Nicole Wickens

A community-led, trauma-informed psychosocial intervention to improve health outcomes of children and young people with Type-1 diabetes

T1D can be a traumatic diagnosis for children and young people, and often involves strict adherence to painful treatments, comorbid mental health conditions, and shortened life expectancy.

Co-designing a trauma-informed program for parents whose infant has had a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission

Having a newborn child admitted into a NICU can be highly traumatic for parents. The compounding effects of the NICU clinical environment, having a seriously ill child, in addition to the inability to care or adequately bond with your child can be extremely distressing.

Community and Food Environments study

Wellbeing study

Burns are a common cause of emergency presentations, and most burn injuries happen to children and adolescents.

Treatment for Childhood and Adolescent Dissociation: A Systematic Review

Dissociative symptoms are linked to experiences of trauma, often originating in childhood and adolescence. Dissociative disorders are associated with a high burden of illness and a poor quality of life. Despite evidence suggesting that early intervention can improve outcomes, little research exists on the treatment of dissociative disorders in childhood and adolescence.

A wellbeing program to promote mental health in paediatric burn patients: Study protocol

One of the most traumatic injuries a child can experience is a severe burn. Despite improvements in medical treatments which have led to better physical outcomes and reduced mortality rates for paediatric burns patients, the psychological impact associated with experiencing such a traumatic injury has mostly been overlooked. This is concerning given the high incidence of psychopathology amongst paediatric burn survivors. 

“It's a big trauma for the family”: A qualitative insight into the psychological trauma of paediatric burns from the perspective of mothers

Despite the medical and surgical improvements of paediatric burn injuries, burn injuries can be a painful and traumatic experience for the child and their family. It is therefore important to explore the experiences of caregivers who support their child throughout the burn journey. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the traumatic nature of paediatric burns on the family from a caregiver's perspective.

Expert survey: safer research with parent survivors of child maltreatment

Intergenerational trauma research typically focuses on parent survivors. No specific guidelines are available for conducting research with parent survivors despite potentially unique risks. To investigate research safety with parent survivors, we conducted an online survey of 38 researchers regarding experiences of parent survivors in their research, precautions taken, ethical review experiences, and researchers’ mental health during the project(s). 

The Investigation of Health-Related Topics on TikTok: A Descriptive Study Protocol

The social media application TikTok allows users to view and upload short-form videos. Recent evidence suggests it has significant potential for both industry and health promoters to influence public health behaviours. This protocol describes a standardised, replicable process for investigations that can be tailored to various areas of research interest, allowing comparison of content and features across public health topics.

Powerful promotions: An investigation of the teen-directed marketing power of outdoor food advertisements located near schools in Australia

Adolescents are heavily exposed to unhealthy outdoor food advertisements near schools, however, the marketing power of these advertisements among adolescents has not yet been explored. This study aimed to investigate the teen-directed marketing features present and quantify the overall marketing power of outdoor food advertisements located near schools to explore any differences by content (ie, alcohol, discretionary, core and miscellaneous foods) school type (ie, primary, secondary, K-12) and area-level socio-economic status (SES; ie, low vs high).

Early childhood caries, primary caregiver oral health knowledge and behaviours and associated sociological factors in Australia: a systematic scoping review

Early childhood caries disproportionately affects vulnerable groups and remains a leading cause of preventable hospital admissions for Western Australian children. The Western Australia State Oral Health Plan seeks to improve child oral health through universal and targeted health promotion initiatives with primary caregivers.

Children's exposure to outdoor food advertising near primary and secondary schools in Australia

Previous research has highlighted children's frequent exposure to advertisements of unhealthy food and beverages on television. However, the food industry is increasingly utilising non-broadcast channels such as outdoor advertising (eg billboards, bus shelters, shop fronts) for product marketing.

Exposure to unhealthy food and beverage advertising during the school commute in Australia

Food marketing exposure has the potential to influence children's dietary behaviours and health status, however, few studies have identified how 'obesogenic' the outdoor food marketing environment is along public transport (bus and/or train) or walking routes that children take to school.