Social adjustment is critical to educational and occupational attainment. Yet little research has considered how the school's socioeconomic context is associated with social adjustment. In a longitudinal sample of Australian 4- to 8-year-olds (N = 9369; 51% boys) we tested the association between school average socioeconomic status and social…

There is a consensus that the crises children encounter during the transition period might impact negatively on children's learning and development. However, from cultural-historical perspective, qualitative leap in development can hardly be achieved without crises. This paper, drawing upon cultural-historical theory as the framework and by using…

This study of psychosocial well-being among 172 Australian parents of children with autism found that fathers and those parents receiving more social support had lower scores of depression, anxiety, and anger. Age of symptom onset was related to depression but not to anxiety and anger. No relationship was found between coping behaviors and…

During 1998 and 1999, the Starting School Project at the University of Western Sydney-Macarthur conducted a survey across New South Wales (Australia) of parent and teacher opinions about children's successful transition to school. Survey responses were received from 240 teachers and 243 parents of young children. Respondents were grouped according…

This paper is a description and an evaluation of the Families First program in Sydney, Australia. The Families First program was set up to provide innovative family-centered early intervention services to families with young children with disabilities from birth to school age living within the South-Western Metropolitan Health Region. The program…

Starting school raises concerns for children, parents and teachers. Each has a range of issues to consider. Over the past eight years, The Starting School Research Project has examined eight categories which various stakeholders see as important in children's transition to school. This paper focuses on a particular group, gifted children starting…