The LSAC data set is confidentialised and made available for use by researchers upon application to DSS. The institution at which the candidate is enrolled (Queensland University of Technology, QUT), has an organisational license to the dataset for which an individual student application for access was submitted in regards to the current study. The LSAC dataset has received ethical approval through the AIFS, the body that manages the study; hence the QUT Ethics Advisor advised that the dataset is exempt from ethical review at QUT. National Statement Section 5.1.22 of the University Human Research Ethics Committee (UHREC, p.79) indicates that: “Institutions may choose to exempt from ethical review research that (a) is negligible risk research….; and (b) involves the issue of existing collection of data or records that contain only non- identifiably data about human beings.” The basic documentation required by the
UHREC in order to fulfil ethics requirements in this instance where the requirement for a full ethics submission was waived, were submitted and accepted.
3.9
Conclusion
The aim of this program of research is to investigate the patterns of self- regulation development in Australian children from birth to 5 years, and explore the ways in which maternal parenting and mental health interact with children’s self- regulation to produce particular social, emotional and behavioural outcomes for
children. The research comprises a secondary data analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Australia Children (LSAC). A subsample of 2880 children participating in the LSAC Birth Cohort were selected as participants on the basis of having a substantial amount of complete data across the first three waves of data collection (birth to 5 years) in relation to the key variables of interest. These data are used to address the four research
questions proposed by four studies in turn. A concerted effort to use contemporary statistical approaches including latent variable modelling is taken in designing and conducting the studies. Study 1 uses CFA and longitudinal SEMs to explore the measurement properties and relationships among indicators of behavioural, emotional and cognitive regulation from infancy to 5 years. Study 2 uses the measurement models established in Study 1 in longitudinal panel SEMs to establish the bidirectional
94 effects of early self-regulation on later behavioural outcomes for children. Study 3 examines the extent to which maternal mental health and maternal parenting mediate or moderate the relationship between early self-regulation and later social, emotional and behavioural outcomes. Finally, Study 4 uses LPA to describe the normative
developmental profile of self-regulation across early childhood and explores relationships between profile membership, outcomes and maternal parenting.
The methodology designed for this study represents a significant contribution to the growing field of self-regulation research. First, it is the first study that the author is aware of to investigate the utility of using sleep problems and temperament indicators of self-regulation together in the development of longitudinal models of early childhood self-regulation. Second, the participants are a large sample of Australian children. This represents a significant contribution to the Australian evidence base within a field that is dominated by North American and European studies. Third, the study spans the first year of life through to age 7, representing almost the entire period of early childhood which is rare in the existing literature. Finally, the use of contemporary statistical
modelling techniques allows for the careful examination of longitudinal models that aim to empirically reflect transactional models of child development. The examination of bidirectional relationships between the parenting environment and child development is a growing field but examples are still relatively rare.
Chapter 1 of this document provided the background to the current study, introduced the proposed research questions, and explained the significance of the study. Chapter 2 used a systematic literature review of research in the field to inform a
discussion on the history, context and definition of self-regulation, its theoretical structure, the ways in which it is measured and what is known on the development of self-regulation in the early years of life. The chapter also synthesised current research in relation to self-regulation and its associations with outcomes for children and early parenting before discussing the implications of the extant body of research to the present study. Chapter 2 also presented a conceptual model for the current study.
Chapter 3 has provided design, sampling and measurement details of the LSAC study and has also provided a brief discussion of the advantages and challenges of secondary data analysis. It also documented the sample selection procedure for the current study and described the study sample in relation to socio-demographic details.
95 The measures selected for use have been detailed and include measures of child
sleeping problems, reactivity and persistence, maternal mental health, maternal
parenting and children’s social, emotional and behavioural problems. This chapter has set out the analytic approach taken in the thesis and documented the steps required in undertaking CFA, path analysis, longitudinal panel SEMs and LPA. Finally, the four studies that make up this program of research were briefly outlined.
Chapters 4 to 7 document the results of each of the four research studies in turn. Each results chapter is set out in a consistent manner. First an introduction to the research question, its background and its significance are provided. Then the variables used and analytic techniques are discussed. The relevant approach to analysis set out in detail here in Chapter 3 is provided in summary form. The results of the analyses are presented, including descriptive statistics, model results and accompanying figures and tables. Finally, a brief discussion concludes each results chapter. Chapter 8 is the final chapter of the thesis and provides an in-depth discussion and conclusion in regards to the program of research as a whole.
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