Social and emotional developmental vulnerability at age five in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in New South Wales: a population data linkage study

Williamson, Anna; Gibberd, Alison; Hanly, Mark J.; Banks, Emily; Eades, Sandra; Clapham, Kathleen; Falster, Kathleen

doi:10.1186/s12939-019-1019-x

International Journal for Equity in Health

Table 1 Characteristics of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in their first year of school in New South Wales in 2009 and 2012^h

From: Social and emotional developmental vulnerability at age five in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in New South Wales: a population data linkage study

	Aboriginal^a		Non-Aboriginal		Total
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Total (N)	7384	100	95104	100	102488	100
Socio-demographic characteristics
Female sex	3760	51	46784	49	50544	49
Mother married/partnered at child’s birth^b	3505	47	79302	83	82807	81
Private patient/insurance at child’s birth^b	511	7	31579	33	32090	31
Maternal school education^c
12 years	2140	29	61148	64	63288	62
10–11 years	3820	52	28691	30	32511	32
≤ 9 years	1424	19	5266	6	6690	7
Highest level of parental occupation^d
Managers/professionals	613	8	24809	26	25422	25
Business managers/associated professionals	816	11	23133	24	23949	23
Trades/clerks/services	1607	22	24060	25	25667	25
Drivers/hospitality/labourers	2049	28	15591	16	17640	17
Not in paid work in last 12 months	2299	31	7511	8	9810	10
Area-level disadvantage^e
Quintile 5 (Least disadvantaged)	378	5	23884	25	24262	24
Quintile 4	914	12	20211	21	21125	21
Quintile 3	3096	42	32697	34	35793	35
Quintile 2	1389	19	10072	11	11461	11
Quintile 1 (Most disadvantaged)	1607	22	8240	9	9847	10
Geographic remoteness^f
Major City	2815	38	62858	66	65673	64
Inner Regional	2578	35	23985	25	26563	26
Outer Regional	1554	21	7709	8	9263	9
Remote/Very Remote	437	6	552	1	989	1
Attended preschool/childcare in year before school	5974	81	84547	89	90521	88
AEDC census year
2009	3325	45	45180	48	48505	47
2012	4059	55	49924	52	53983	53
Perinatal characteristics
Maternal age at childbirth (years)
< 20	1254	17	3190	3	4444	4
20–24	2254	31	13871	15	16125	16
25–29	1856	25	26177	28	28033	27
30–34	1344	18	31698	33	33042	32
≥ 35	675	9	20167	21	20842	20
No prior births	2475	34	39395	41	41870	41
One prior birth	2057	28	33081	35	35138	34
Two or more prior births	2852	39	22628	24	25480	25
Smoking during pregnancy	3549	48	13419	14	16968	17
Antenatal care in first 20 weeks of pregnancy	5954	81	84951	89	90905	89
Maternal comorbidity during pregnancy^g	702	10	10383	11	11085	11
Gestational age
Early preterm (22–33 weeks)	187	3	1397	1	1584	2
Late preterm (34–36 weeks)	533	7	4464	5	4997	5
Early term (37–38 weeks)	1669	23	20995	22	22664	22
Full to postterm (≥39 weeks)	4995	68	68248	72	73243	71

The counts are an average from the 5 complete datasets following multiple imputation of missing data. Details of the missing data are in Additional file 1 Table S1. ^a Defined as child or parent identified as Aboriginal on any of the birth records (i.e. perinatal data collection, birth registration or hospital birth record), or AEDC school record; ^b Based on hospital birth record; ^c Highest level of education of mother recorded on school enrolment (high school completion is equivalent to 12 years); ^d Based on highest ranking occupation of either parent or carer recorded on school enrolment; ^e Socio-Economic Indices for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage population quintiles based on mother’s statistical local area of residence at the time of birth; ^f Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) based on mother’s statistical local area of residence at the time of birth; ^g Includes pre-existing and gestational-onset diabetes and hypertension
^hImputed data is included where appropriate

Back to article page

ISSN: 1475-9276

Contact us

General enquiries: journalsubmissions@springernature.com