All Sample Sizes Great and Small

All sample sizes great and small: How data from different cohorts can strengthen our understanding of parent-child conversational interactions

Dr Amy Bird

Where: Room 292, Level 2, 29 WW, Macquarie University

When: Tuesday, May 7th, 2019

Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm

Parent-child interactions are critical for children’s social, emotional and cognitive development. Observational data is typically seen as the ‘gold standard’ for understanding parent-child interactions, yet this process is time-consuming and expensive and is therefore rarely used with very large samples. Recent research examining parent-child conversations within two longitudinal pre-birth cohort studies will be presented: one a small cohort study (n=30), and one a large national cohort study (n=6,822). The benefits and challenges of working with both samples will be discussed, with a particular focus on how both small and large samples can help elucidate interaction processes among families experiencing mental health difficulties.

Dr Amy Bird is a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wollongong. She is a member of the Early Start team at the University of Wollongong and contributed to the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort study.