plans. Nursing staff who administered the Cornell Scale to each participant were also interviewed, and ten facility managers took part in an interview to determine barriers to the effective implementation of the instrument.

Results: The Cornell Scale had been administered to 46.8% of the sample in the previous 12 months, with 25% of these participants scoring 9–13 and 27% scoring 14 and above. Less than one third of the residents with high scores were monitored by the staff following the assessment. Only 18% of residents with high scores were referred for further assessment of depression, while 10% received a treatment change.

Conclusions: The absence of a protocol for responding to high Cornell Scale scores limited the potential of this program to result in widespread improved treatment of depressed older people. The use of the Cornell Scale by aged care nurses with limited training raised concern.

This study investigated the association between environmental mastery and depression in a sample of 96 older adults (aged 64–98 years) in residential care. The participants completed a scale that assessed depression along with measures for risk factors for depression such as functional capacity, self-evaluated physical health, bereavement experiences and environmental mastery. The results showed that 49 per cent of the variance in participants' scores in depression could be attributed to their self-reported level of environmental mastery. Given the complexity of depression and the likelihood of reduced environmental mastery among older adults in residential care, the construct was further assessed as a mediating variable between the risk factors and depression. With environmental mastery taken as such, the explained variance in depression increased to 56 per cent. It was concluded that environmental mastery may be one of the more important factors affecting the mental health of older adults living in residential care and that strategies for increasing the residents' environmental mastery are important to their psychological wellbeing. The discussion notes that among the questions needing further investigation are whether older adults who experience high environmental mastery make the transition from community living to residential nursing home care more successfully than others, and whether perceived mastery diminishes over time or occurs at the point of transition from community independent living to dependent supported living.

Background: The prevalence of depression among older people receiving care is high, yet the rate of treatment of this disorder is low. One way to improve the pathway to care is to train care staff to recognize the symptoms of depression and raise their confidence in responding to them. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of the beyondblue Depression Training Program to achieve this aim.

Methods: Staff (N = 148) from low level care facilities and community care facilities in metropolitan Melbourne completed the beyondblue Depression Training Program, while staff in other facilities (N = 96) acted as controls. Pre-program, post-program and follow-up questionnaire data were collected and referrals for depression by staff were recorded.

Results: Training improved carers’ knowledge about depression, their self-efficacy in responding to signs of depression and their attitudes towards working with depressed aged care recipients. In addition, training increased the number of referrals for depression made by carers.

Conclusion: Training aged care staff in depression can improve the pathways to care for depressed care recipients, and has the potential to improve the quality of life of older people.

Background: The rate of recognition and treatment of depressed older people in nursing homes is low. Data from the low-level residential care population have not been reported. This study aimed to collect information about the treatment of depression among older persons living in low-level residential care (hostels).

Method: The participants comprised 300 elderly residents from ten low-level residential care facilities from various suburbs in metropolitan Melbourne. The participants were interviewed by a trained clinical psychologist to determine the presence or absence of major or minor depressive disorder using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorder (SCID-I). Each participant was also administered the Standardized Mini-mental State Examination (SMMSE) to determine level of cognitive function. The clinical psychologist then reviewed all cases in consultation with a geropsychiatrist experienced in the diagnosis of depression among older people, prior to assigning a diagnosis of depression.

Results: An important finding in this study was the low treatment for currently depressed residents, with less than half of those in the sample who were depressed receiving treatment. However, 61 of the 96 residents out of the sample of 300 who were on antidepressants were not currently depressed.

Conclusion: There is an under recognition and under treatment of currently depressed older people in low-level residential care facilities (hostels) just as has been reported in studies in nursing homes. However, there are high numbers receiving antidepressants who are not currently depressed.

Childhood cruelty to animals may be a marker of poor prognosis amongst conduct disordered children. However, other than semistructured interviews with parents or children, there are no screening instruments for this behavior. The aim of this study was to develop such an instrument. In the first phase of the study, a parent-report questionnaire, Children's Attitudes and Behaviors Towards Animals (CABTA) was designed and piloted on 360 elementary school children, enabling community norms and a factor structure for the instrument to be derived. In the second phase, the questionnaire was completed by the parents of a small sample of children (N = 17) to establish its test–retest reliability. In the third phase of the study, the CABTA was completed by the parents of 19 children who had been diagnosed with either a Disruptive Behavioral Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and the results were compared with the outcome of a semistructured interview with parents regarding their child's behavior toward animals. The results of the various phases of the study indicated that the CABTA consists of two factors, Typical and Malicious Cruelty to animals, and is a reliable and valid tool for detecting childhood cruelty to animals. Possible use and adaptations of the CABTA as a screening instrument in clinical and community samples are discussed.

A baby girl born by elective lower segment caesarean section was found to have left-sided focal seizures at 48 hours after birth. Her mother had previously had a neonatal death at 26 weeks' gestation and another child born at 32 weeks' gestation had a congenital right hemiplegia with a left middle cerebral artery infarct on CT scan. The mother had raised anticardiolipin IgG antibodies at the time of delivery of her second child, with no thrombotic symptoms. Therefore, during this pregnancy, she had been treated with low molecular weight heparin and aspirin. The baby's mother had raised IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibodies and the baby had IgG anticardiolipin antibodies at the upper range of normal 4 days after delivery. The seizures were controlled with phenobarbitone and phenytoin. CT and MRI scans showed evidence of cerebral ischaemia. A repeat MRI scan at 4 months of age was normal, anticonvulsants were discontinued, and her latest neurological examination at 5 months was normal.

This paper describes the development of the Family Life Education Programme, an innovative group approach to parenting issues. The programme aims to (i) utilise the strengths of a multidisciplinary allied health team and (ii) to avoid focusing on the limited issues of child management and discipline. Previous styles of parent education groups are discussed, together with their shortcomings and the authors’ frustrations with such approaches. The rationale for the format of the new programme is described, and the detailed structure outlined. Two innovations are highlighted. Firstly, the programme focuses on issues from both the child and parent perspective (eg, child's play/parents’ recreation). Secondly, the six-week programme uses professionals from various disciplines as weekly consultants, while one member of the team provides week-to-week continuity as an anchor. The programme is evaluated in terms of the impact on the multi-disciplinary team, and the feedback from participants. It is argued that the Family Life Education Programme offers a balanced approach to the many issues confronting parents of young children and it could be implemented not only within multi-disciplinary teams, but also co-operatively across agencies.