The current study brought a bioecological approach to children's early vocabulary development using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Relevant data were available for 2188 children (1119 male) who had a median age of 9 months (M = 9.3 months, SD = 2.1 months) at Wave 1 and a median age of 34 months (M = 34.2 months, SD = 2.5 months) at Wave 2. Results support the developmental importance of joint attention and parent-child book reading as well as the argument that the effects of individual (e.g., parent) and environmental (context) characteristics are primarily indirect, mediated through their impact on proximal processes (Bronfenbrenner, 1995) . The evidence indicates that joint attention and parent-child book reading are important facilitators of children's early vocabulary development.Keywords bioecological theory, joint attention, language development, parent-child book reading, proximal processes, vocabulary development Although a large body of work has investigated the individual and environmental factors associated with children's language development there is a dearth of research assessing the relations among these factors particularly in early development. Proponents of social constructivist (e.g., Vygotsky, 1934/1962) and bioecological (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979 theories have long pointed out the pivotal developmental role played by ongoing reciprocal social interactions (proximal processes). From this perspective, the developmental

The current study analyzed the relationships among maternal empathy (emotional and cognitive), parenting that encourages the child to take the perspective of others, child cognitive empathy and child prosocial behaviour. Participants were 72 typically developing children (66 Caucasian, six Asian) aged between 47 and 76 months (M = 61.5 months, SD = 8.3 months). Results support the facilitative effect of parenting that encourages the child to take the perspective of others. Thus, the role played by parents in the development of prosocial behaviour extends beyond warm/ sensitive/responsive parenting in infancy. Together these forms of parenting are key factors that facilitate the development of prosocial behaviour.

Vocabulary knowledge is a critical component of school readiness. The current study investigated the extent to which low levels of joint attention in infancy and parent–child book reading across early childhood increase the risk of children having poor vocabulary around the time of school entry. Relevant data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children were available for 2369 children (1211 boys) who had a median age of 9 months (M = 9.3 months, SD = 2.1 months) at wave 1 and a median age of 58 months (M = 58.0 months, SD = 2.5 months) at wave 3. As hypothesised, children who had low levels of joint attention at wave 1 were significantly more likely to have poor receptive vocabulary at wave 3. Furthermore, children who had low levels of parent–child book reading across early childhood were two and a half times more likely to have poor vocabulary at wave 3. These results converge with the findings of training studies and underline the importance of educating current and future parents about the pivotal roles of joint attention and parent–child book reading for children’s language development and hence their readiness for school.

BackgroundA growing body of literature highlights that racial discrimination has negative impacts on child health, although most studies have been limited to an examination of direct forms of racism using cross-sectional data. We aim to provide further insights on the impact of early exposure to racism on child health using longitudinal data among Indigenous children in Australia and multiple indicators of racial discrimination.MethodsWe used data on 1239 Indigenous children aged 5–10 years from Waves 1–6 (2008–2013) of Footprints in Time, a longitudinal study of Indigenous children across Australia. We examined associations between three dimensions of carer-reported racial discrimination (measuring the direct experiences of children and vicarious exposure by their primary carer and family) and a range of physical and mental health outcomes. Analysis was conducted using multivariate logistic regression within a multilevel framework.ResultsTwo-fifths (40%) of primary carers, 45% of families and 14% of Indigenous children aged 5–10 years were reported to have experienced racial discrimination at some point in time, with 28–40% of these experiencing it persistently (reported at multiple time points). Primary carer and child experiences of racial discrimination were each associated with poor child mental health status (high risk of clinically significant emotional or behavioural difficulties), sleep difficulties, obesity and asthma, but not with child general health or injury. Children exposed to persistent vicarious racial discrimination were more likely to have sleep difficulties and asthma in multivariate models than those with a time-limited exposure.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that direct and persistent vicarious racial discrimination are detrimental to the physical and mental health of Indigenous children in Australia, and suggest that prolonged and more frequent exposure to racial discrimination that starts in the early lifecourse can impact on multiple domains of health in later life. Tackling and reducing racism should be an integral part of policy and intervention aimed at improving the health of Australian Indigenous children and thereby reducing health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12939-017-0612-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.