Goldfeld Sharon, Villanueva Karen, Tanton Robert, Katz Ilan, Brinkman Sally, Woolcock Geoffrey, Giles-Corti Billie
Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, The Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
BMJ Open. 2017 Mar 13;7(3):e014047. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014047.
Healthy childhood development in the early years is critical for later adult health and well-being. Early childhood development (ECD) research has focused primarily on individual, family and school factors, but largely ignored community factors. The Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) will test and investigate community-level influences on child development across Australia.
Cross-sectional mixed-methods study exploring community-level effects in 25 Australian local communities; selection based on community socioeconomic status (SES) and ECD using the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), a population measure of child development, to create a local community 'diagonality type', that is, those performing better or worse (off-diagonal), or as expected (on-diagonal) on the AEDC relative to their SES. Data collection includes stakeholder interviews, parent and service provider focus groups, and surveys with general community residents and service providers, mapping of neighbourhood design and local amenities and services, analysis of policy documents, and the use of existing sociodemographic and early childhood education and care data. Quantitative data will be used to test associations between local community diagonality type, and ECD based on AEDC scores. Qualitative data will provide complementary and deeper exploration of these same associations.
The Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study protocol (#30016). Further ethics approvals were obtained from State Education and Health departments and Catholic archdioceses where required. ECD community-level indicators will eventually be derived and made publically available. Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals, community reports, websites and policy briefs to disseminate results to researchers, and key stakeholders including policymakers, practitioners and (most importantly) the communities involved.
儿童早期的健康发展对其成年后的健康和幸福至关重要。幼儿发展（ECD）研究主要集中在个体、家庭和学校因素上，但很大程度上忽视了社区因素。社区儿童研究（KiCS）将测试和调查澳大利亚各地社区层面对儿童发展的影响。
采用横断面混合方法研究，探索澳大利亚25个当地社区的社区层面影响；根据社区社会经济地位（SES）和使用澳大利亚早期发展普查（AEDC，一种儿童发展的人口测量方法）进行的幼儿发展情况进行选择，以创建当地社区的“对角线类型”，即那些在AEDC上相对于其SES表现更好或更差（非对角线），或符合预期（对角线）的社区。数据收集包括与利益相关者的访谈、家长和服务提供者焦点小组，以及对普通社区居民和服务提供者的调查、邻里设计和当地便利设施及服务的绘图、政策文件分析，以及使用现有的社会人口统计和幼儿教育及护理数据。定量数据将用于测试当地社区对角线类型与基于AEDC分数的幼儿发展之间的关联。定性数据将对这些相同的关联进行补充和更深入的探索。
皇家儿童医院人类研究伦理委员会批准了研究方案（#30016）。在需要的情况下，还获得了州教育和卫生部门以及天主教大主教管区的进一步伦理批准。最终将得出并公开提供幼儿发展社区层面指标。研究结果将发表在同行评审期刊、社区报告、网站和政策简报上，以便向研究人员以及包括政策制定者、从业者（最重要的是）相关社区在内的关键利益相关者传播结果。
